rectified nylon strings

[Antony Grenney]

Hello. (This group seems more active than a lot of Usenet, which is nice to see still...) I wanted to ask for people's impressions of rectified nylon strings, impressions and tips.

I mostly play two inexpensive steel string guitars, but bought an all solid woods classical guitar made by 'Santos Martinez' that is better than I could expect for a £300 guitar. Because of being used to steel string I have sometimes used wound 3rd strings - I like how your hand feels better anchored, or at least that's how I'd describe it.

Later on I discovered these rectified nylon strings from Savarez and bought a few 3rd strings of different tensions. I've used these a few times, then forgotten about them, then tried them again. You get the anchored feeling but I'm thinking I'm not going to get adjusted to that amount of noise. The actual wound strings seem less noisy, but maybe that's about becoming attuned, the way we do to traffic and birdsong. Do people adjust their techniques? Do they accept the noise? (I do like a small amount of squeak, shwiiiip and buzz, etc, it's why I've got guitars and not electronic keyboards.)

I think I saw that E and B strings are available also in rectified nylon but three times the noise seems a bit much. Does anyone here swear by them?

Currently I think I'm going to make a new nut and cut the 3rd string slot for a wound string but I'll give the rectified nylon string and my brain a bit longer to make friends.

Thanks.

[Steven Bornfeld]

Post by Antony Grenney
Hello. (This group seems more active than a lot of Usenet, which is nice to see still...) I wanted to ask for people's impressions of rectified nylon strings, impressions and tips.
I mostly play two inexpensive steel string guitars, but bought an all solid woods classical guitar made by 'Santos Martinez' that is better than I could expect for a £300 guitar. Because of being used to steel string I have sometimes used wound 3rd strings - I like how your hand feels better anchored, or at least that's how I'd describe it.
Later on I discovered these rectified nylon strings from Savarez and bought a few 3rd strings of different tensions. I've used these a few times, then forgotten about them, then tried them again. You get the anchored feeling but I'm thinking I'm not going to get adjusted to that amount of noise. The actual wound strings seem less noisy, but maybe that's about becoming attuned, the way we do to traffic and birdsong. Do people adjust their techniques? Do they accept the noise? (I do like a small amount of squeak, shwiiiip and buzz, etc, it's why I've got guitars and not electronic keyboards.)
I think I saw that E and B strings are available also in rectified nylon but three times the noise seems a bit much. Does anyone here swear by them?
Currently I think I'm going to make a new nut and cut the 3rd string slot for a wound string but I'll give the rectified nylon string and my brain a bit longer to make friends.
Thanks.

So, on the one hand I'd never heard of "rectified" strings; on the other
I didn't know you could get wound 3rd strings. Live and learn. I see
that rectified strings are "textured" and that some players complain of
string noise, so you're not alone. It's hard for me to believe thought
that wound strings would make less noise.
I don't doubt that there are personal preferences; some players will
have preferences that differ between guitars. I suspect that intonation
problems caused by wear will be more significant than any manufacturing
defects of un-rectified strings. I'd also bet that "textured" strings
will wear more quickly on the frets.
I've used D'Addario EJ-45Cs for many years. At my level of expertise I
have far bigger problems than the strings I play; the EJ-45Cs have a
reputation for being reasonably uniform and "neutral".
String noise is something you have to work on; some players don't
emphasize it as much; it's also tough to tell on a recording how much is
the player and how much is the miking and mixing.
Actually this newsgroup (like most others) is a pale remnant of its
former self. I still check in from time to time; there's a lot more
going on in various FB groups, and of course Delcamp.

