I realize the guitar was strung in gut before nylon's appearance.
Should I assume it had thicker diameters and higher tensions (?) than
the lute strings of KR and JB - that is, if I understand Allan's note
correctly that they played gut-strung lutes? Their lutes were post-war
lutes and could have been nylon, right?
I'm still curious about the gut strings and how successful they are on
the lutes of the people who play with nails. Does such a combination
exist on this list?
There are many historical guitars that date from pre-nylon days, too,
and I suspect a few players of same (strung in gut?) on this list.
Maybe someone could speak to how gut strings last on them?
I'm just honestly curious about how the metal fret (where
applicable) / nails / gut string experience plays out. Surely they
wore out quicker than nylon but where? why?
Many years ago I saw an older Vandervogel lute/guitar like that of my
dad's (his from ~1950) but I believe older. That one had scalloped
frets. Would this have been a way of dealing w/ the gut/metal fret
wear? Was this done on classical guitars, too?
Sean
On Dec 10, 2013, at 8:38 PM, sterling price wrote:
Regarding nails on gut strings--even people like Segovia used nails
on
gut for decades. I like those early recordings of modern guitars
strung
with gut. I think nylon strings came about after WWII.
Sterling
On Tuesday, December 10, 2013 7:46 PM, Sean Smith <lutesm...@mac.com>
wrote:
Just to be sure, he used nails on _gut_? Ragossinig, too? When I
played those records in my childhood I always assumed they were nylon
strings. When would JB and KR have moved to nylon?
Sean
On Dec 10, 2013, at 6:21 PM, Allan Alexander wrote:
Sean
Bream used nails, so I guess it started. So does Ragossnig
Allan
Since there appear to be lute players who use nails - a club I
haven't
joined and now I'm curious - I wonder if there are there people who
use all gut and nails.
Could they tell us their experience on how it affects the the life of
the strings? Do they [the strings] wear excessively? Do the thinner
ones need more frequent changing than the thicker gut strings? After
they wear a bit and perhaps fray, is the intonation affected? If so,
how?
Wait, I thought of another. How about you orpharion and bandora
players - do you use nails?
Sean
ps. we seem to be on a topic of nails (tho I can readily see the
connection to the Bream thread) so forgive me for re-subjecting this
offshoot of the thread. If it helps feel free to respond to Bruno's
post as well under it.
On Dec 10, 2013, at 5:29 PM, Bruno Correia wrote:
It may sound good to you, but not for most of the lutenists out
there.
Ask Hoppy about this issue? Ok, you don't need to ask him, after
all you don't ride a horse to the gig... Hey, I'd like to do that,
the traffic has been so bad nowadays.
The most frequent word to describe the lute's sound is sweetness!
How can you have achieve it with nails? Double strings also require
that both strings be pressed at once and not one after the other.
The lute is after all a sweet instrument (specially with gut). Even
in
classical
guitar tutors (19th-20th century) the issue of nails was still
rolling
on. Sor hated it and only tolerated Aguado because of his great
skill.
That's why Tarrega and Pujol also avoided it (even if it was a
requirement due to the high tension of the Torres guitar).
Going back: The sources were just saying that many people were
careless
about their sound production. In order to avoid it, what about
cutting
your nails once and a while, washing your hands (daily if you can)?
2013/12/10 Mayes, Joseph <[1][1]ma...@rowan.edu>
I play the lute, archlute and vihuela with nails for the same
reason
that I
play the classical guitar with nails: because it sounds better!
Of course, by that I mean it sounds better to me. Nails give the
attack a precision that flesh does not. It also comes closer,
IMHO to the sound usually described in historical sources as
desirable on lute - silvery, tinkling, etc. Many sources tell us
not to use nails - which they wouldn't have bothered to do if
people were not doing it that way. I don't play with flesh, I
don't ride my horse to the gig, and I don't attend any
bear-bating. My $.02 Joseph mayes
--
References
1. mailto:[2]ma...@rowan.edu
To get on or off this list see list information at
[3]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
References
1. mailto:ma...@rowan.edu
2. mailto:ma...@rowan.edu
3. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
