Thank you, Anthony- just the kind of report that you do so well, and your results will spur me on to get some of the new nylguts (Shall we just call them "NNG"?) - chanterelles for my new workhorse Renaissance lute and as far down as possible on some of the others- 4th course & possibly 5th, if they go as thick as about 1.05 mm.
For the last month or so I have been using plain nylon on the R-lute chanterelle, as even the most durable guts have all shredded their way to Gut String Heaven- so the blending of that string with the all-gut rest of the lute matters very much. The best nylon chanterelle by far that I found was a .46 mm (.018") by D'Addario that a student of mine found at a guitar store- but they have just stopped making that size. I have been surprised at how different in quality, feel, and other subtle factors that nylon strings from different sources can be from each other. I was coming to really like the D'Addarios. Anyone know who is dealing the new Nylguts in North America? Thanks, Dan > Dear luthenists > Since I believe many gut users will be tempted to use the New NG > for Chanterelles on their lutes, I decided to test them that way, > while keeping all my other strings in gut : my trebles in pure Aquila > gut, my Meanes as Venices, and my bases loaded with mostly Venice > octaves. > $ > I therefore put a 0.44 NG on my 70cm 11c Warwick at 407Hz, and a 42 NG > on my 60cm 7c Gerle at 440Hz. > $ > I only have slight direct playing experience with the old nylgut, as I > have mostly used all gut; so my comparison has to be mainly with treble > gut (brightish: Aquila, Keurschner, softer: Baldock and darker: Gamut, > and of course Sofracob). > $ > However, I have heard NG on many other people's lutes, and tend to > find them coldish sounding (bluish transistor-like), particularly when > a lutenist uses them with warm loaded basses (reddish valve-like). > $ > When I first looked at the New Nylgut, just as Ed Martin has reported, > [1]http://www.mail-archive.com/baroque-lute@cs.dartmouth.edu/msg02195.h > tml > my initial impression was that the feel was much better than the old > nylgut, and that the colour was closer to gut, although still slightly > whiter than Aquila gut, but certainly nothing noticeable at, say, a > meter's distance. > $ > I was a little surprised when setting light to the end of the string > (as one does) to find that it broke into flame. I swiftly put it out, > and all was well (I dare say that is always what happens with > synthetics), a little ball had formed without splitting the string as > sometimes happens with gut. > $ > The second surprise was when I started to raise the tension of the 44NG > on the 70cm lute. There was a sudden stretch, with quite a few extra > turns of the peg (compared with gut), before some stabilisation set-in. > I wondered about this, as it had been said that the new string was less > flexible than the old Nylgut. In fact, I didn't notice this so much > with the 42NG on the 60cm lute. > However, in both cases, when the string has finally stabilised, it did > feel about as stiff as gut (and certainly stiffer than the old nylgut). > $ > I think Ed is quite right to have left his New Nylgut strings to settle > for a day and a night before testing them. I put the chanterelle on in > the morning, and tried it out on the 70cm lute in the afternoon. My > initial impression was of loudness, as mentionned by Ed, but with a > slightly over-bright sound, and more surface noise pick up than on the > older lower gut trebles. > This, however had more or less dissappeared by the second day. The > string remains fairly bright yet warmer than the Old Nylgut, but with > excellent sustain. I now feel it blends in rather well with the lower > gut Aquila trebles. > $ > I have often remarked that a string can lend its qualities and defects > to surrounding strings, but I hadn't noticed to what extent this was > true of a chanterelle. All the treble strings, particularly on my > Renaissance lute, seemed to have gained slightly in sustain and > dynamics from the new string. I liked this, but some may prefer a > slightly duller sound. > $ > The string seems about as stiff under the finger as an Aquila gut top > string; and I would hazard a guess that it is this string ideal (his > strong treble) that Mimmo was striving to achieve, with a good strong > clear sound. > Now I wonder whether it would blend in quite so well with softer Gamut > or Baldock lower trebles? > $ > I noticed that the 70cm string took longer to stabilze than the 60cm > one. I don't know whether that was due to the difference in length or > in thickness, but two days is not very long, and lutenists do have to > be patient. It was confirmed for me by a serious nylgut user that this > new string does stabilise quicker than the Old Nylgut. > $ > I personally thought there was quite a big difference between the old > and the new type, and this would seem to be the opinion of some other > gut users (Ed and a neighbour who tried my two lutes). > However, nylgut users (and lovers), from discussions on the net, do not > seem to be quite so conscious of the difference. One serious Nylgut > user told me that they were about 97% the same as the old nylgut, but > with better colour and stability, as well as greater clarity on the top > string. > Gut users probably have different expectations of a string, and I feel > that the New Nylgut, at least as a chanterelle, gets closer to my ideal > than the old one did. > This is my opinion, based on my own string experience, which will > evidently vary from player to player. > $ > In short, Mimmo seems to have combined his skills as a chemical > engineer with his extensive historical string knowledge, to come quite > close to his ideal strong gut treble, in accordance with his > historical string theory set out on his web pages: it is clear, strong > and projecting well, with good sustain, but once settled in not too > loud and with a good feel. > $ > Now will I be keeping this string on both lutes? At present, I am very > tempted to leave it on my Renaissance lute (where the string breaks > much more often), but a little less for my Baroque lute. > I remain a gut user at heart, but I feel this is a very good substitute > when you want a string that will last, but without sacrificing too much > sound quality. Indeed, perhaps, as I said, in terms of sustain, there > might be a little gain. > $ > This is my opinion after three days in use. > $ > Meanwhile, I am looking forward to hearing a lute with loaded basses, > otherwise entirely strung with New Nylgut, including octaves. This > configuration did not work too well (in my opinion) when I heard it > with Old Nylgut, but New Nylgut might just be warm enough. > Regards > Anthony -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