Steve

[Matt Faunce]

Post by Antony Grenney
Hello. (This group seems more active than a lot of Usenet, which is nice
to see still...) I wanted to ask for people's impressions of rectified
nylon strings, impressions and tips.
I mostly play two inexpensive steel string guitars, but bought an all
solid woods classical guitar made by 'Santos Martinez' that is better
than I could expect for a £300 guitar. Because of being used to steel
string I have sometimes used wound 3rd strings - I like how your hand
feels better anchored, or at least that's how I'd describe it.
Later on I discovered these rectified nylon strings from Savarez and
bought a few 3rd strings of different tensions. I've used these a few
times, then forgotten about them, then tried them again. You get the
anchored feeling but I'm thinking I'm not going to get adjusted to that
amount of noise. The actual wound strings seem less noisy, but maybe
that's about becoming attuned, the way we do to traffic and birdsong. Do
people adjust their techniques? Do they accept the noise? (I do like a
small amount of squeak, shwiiiip and buzz, etc, it's why I've got guitars
and not electronic keyboards.)
I think I saw that E and B strings are available also in rectified nylon
but three times the noise seems a bit much. Does anyone here swear by them?
Currently I think I'm going to make a new nut and cut the 3rd string slot
for a wound string but I'll give the rectified nylon string and my brain
a bit longer to make friends.
Thanks.

I’ve tried these strings years ago. With the rectified nylon-G I didn’t
feel the need to change my technique in any conscious way because of a
little extra noise. I stopped using them because I preferred the more
supple tone from a regular nylon G on my guitar. My guitar doesn’t suffer
from a tubby-sounding G string like many less-expensive guitars do. With
the wound G I did stop my left hand from gliding along the string as a
guide while shifting positions, and I would have been willing to accept
that adjustment because I did like the strong and tight tone; but I felt
that my right-hand technique was limited: I couldn’t do the Segovia slice,
or anything close to it, without getting a lot of scraping noise. It’s only
for that latter reason I stopped using them.

[Ken Blake]

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Antony Grenney
Hello. (This group seems more active than a lot of Usenet, which is nice
to see still...) I wanted to ask for people's impressions of rectified
nylon strings, impressions and tips.
I mostly play two inexpensive steel string guitars, but bought an all
solid woods classical guitar made by 'Santos Martinez' that is better
than I could expect for a £300 guitar. Because of being used to steel
string I have sometimes used wound 3rd strings - I like how your hand
feels better anchored, or at least that's how I'd describe it.
Later on I discovered these rectified nylon strings from Savarez and
bought a few 3rd strings of different tensions. I've used these a few
times, then forgotten about them, then tried them again. You get the
anchored feeling but I'm thinking I'm not going to get adjusted to that
amount of noise. The actual wound strings seem less noisy, but maybe
that's about becoming attuned, the way we do to traffic and birdsong. Do
people adjust their techniques? Do they accept the noise? (I do like a
small amount of squeak, shwiiiip and buzz, etc, it's why I've got guitars
and not electronic keyboards.)
I think I saw that E and B strings are available also in rectified nylon
but three times the noise seems a bit much. Does anyone here swear by them?
Currently I think I'm going to make a new nut and cut the 3rd string slot
for a wound string but I'll give the rectified nylon string and my brain
a bit longer to make friends.
Thanks.

I’ve tried these strings years ago. With the rectified nylon-G I didn’t
feel the need to change my technique in any conscious way because of a
little extra noise. I stopped using them because I preferred the more
supple tone from a regular nylon G on my guitar. My guitar doesn’t suffer
from a tubby-sounding G string like many less-expensive guitars do. With
the wound G I did stop my left hand from gliding along the string as a
guide while shifting positions, and I would have been willing to accept
that adjustment because I did like the strong and tight tone; but I felt
that my right-hand technique was limited: I couldn’t do the Segovia slice,
or anything close to it, without getting a lot of scraping noise. It’s only
for that latter reason I stopped using them.

Just curious: what's the "Segovia slice"?

