It might be. I have no plan to change from gut so am looking to see if changing 
the tension would have an effect.

David

Sent from my iPad

> On Dec 18, 2013, at 8:42 PM, Miles Dempster <miles.demps...@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi David,
> 
> Have you considered the elasticity of the string material?
> Two extremes would be steel (very little peg turning) and nylgut (lots of peg 
> turning) to bring up to pitch and tune.
> Would it be due to the fact that it is a gimped string which makes it less 
> elastic in comparison to gut?
> 
> 
> 
> Miles
> 
> 
>> On Dec 18, 2013, at 9:20 PM, David Smith <d...@dolcesfogato.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Ralf,
>> I think I did not correctly express the issue I am trying to understand.
>> 
>> The stats on the string are: Pitch at 392, length 0.685, Tension is
>> 28newtons,Diameter is 2.03mm silver gimped Larson string. The diameter is
>> his "equivalent" ungimped diameter as opposed to the actual, physical
>> diameter.
>> 
>> I am very happy with this string and how it plays. My question is with
>> regard to tuning it. When I am pitch I find that very little change in
>> turning the peg causes a large change in the pitch. I have a number of
>> instruments (some gut and some nylgut). I do not notice this on my Theorbo
>> or 10 course lute (nor any of the others but they are all fewer courses). Is
>> this normal? Is there anything that I can due to affect the sensitivity to
>> pitch of the string when tuning it? Is it an indication of a string that is
>> too high or too low a tension? My mathematical analysis of the formula for
>> pitch implies that increasing the tension will result in a little less
>> variation in pitch due to the change in tension when tuning but it seems
>> really small.
>> 
>> I appreciate all of the other comments and suggestions. Since this is
>> completely independent of the strings response when I fret it I am not sure
>> I understand the comments on twisting the string to reduce it stiffness. I
>> do not find the string particularly stiff. That is one of the nice
>> advantages of Dan Larson's silver gimped strings - they are actually smaller
>> diameter than stated due to the extra mass of the silver.
>> 
>> Anyway, any additional thoughts welcome.
>> 
>> Regards
>> David
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf
>> Of R. Mattes
>> Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2013 5:57 AM
>> To: alexander; David Smith
>> Cc: Lute List
>> Subject: [LUTE] Re: Question on String Tension
>> 
>> On Wed, 18 Dec 2013 05:11:40 -0500, alexander wrote
>>> 
>>> there is a possibility of improving your situation. First you have to 
>>> make sure you know which way the string is twisted (clockwise or 
>>> counter). A strong magnifying glass might be of help. Next you need to 
>>> get one end of the string free, either the bridge end or the peg end.
>>> Firmly holding the string, give it one or two turns in the direction 
>>> of the twist. Twist as much as possible without a distortion to the 
>>> shape of the string. Do not let the string to bulk on itself. Fix the 
>>> end of the string back where it belongs and raise the pitch. Of course 
>>> make sure the string does not untwist, and keep it somewhat taut while 
>>> holding.
>>> 
>>> This simple technique might be enough to increase the string's 
>>> elasticity and make it more agreeable to finger pressure. There is no 
>>> difficulty to this, just some amount of common sense, and never turn 
>>> against the string's twist, as if the string is not glued well 
>>> together, it could be damaged. You could practice on a piece of fret 
>>> gut, to get a feel to it. Some strings can take quite a bit of twist 
>>> and actually be improved by this.
>> 
>> Hello Alexander,
>> 
>> sorry, but I want to ask: did you ever try this out yourself and did it
>> really work? Even if you really manage to fix the string after twisting so
>> that it doesn't immediatly untwist twisting in such a way would cause the
>> mass of the string to be unevenly distributed over it's length (because the
>> string will be mostly twisted in the middle - take a rubberband, twist it
>> and watch where the twisting happens ;-) And that will create a false
>> string.
>> Gut strings are twisted during assembly, while they are wet, not afterwards,
>> when dried.
>> 
>> @david: what exactly do you mean when you write "sensitve"?
>> Does the string change pitch when you use more than minimal force to finger
>> it? Yes, that's typical for low tension strings (as well as for metal
>> strings ...) You need to spend a substantial amount of time pracising
>> playing at low tension. "Dificult to get in tune" - hmm, low tension should
>> result in easier tuning because you need more turning of the peg to get the
>> same amount of pitch change compared to a high-tension string. As a matter
>> of fact, shortly before the breaking point of a string, tiny changes at the
>> peg will result in dramatic pitch changes - that's actually how you now that
>> you are approaching the breaking point (without breaking the string).
>> 
>> Cheers, Ralf Mattes
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> R. Mattes -
>> r...@inm.mh-freiburg.de
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> To get on or off this list see list information at
>> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
> 
> 
> 


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