Lautenwerk, Lute and Guitar Strings For Sale
The Zaya-Ruzo Universal Copper-Wound Nylon Strings are no longer being manufactured. I have a supply of some of the sizes still available. These professional quality strings are made of nylon cord that is wound with silver plated copper wire. I am also set up to make my own strings up to 140 cm in length. Enquiries for custom-made strings are welcome. Now you can choose from a variety of sizes for your lautenwerck, lute, guitar, chitarrone, theorbo, cittern, vihuela, vielle, rebec, harp, ukulele, hurdy-gurdy or any other instrument that uses this kind of string.
Classical Guitar Pricing3 Meter Coils of High Tension #4, #5, and #6 - $45.00 (3 coils) or 5 Meter Coils - $75.00 (3 coils)
3 Meter Coils of Normal Tension #1, #2 and #3 Nylon - $4.00 (3 coils) or 5 Meter Coils - $5.00 (3 coils)
Meter Coils of High Tension #1, #2 and #3 Nylon - $4.00 (3 coils) or 5 Meter Coils - $5.00 (3 coils)
3 Meter Coils of Normal Tension #1, #2 and #3 Fluorocarbon - $20.00 (3 coils) or 5 Meter Coils - $28.00 (3 coils)
3 Meter Complete Set of High Tension with Nylon Trebles - $47.00 (6 coils) or 5 Meter Coils - $78.00 (6 coils)
Massachusetts sales add 6.25% sales tax.
STRING SALES TO USA ONLY - DO NOT INQUIRE ABOUT INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING
Prices include packing and shipping to USA for small orders.
To determine the size string that you need for other instruments, download and print out the Graphic Universal String Calculator PDF document (1 MB). Cut out the musical note bar along the two dotted lines. Cut out the half circle tabs below the graph and slide the note bar under these tabs. Slide the bar so that the black arrow points to the sounding length of the string you want to replace. Now find the note along the bar and follow it up to the string that will give you the tension needed. The strings are identified with numbers S-6-1 up to S-12-7. Middle C is c' at 261.6 hertz which is modern pitch. If you need notes lower than C 65.4 hertz you can extend the note bar in the bass or mark a new black arrow 108mm to the right of the existing arrow and now the notes are transposed down an octave. You can also extend the length of string at the right. Try to estimate the correct spacing.
The price for sizes listed on Calculator is $6.00 per meter. 140 cm lengths are $9.00. The following sizes are available in continuous length coils: S-6-5, S-8-5, S-8-6, S-12-4 and S-12-6.
Massachusetts sales add 6.25% sales tax. Prices include packing and shipping to USA. Inquire for quote to other countries.
PAYMENT OPTIONS:
Preferred method is to mail personal check payable to Steven W. Sorli. To pay with Paypal use my email above as my Paypal address and include the sizes and quantities you want with your payment. Or send me an email with your order details including your Paypal email and I will send you a Paypal request for payment. FOR ALL PAYPAL ORDERS ADD $20 EXTRA
Fluorocarbon Strings
Five meter coils of the fluorocarbon strings are also available. Fluorocarbon (polyvinylidene fluoride) has a higher density compared to nylon. When replacing a nylon string with a carbon string use a smaller diameter. The bending stiffness is less and the string vibrates more easily. This emphasizes the upper harmonics and results in a more brilliant timbre. I will label these strings similar to the other suppliers with a number and KF. A 40KF string is a fluorocarbon (sometimes called carbon fiber) with a diameter of .40 mm.
You can use this online calculator: Arto's String Calculator to choose the correct strings. Classical guitars use 60KF, 66KF and 81KF.
The sizes available are 37KF $4.50, 40KF $4.50, 44KF $5.00, 50KF $6.00, 52KF $6.00, 58KF $7.75, 60KF $7.75, 62KF $7.75, 66KF $9.00, 70KF $10.50, 74KF $10.50 and 81KF $12.50. These prices are for 5 meter coils.
Fluorocarbon treble strings are prone to slip at the tie block as can nylon. Before installing treble strings on classical guitars, hold the string tip above a match flame. The melted string tip balls up and prevents the string from slipping at the tie block.
I do not recommend the new "Nylgut" made by Aquila Corde. It is not identical to gut in many ways. The sound of Nylgut is brighter than gut and does not have the "bloom" found in real gut and fluorocarbon. It is also considerably weaker than gut, especially the thinner sizes. I recently re-strung a Martin lautenwerk with Nylgut and had to tune the instrument down a half step to prevent string breakage. The coloring is much lighter than gut and some of the strings were bright yellow. The thickest sizes above .85 mm are useful and sound better than the equivalent fluorocarbon strings. Lastly, it is exorbitantly expensive.
ssorli@gmail.com