[Matt Faunce]

Post by Ken Blake

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Antony Grenney
Hello. (This group seems more active than a lot of Usenet, which is nice
to see still...) I wanted to ask for people's impressions of rectified
nylon strings, impressions and tips.
I mostly play two inexpensive steel string guitars, but bought an all
solid woods classical guitar made by 'Santos Martinez' that is better
than I could expect for a £300 guitar. Because of being used to steel
string I have sometimes used wound 3rd strings - I like how your hand
feels better anchored, or at least that's how I'd describe it.
Later on I discovered these rectified nylon strings from Savarez and
bought a few 3rd strings of different tensions. I've used these a few
times, then forgotten about them, then tried them again. You get the
anchored feeling but I'm thinking I'm not going to get adjusted to that
amount of noise. The actual wound strings seem less noisy, but maybe
that's about becoming attuned, the way we do to traffic and birdsong. Do
people adjust their techniques? Do they accept the noise? (I do like a
small amount of squeak, shwiiiip and buzz, etc, it's why I've got guitars
and not electronic keyboards.)
I think I saw that E and B strings are available also in rectified nylon
but three times the noise seems a bit much. Does anyone here swear by them?
Currently I think I'm going to make a new nut and cut the 3rd string slot
for a wound string but I'll give the rectified nylon string and my brain
a bit longer to make friends.
Thanks.

I’ve tried these strings years ago. With the rectified nylon-G I didn’t
feel the need to change my technique in any conscious way because of a
little extra noise. I stopped using them because I preferred the more
supple tone from a regular nylon G on my guitar. My guitar doesn’t suffer
from a tubby-sounding G string like many less-expensive guitars do. With
the wound G I did stop my left hand from gliding along the string as a
guide while shifting positions, and I would have been willing to accept
that adjustment because I did like the strong and tight tone; but I felt
that my right-hand technique was limited: I couldn’t do the Segovia slice,
or anything close to it, without getting a lot of scraping noise. It’s only
for that latter reason I stopped using them.

Just curious: what's the "Segovia slice"?

It’s when in your plucking motion, instead of having your r.h. finger
follow through toward your palm, you rotate your wrist so that your
fingertip moves toward where your thumb was when you started the motion.
It’s a technique to get the string to glide along the nail before it’s
released and freely vibrates, as opposed to having the string snap off
which happens when you pluck perpendicular to the string. It’s an
ultra-gradual release which yields the roundest tone. You get a decent
glide when you use a normal motion plucking motion that’s more oblique to
the string, but the Segovia slice will get the most glide and smoothest
release.

Another benefit of the Segovia slice is that because your finger is moved
solely by the rotation of the wrist, and in a direction that your finger
joints won’t facilitate, there’s more momentum in your finger as it moves
through the string than in a normal stroke. More momentum yields a bigger
tone.

[Antony Grenney]

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Ken Blake

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Antony Grenney
Hello. (This group seems more active than a lot of Usenet, which is nice
to see still...) I wanted to ask for people's impressions of rectified
nylon strings, impressions and tips.
I mostly play two inexpensive steel string guitars, but bought an all
solid woods classical guitar made by 'Santos Martinez' that is better
than I could expect for a £300 guitar. Because of being used to steel
string I have sometimes used wound 3rd strings - I like how your hand
feels better anchored, or at least that's how I'd describe it.
Later on I discovered these rectified nylon strings from Savarez and
bought a few 3rd strings of different tensions. I've used these a few
times, then forgotten about them, then tried them again. You get the
anchored feeling but I'm thinking I'm not going to get adjusted to that
amount of noise. The actual wound strings seem less noisy, but maybe
that's about becoming attuned, the way we do to traffic and birdsong. Do
people adjust their techniques? Do they accept the noise? (I do like a
small amount of squeak, shwiiiip and buzz, etc, it's why I've got guitars
and not electronic keyboards.)
I think I saw that E and B strings are available also in rectified nylon
but three times the noise seems a bit much. Does anyone here swear by them?
Currently I think I'm going to make a new nut and cut the 3rd string slot
for a wound string but I'll give the rectified nylon string and my brain
a bit longer to make friends.
Thanks.

