Curtis Daily of Portland, OR reports that he does not know as yet when he will receive a shipment of NNGs. Luckily, those most worthy are given them by the string gods, and have generously reported their virtues. Thank you, Ed and David.
Mark Seifert ---- Anthony Hind <agno3ph...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > Dear Dan > I am glad this may be a help, but I see you have far more > experience of nylon strings than I have, so you may not come to quite > the same conclusions as I did. > $ > I wonder whether the Adario string was titanium T2 nylon with purple > haze? If so it might have something in common with Titanium Nylon > fishing line. It would be quite low density allowing a thicker string > for the same weight (as I mentionned, once before). However, I think > the T2 could seem quite reserved, if compared to the NNG; or the NNG > might be heard as quite bright when compared to Ti Nylon (which ever > you are used to, possibly). > $ > The NNG go down to 1.04, I think. > $ > The US distributor seems to be > [1]http://www.aquilausa.com/ > but I don't know whether they will have the new string. > $ > Best wishes from snow-sludgy Paris > Anthony > $ > $ > > Daniel Winheld > Sun, 19 Dec 2010 09:12:34 -0800 > 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][2]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 > -- > > -- > > References > > 1. http://www.aquilausa.com/ > 2. http://www.mail-archive.com/baroque-lute@cs.dartmouth.edu/msg02195.h > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
