Hi Bill, Thanks for your kind words. Really I don't think of this as a philosophy but rather common sense. Many woods would be appropriate I've used apple, maple, boxwood and even stained beech on a number of occasions with good results. I've also used rosewood and ebony A softer wood can be surrounded by a bone edging so the frets don't dig in. On paintings before 1600 it is quite rare to see dark fingerboards anyway.
Not at all;-) Lex Op 28 aug 2011, om 10:57 heeft William Samson het volgende geschreven: > Excellent philosophy, Lex, and very well expressed. One question - I would > normally use ebony for fingerboards, because of its appearance and hardness. > What do you think is the best home-grown (European) alternative? Would you > stain it black? > > Thanks, > > Bill Samson (Scotland) > > From: Lex van Sante <lvansa...@gmail.com> > To: lute mailing list list <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> > Sent: Saturday, 27 August 2011, 23:50 > Subject: [LUTE] Re: An article from today's Wall Street Journal > > I for one would like to think that especially lute players would be people > who have the capacity to think and consequently have due respect for our > environment. > Of course there are existing lutes which were being built using expensive > materials like ebony, ivory and such. > These materials did not necessarily produce a better instrument, just a more > expensive one. In ordinary terms a show off. > The funny thing is that of the 20 odd lutes that I own and of the 52 lutes I > have constructed myself The best ones were always made out of locally grown > woods such as maple, cherry, prune, yew, spruce, apple, pear, and spruce and > even elm which are neither scarce nor expensive.(perhaps nowadays excepting > yew) I have used various Brazilian rosewoods for the backs in the past and I > have found them to produce good lutes but nowhere near the pliable, adaptable > sound of simple lutes made of good quality home grown materials. With my > preferred lutes I would not have had any problems whatsoever crossing > whatever border. > Lucky me. > Op 27 aug 2011, om 22:59 heeft dwinh...@comcast.net het volgende geschreven: > > > Howard, David, Stephen, > > One would hope that overzealous- "draconian, inflexible enforcement..." > > doesn't impact any of our beloved & highly esteemed luthiers. Gibson > > Guitars may have deeper- much deeper- pockets than the average > > luthier-so I thought this article was of some concern; ( "United Breaks > > Guitars", - it also breaks lutes.) But as a lute list, we are of course > > well advised not to veer too far off topic- especially if discussions > > are in danger of falling into the hopeless deep end of politics. > > Apologies if my link led to any of that. (Can't be too careful these > > days.) -Dan > > __________________________________________________________________ > > > > From: "David Smith" <d...@dolcesfogato.com> > > To: "howard posner" <howardpos...@ca.rr.com> > > Cc: "Lute List" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> > > Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2011 12:04:11 PM > > Subject: [LUTE] Re: An article from today's Wall Street Journal > > Thank you! > > regards > > David > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Aug 27, 2011, at 10:10 AM, howard posner <howardpos...@ca.rr.com> > > wrote: > >> On Aug 27, 2011, at 7:12 AM, Stephen Stubbs wrote: > >> > >>> Just another example of the Social Justice experiment still going on > > in USA. > >>> > >>> Basically, > >>> > >>> Corporations are Bad. > >>> Social Justice is Good. > >>> > >>> The last major Social Justice experiment made it all the way into > > the USA Constitution as the 18th Amendment, (the Prohibition Amendment > > making it very difficult to obtain alcoholic beverages legally) on > > January 17, 1920. > >>> > >>> It took the 21st Amendment on December 5, 1933 to repeal the 18th > > Amendment. > >>> > >>> I don't expect the irrational experiments being done by the current > > Attorney General of the USA (Eric Holder) to continue after the next > > President and Congress take office in January 2013. > >>> "The Other" Stephen Stubbs > >>> Champaign, IL > >> > >> > >> I hate to burst your bubble when you've obviously been saving up this > > little Republican bumper sticker for the right moment to plaster it on > > the lute list, but you got the subject wrong: this is about actions to > > enforce an international treaty by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service > > (Interior Department) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement > > (Department of Homeland Security). It's the second time in a couple of > > years that Gibson has been raided on suspicion of using wood from > > protected species. > >> > >> It has nothing to do with the Attorney General, the Democratic Party, > > corporations, or social justice (neither did Prohibition, which was an > > attempt to enforce morality; social justice legislation would be > > something like the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which is still in effect, > > even in rural Illinois, regardless of whether it's considered untoward > > government interference to tell a business that it can't exclude > > customers because of their skin color). > >> > >> The documentation issue is a difficult one. On the one hand, > > draconian, inflexible enforcement is unfair. On the other hand, if > > enforcement authorities don't demand rigorous documentation it's far > > too easy to smuggle illegal substances. This would defeat the purpose > > of environmental protection treaties, which are understood to be > > important by everyone in the world except members of the Republican > > Party in the USA. I have owned pre-CITES instruments made of woods > > that have since been protected (my charango made of elephant-tusk > > ivory, strung with Barbary Sheep gut, in an rhinoceros-skin case lined > > with otter fur, comes to mind). In the course of trying to sell a > > rosewood instrument a few months ago I made a point of telling > > potential buyers there could be problems taking it across borders. A > > couple of overseas buyers expressed interest and then disappeared; I > > don't whether the CITES problems scared them away. Sometimes we are > > inconvenienced by concerns (such as biod! > > iv! > >> ersity and deforestation) more important than our own little > > problems. > >> > >> Anyway, if you really needed to offer an off-topic political rant, > > you should have saved it for a time when it was actually a propos of > > the subject. I'm going back to my morning coffee. You enjoy your tea > > party. > >> > >> > >> > >> To get on or off this list see list information at > >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > -- > > > > > > > --