I’ve tried these strings years ago. With the rectified nylon-G I didn’t
feel the need to change my technique in any conscious way because of a
little extra noise. I stopped using them because I preferred the more
supple tone from a regular nylon G on my guitar. My guitar doesn’t suffer
from a tubby-sounding G string like many less-expensive guitars do. With
the wound G I did stop my left hand from gliding along the string as a
guide while shifting positions, and I would have been willing to accept
that adjustment because I did like the strong and tight tone; but I felt
that my right-hand technique was limited: I couldn’t do the Segovia slice,
or anything close to it, without getting a lot of scraping noise. It’s only
for that latter reason I stopped using them.

Just curious: what's the "Segovia slice"?

It’s when in your plucking motion, instead of having your r.h. finger
follow through toward your palm, you rotate your wrist so that your
fingertip moves toward where your thumb was when you started the motion.
It’s a technique to get the string to glide along the nail before it’s
released and freely vibrates, as opposed to having the string snap off
which happens when you pluck perpendicular to the string. It’s an
ultra-gradual release which yields the roundest tone. You get a decent
glide when you use a normal motion plucking motion that’s more oblique to
the string, but the Segovia slice will get the most glide and smoothest
release.
Another benefit of the Segovia slice is that because your finger is moved
solely by the rotation of the wrist, and in a direction that your finger
joints won’t facilitate, there’s more momentum in your finger as it moves
through the string than in a normal stroke. More momentum yields a bigger
tone.
--
Matt

Is this video talking about that slice? She mentions both Segovia and the word 'slice' quite early.

She seems to be using a bad pickup (unless the recording is just grimly compressed) so the audio doesn't really illustrate so well.

[Matt Faunce]

Post by Antony Grenney

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Ken Blake

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Antony Grenney
Hello. (This group seems more active than a lot of Usenet, which is nice
to see still...) I wanted to ask for people's impressions of rectified
nylon strings, impressions and tips.
I mostly play two inexpensive steel string guitars, but bought an all
solid woods classical guitar made by 'Santos Martinez' that is better
than I could expect for a £300 guitar. Because of being used to steel
string I have sometimes used wound 3rd strings - I like how your hand
feels better anchored, or at least that's how I'd describe it.
Later on I discovered these rectified nylon strings from Savarez and
bought a few 3rd strings of different tensions. I've used these a few
times, then forgotten about them, then tried them again. You get the
anchored feeling but I'm thinking I'm not going to get adjusted to that
amount of noise. The actual wound strings seem less noisy, but maybe
that's about becoming attuned, the way we do to traffic and birdsong. Do
people adjust their techniques? Do they accept the noise? (I do like a
small amount of squeak, shwiiiip and buzz, etc, it's why I've got guitars
and not electronic keyboards.)
I think I saw that E and B strings are available also in rectified nylon
but three times the noise seems a bit much. Does anyone here swear by them?
Currently I think I'm going to make a new nut and cut the 3rd string slot
for a wound string but I'll give the rectified nylon string and my brain
a bit longer to make friends.
Thanks.

I’ve tried these strings years ago. With the rectified nylon-G I didn’t
feel the need to change my technique in any conscious way because of a
little extra noise. I stopped using them because I preferred the more
supple tone from a regular nylon G on my guitar. My guitar doesn’t suffer
from a tubby-sounding G string like many less-expensive guitars do. With
the wound G I did stop my left hand from gliding along the string as a
guide while shifting positions, and I would have been willing to accept
that adjustment because I did like the strong and tight tone; but I felt
that my right-hand technique was limited: I couldn’t do the Segovia slice,
or anything close to it, without getting a lot of scraping noise. It’s only
for that latter reason I stopped using them.

Just curious: what's the "Segovia slice"?

