And another Big (String) Spender (I just dropped a $$$ wad on Dan Larson for long overdue strings for my vihuela & archlute) welcomes this news. I had heard- never tried it out- that the old dead-bone-white nylgut could be dyed by Rit dye, of all things. Don't know if it would affect the structure, and who has time for this.
Plus, I had already come to really dislike nylgut on 1st & 2nd courses for musical reasons that have already been aired a number of times on this list, but it would be great if the strength/flexibility problems Mimmo has addressed reduce or eliminate those problems. Has anyone in the USA contacted Curtis Daily about availability and price yet? If I go first, I will post the results. Diapason lengths would be a very interesting & welcome addition to the synthetic "gene" pool. Dan > Dear Anthony and All, > >This is welcome news. Just a comment on the rough surface of the old nylgut: > >Gut is not necessarily "rough" under the finger. In fact the >Sofracob (no more - sigh!) and Kuerschner gut strings I have been >using are very smooth and quiet. So I would be happy to think that >the new Nylgut is smoother than the old (though it is possible to >hand polish the old Nylgut a little to make it smoother). > >As for the stretchiness, I would welcome less stretchiness for the >thinnest strings, more stretchiness for the thicker strings. I also >note that historical gut strings may have been even stretchier than >the old Nylgut (Thomas Mace says they stretch "an inch or two" in >the winding up - no gut treble I've ever had has stretched this >much). > >Bring on the new strings! I never liked the white colour, either. > >Best to All, > >Martin -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
