I don't say the change was made together (from gut to fixed frets and from 5 c to 6 strings), but obviously in the same period of time both occurs... And of course you can always find some exceptions...
My baroque guitar was converted to 6 single strings at the change of the century (around 1800) but stay with gut frets... (now converted back to 5 course baroque guitar) V. > Message du 06/11/13 16:37 > De : "Chris Despopoulos" > A : "Valery SAUVAGE" , "Vihuelalist" > Copie `a : > Objet : [VIHUELA] Re: Frets > > I don't know whether you can say going from 5 to 6 coursed marked the > change. I believe I saw in a museum in Milan a 6-course guitar with > tied frets. As a total layman, I can't say anything about what was > original or authentic. The label says: > Chitarra (a sei corde), Sanctus Seraphin, Venezia, 1727. > Ok, so that date almost certainly means it was retro-fitted with 6 > single-strung courses? > cud > __________________________________________________________________ > > From: Valery SAUVAGE > To: Vihuelalist > Sent: Wednesday, November 6, 2013 9:39 AM > Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: Frets > Hello, > I have a baroque guitar dated 1760 with gut frets, and a romantic one > (early romantic) dated 1795-1800 with bone-ebony frets. So I guess > when > going from 5 course to 6 strings the change was made also for frets. > closer to 1800 thanto the middle of the century in my opinion. > my 2 cts... > Valery > > Message du 06/11/13 14:39 > > De : "WALSH STUART" > > A : "Monica Hall" , "Vihuelalist" > > Copie `a : > > Objet : [VIHUELA] Re: Frets > > > > On 06/11/2013 11:28, Monica Hall wrote: > > > Dear Collective Wisdom,, > > > > > > > > > > > > When did fixed, rather than tied on frets become the norm on > the > > > guitar? > > > > > > > > > > > > Monica > > > > Obviously, some time in the 18th century. The middle? The photo > of > James > > Tyler's "late eighteenth-century guitar: signed 'John Preston'" > in > The > > Early Guitar clearly shows tied on frets- which is surprising > > > > > -- > > > > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > > [1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > > > > > > --- > > This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! > Antivirus protection is active. > > [2]http://www.avast.com > > > > > > > -- > > -- > > References > > 1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > 2. http://www.avast.com/ > > --