It’s when in your plucking motion, instead of having your r.h. finger
follow through toward your palm, you rotate your wrist so that your
fingertip moves toward where your thumb was when you started the motion.
It’s a technique to get the string to glide along the nail before it’s
released and freely vibrates, as opposed to having the string snap off
which happens when you pluck perpendicular to the string. It’s an
ultra-gradual release which yields the roundest tone. You get a decent
glide when you use a normal motion plucking motion that’s more oblique to
the string, but the Segovia slice will get the most glide and smoothest
release.
Another benefit of the Segovia slice is that because your finger is moved
solely by the rotation of the wrist, and in a direction that your finger
joints won’t facilitate, there’s more momentum in your finger as it moves
through the string than in a normal stroke. More momentum yields a bigger
tone.
--
Matt

Is this video talking about that slice? She mentions both Segovia and the
word 'slice' quite early.
http://youtu.be/RXOnj-2HHoE
She seems to be using a bad pickup (unless the recording is just grimly
compressed) so the audio doesn't really illustrate so well.

Yes. It’s the stoke that moves, as she said, “toward the left shoulder.”
Her first demonstration of the “big warm sound” was a Segovia slice. She
did some other slices that were combinations of the wrist motion that I
described plus the finger-toward-the-palm motion which, of course, Segovia
did a lot, but I would say her first warm-tone stroke was the archetypal
Segovia slice.

[Ken Blake]

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Ken Blake

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Antony Grenney
Hello. (This group seems more active than a lot of Usenet, which is nice
to see still...) I wanted to ask for people's impressions of rectified
nylon strings, impressions and tips.
I mostly play two inexpensive steel string guitars, but bought an all
solid woods classical guitar made by 'Santos Martinez' that is better
than I could expect for a £300 guitar. Because of being used to steel
string I have sometimes used wound 3rd strings - I like how your hand
feels better anchored, or at least that's how I'd describe it.
Later on I discovered these rectified nylon strings from Savarez and
bought a few 3rd strings of different tensions. I've used these a few
times, then forgotten about them, then tried them again. You get the
anchored feeling but I'm thinking I'm not going to get adjusted to that
amount of noise. The actual wound strings seem less noisy, but maybe
that's about becoming attuned, the way we do to traffic and birdsong. Do
people adjust their techniques? Do they accept the noise? (I do like a
small amount of squeak, shwiiiip and buzz, etc, it's why I've got guitars
and not electronic keyboards.)
I think I saw that E and B strings are available also in rectified nylon
but three times the noise seems a bit much. Does anyone here swear by them?
Currently I think I'm going to make a new nut and cut the 3rd string slot
for a wound string but I'll give the rectified nylon string and my brain
a bit longer to make friends.
Thanks.

I’ve tried these strings years ago. With the rectified nylon-G I didn’t
feel the need to change my technique in any conscious way because of a
little extra noise. I stopped using them because I preferred the more
supple tone from a regular nylon G on my guitar. My guitar doesn’t suffer
from a tubby-sounding G string like many less-expensive guitars do. With
the wound G I did stop my left hand from gliding along the string as a
guide while shifting positions, and I would have been willing to accept
that adjustment because I did like the strong and tight tone; but I felt
that my right-hand technique was limited: I couldn’t do the Segovia slice,
or anything close to it, without getting a lot of scraping noise. It’s only
for that latter reason I stopped using them.

Just curious: what's the "Segovia slice"?

It’s when in your plucking motion, instead of having your r.h. finger
follow through toward your palm, you rotate your wrist so that your
fingertip moves toward where your thumb was when you started the motion.
It’s a technique to get the string to glide along the nail before it’s
released and freely vibrates, as opposed to having the string snap off
which happens when you pluck perpendicular to the string. It’s an
ultra-gradual release which yields the roundest tone. You get a decent
glide when you use a normal motion plucking motion that’s more oblique to
the string, but the Segovia slice will get the most glide and smoothest
release.
Another benefit of the Segovia slice is that because your finger is moved
solely by the rotation of the wrist, and in a direction that your finger
joints won’t facilitate, there’s more momentum in your finger as it moves
through the string than in a normal stroke. More momentum yields a bigger
tone.

Thanks very much. Do you use it? Do many of today's top guitarists use it?

[Matt Faunce]

Post by Ken Blake

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Ken Blake

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Antony Grenney
Hello. (This group seems more active than a lot of Usenet, which is nice
to see still...) I wanted to ask for people's impressions of rectified
nylon strings, impressions and tips.
I mostly play two inexpensive steel string guitars, but bought an all
solid woods classical guitar made by 'Santos Martinez' that is better
than I could expect for a £300 guitar. Because of being used to steel
string I have sometimes used wound 3rd strings - I like how your hand
feels better anchored, or at least that's how I'd describe it.
Later on I discovered these rectified nylon strings from Savarez and
bought a few 3rd strings of different tensions. I've used these a few
times, then forgotten about them, then tried them again. You get the
anchored feeling but I'm thinking I'm not going to get adjusted to that
amount of noise. The actual wound strings seem less noisy, but maybe
that's about becoming attuned, the way we do to traffic and birdsong. Do
people adjust their techniques? Do they accept the noise? (I do like a
small amount of squeak, shwiiiip and buzz, etc, it's why I've got guitars
and not electronic keyboards.)
I think I saw that E and B strings are available also in rectified nylon
but three times the noise seems a bit much. Does anyone here swear by them?
Currently I think I'm going to make a new nut and cut the 3rd string slot
for a wound string but I'll give the rectified nylon string and my brain
a bit longer to make friends.
Thanks.

I’ve tried these strings years ago. With the rectified nylon-G I didn’t
feel the need to change my technique in any conscious way because of a
little extra noise. I stopped using them because I preferred the more
supple tone from a regular nylon G on my guitar. My guitar doesn’t suffer
from a tubby-sounding G string like many less-expensive guitars do. With
the wound G I did stop my left hand from gliding along the string as a
guide while shifting positions, and I would have been willing to accept
that adjustment because I did like the strong and tight tone; but I felt
that my right-hand technique was limited: I couldn’t do the Segovia slice,
or anything close to it, without getting a lot of scraping noise. It’s only
for that latter reason I stopped using them.

Just curious: what's the "Segovia slice"?

It’s when in your plucking motion, instead of having your r.h. finger
follow through toward your palm, you rotate your wrist so that your
fingertip moves toward where your thumb was when you started the motion.
It’s a technique to get the string to glide along the nail before it’s
released and freely vibrates, as opposed to having the string snap off
which happens when you pluck perpendicular to the string. It’s an
ultra-gradual release which yields the roundest tone. You get a decent
glide when you use a normal motion plucking motion that’s more oblique to
the string, but the Segovia slice will get the most glide and smoothest
release.
Another benefit of the Segovia slice is that because your finger is moved
solely by the rotation of the wrist, and in a direction that your finger
joints won’t facilitate, there’s more momentum in your finger as it moves
through the string than in a normal stroke. More momentum yields a bigger
tone.

Thanks very much. Do you use it? Do many of today's top guitarists use it?

I wasn’t sure because I hardly think about my technique anymore, so I just
played a couple of pieces by Torroba: Yes, I used it several times in each
piece. I did interpret the piece using a lot of various tone-colors, so I
imagine that guitarists today who use a lot of colors also use that
technique.

[Matt Faunce]

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Ken Blake

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Ken Blake

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Antony Grenney
Hello. (This group seems more active than a lot of Usenet, which is nice
to see still...) I wanted to ask for people's impressions of rectified
nylon strings, impressions and tips.
I mostly play two inexpensive steel string guitars, but bought an all
solid woods classical guitar made by 'Santos Martinez' that is better
than I could expect for a £300 guitar. Because of being used to steel
string I have sometimes used wound 3rd strings - I like how your hand
feels better anchored, or at least that's how I'd describe it.
Later on I discovered these rectified nylon strings from Savarez and
bought a few 3rd strings of different tensions. I've used these a few
times, then forgotten about them, then tried them again. You get the
anchored feeling but I'm thinking I'm not going to get adjusted to that
amount of noise. The actual wound strings seem less noisy, but maybe
that's about becoming attuned, the way we do to traffic and birdsong. Do
people adjust their techniques? Do they accept the noise? (I do like a
small amount of squeak, shwiiiip and buzz, etc, it's why I've got guitars
and not electronic keyboards.)
I think I saw that E and B strings are available also in rectified nylon
but three times the noise seems a bit much. Does anyone here swear by them?
Currently I think I'm going to make a new nut and cut the 3rd string slot
for a wound string but I'll give the rectified nylon string and my brain
a bit longer to make friends.
Thanks.

I’ve tried these strings years ago. With the rectified nylon-G I didn’t
feel the need to change my technique in any conscious way because of a
little extra noise. I stopped using them because I preferred the more
supple tone from a regular nylon G on my guitar. My guitar doesn’t suffer
from a tubby-sounding G string like many less-expensive guitars do. With
the wound G I did stop my left hand from gliding along the string as a
guide while shifting positions, and I would have been willing to accept
that adjustment because I did like the strong and tight tone; but I felt
that my right-hand technique was limited: I couldn’t do the Segovia slice,
or anything close to it, without getting a lot of scraping noise. It’s only
for that latter reason I stopped using them.

Just curious: what's the "Segovia slice"?

It’s when in your plucking motion, instead of having your r.h. finger
follow through toward your palm, you rotate your wrist so that your
fingertip moves toward where your thumb was when you started the motion.
It’s a technique to get the string to glide along the nail before it’s
released and freely vibrates, as opposed to having the string snap off
which happens when you pluck perpendicular to the string. It’s an
ultra-gradual release which yields the roundest tone. You get a decent
glide when you use a normal motion plucking motion that’s more oblique to
the string, but the Segovia slice will get the most glide and smoothest
release.
Another benefit of the Segovia slice is that because your finger is moved
solely by the rotation of the wrist, and in a direction that your finger
joints won’t facilitate, there’s more momentum in your finger as it moves
through the string than in a normal stroke. More momentum yields a bigger
tone.

Thanks very much. Do you use it? Do many of today's top guitarists use it?

I wasn’t sure because I hardly think about my technique anymore, so I just
played a couple of pieces by Torroba: Yes, I used it several times in each
piece. I did interpret the piece

pieces

Post by Matt Faunce
using a lot of various tone-colors, so I
imagine that guitarists today who use a lot of colors also use that
technique.

I don’t know how many of today’s top players use it. I’m curious if David
Russell uses it. He was one of the first top guitarists, if not the first,
to usher in what I think of as the piano players, i.e., players who don’t
use much tone variation, but, like pianists, use all the other devices
available, like dynamics, plays with tempo, etc. (Just compare Russell with
Parkening.)

[Ken Blake]

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Ken Blake

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Ken Blake

Post by Matt Faunce

Post by Antony Grenney
Hello. (This group seems more active than a lot of Usenet, which is nice
to see still...) I wanted to ask for people's impressions of rectified
nylon strings, impressions and tips.
I mostly play two inexpensive steel string guitars, but bought an all
solid woods classical guitar made by 'Santos Martinez' that is better
than I could expect for a £300 guitar. Because of being used to steel
string I have sometimes used wound 3rd strings - I like how your hand
feels better anchored, or at least that's how I'd describe it.
Later on I discovered these rectified nylon strings from Savarez and
bought a few 3rd strings of different tensions. I've used these a few
times, then forgotten about them, then tried them again. You get the
anchored feeling but I'm thinking I'm not going to get adjusted to that
amount of noise. The actual wound strings seem less noisy, but maybe
that's about becoming attuned, the way we do to traffic and birdsong. Do
people adjust their techniques? Do they accept the noise? (I do like a
small amount of squeak, shwiiiip and buzz, etc, it's why I've got guitars
and not electronic keyboards.)
I think I saw that E and B strings are available also in rectified nylon
but three times the noise seems a bit much. Does anyone here swear by them?
Currently I think I'm going to make a new nut and cut the 3rd string slot
for a wound string but I'll give the rectified nylon string and my brain
a bit longer to make friends.
Thanks.

I’ve tried these strings years ago. With the rectified nylon-G I didn’t
feel the need to change my technique in any conscious way because of a
little extra noise. I stopped using them because I preferred the more
supple tone from a regular nylon G on my guitar. My guitar doesn’t suffer
from a tubby-sounding G string like many less-expensive guitars do. With
the wound G I did stop my left hand from gliding along the string as a
guide while shifting positions, and I would have been willing to accept
that adjustment because I did like the strong and tight tone; but I felt
that my right-hand technique was limited: I couldn’t do the Segovia slice,
or anything close to it, without getting a lot of scraping noise. It’s only
for that latter reason I stopped using them.

Just curious: what's the "Segovia slice"?

It’s when in your plucking motion, instead of having your r.h. finger
follow through toward your palm, you rotate your wrist so that your
fingertip moves toward where your thumb was when you started the motion.
It’s a technique to get the string to glide along the nail before it’s
released and freely vibrates, as opposed to having the string snap off
which happens when you pluck perpendicular to the string. It’s an
ultra-gradual release which yields the roundest tone. You get a decent
glide when you use a normal motion plucking motion that’s more oblique to
the string, but the Segovia slice will get the most glide and smoothest
release.
Another benefit of the Segovia slice is that because your finger is moved
solely by the rotation of the wrist, and in a direction that your finger
joints won’t facilitate, there’s more momentum in your finger as it moves
through the string than in a normal stroke. More momentum yields a bigger
tone.

Thanks very much. Do you use it? Do many of today's top guitarists use it?

I wasn’t sure because I hardly think about my technique anymore, so I just
played a couple of pieces by Torroba: Yes, I used it several times in each
piece. I did interpret the piece

pieces

Post by Matt Faunce
using a lot of various tone-colors, so I
imagine that guitarists today who use a lot of colors also use that
technique.

I don’t know how many of today’s top players use it. I’m curious if David
Russell uses it.

I'm not sure, but I'm seen him play many times, and frequently up close,
giving master classes. If he used it, I never noticed. And I've never
heard him mention it.

Post by Matt Faunce
He was one of the first top guitarists, if not the first,
to usher in what I think of as the piano players, i.e., players who don’t
use much tone variation, but, like pianists, use all the other devices
available, like dynamics, plays with tempo, etc. (Just compare Russell with
Parkening.)

[dsi1]

Post by Antony Grenney
Hello. (This group seems more active than a lot of Usenet, which is nice to see still...) I wanted to ask for people's impressions of rectified nylon strings, impressions and tips.
I mostly play two inexpensive steel string guitars, but bought an all solid woods classical guitar made by 'Santos Martinez' that is better than I could expect for a £300 guitar. Because of being used to steel string I have sometimes used wound 3rd strings - I like how your hand feels better anchored, or at least that's how I'd describe it.
Later on I discovered these rectified nylon strings from Savarez and bought a few 3rd strings of different tensions. I've used these a few times, then forgotten about them, then tried them again. You get the anchored feeling but I'm thinking I'm not going to get adjusted to that amount of noise. The actual wound strings seem less noisy, but maybe that's about becoming attuned, the way we do to traffic and birdsong. Do people adjust their techniques? Do they accept the noise? (I do like a small amount of squeak, shwiiiip and buzz, etc, it's why I've got guitars and not electronic keyboards.)
I think I saw that E and B strings are available also in rectified nylon but three times the noise seems a bit much. Does anyone here swear by them?
Currently I think I'm going to make a new nut and cut the 3rd string slot for a wound string but I'll give the rectified nylon string and my brain a bit longer to make friends.
Thanks.

I don't think "rectified" means wound. Mostly it means that the string has been pulled through a die in order to insure a uniform diameter. I suppose it could also mean wound strings that have been pulled through a die, in which case, it might be done to flatten the surface of the windings. Fender used to do that to their wound electric guitar strings. This burnished the surface and made them smoother to the touch and perhaps a little less noisy. I loved those strings but they no longer do that any more.
I have used wound G strings. They sound good but mostly they just made my playing even more noisy. I won't ever use them.