Fomrhi Comm 1969

The lute and the case for double frets by Tim Watson
liuto attiobato Matteo Sellas 1638

Modern players of the lute and makers seem to have ignored the use of double tied gut frets, though
they are still often used on viols. Most colleagues when they see my now double fretted instruments
seem totally unaware that this was common throughout the renaissance and early baroque periods.
The practice was first suggested to me by Stephen Gottleib, while consigning a rather splendid copy
of a Liuto Attiorbato by Matteo Sellas, in fact the original of this instrument in Paris is displayed
with double frets, though Stephen did not initially consign my lute in this form. Perfecting my
personal set up of the instrument I began to experiment with them. I don’t know of any
contemporary written evidence to sustain their use in treatise, though the woodcuts in one lute tutor
seem to illustrate double frets.

As I will show below, there are a considerable number of examples depicted in iconography. It’s
true that, as I affirmed in an earlier article that many artists could not be trusted very much to
represent the finer details of musical instruments with any accuracy, or at least of sufficient detail to
be of use to instrument makers, however of those who did have a keen eye and a fastidious nature
such as Caravaggio or Hans Holbien, we can be sure that they were painting exactly what they saw
in front of them and thus from these we can safely confirm the practice.

Hans Holbein the younger11497-1543 detail from The Ambassadors 1533

The use of double fretting is shown in paintings from the early 16 th century, see Hans Holbein the
Younger, The Ambassadors (1533) in the National Gallery London, this detail shows quite clearly
the very thin doubled frets with a single knot. The practice continued in Italy towards the end of the
century shown in the Lute Player by Caravaggio in the Metropolitan museum New York, though
that the practice was not ubiquitous is demonstrated by the other version of this painting by the
hand of the

Caravaggio 1573-1610 Boy playing the lute

Version Metropolitan Museum 1595 Version Hermitage

same artist, in the Hermitage St.Petersburg, where the frets are clearly single. The two paintings
made in the same period of Caravaggio’s life and while clearly not the same lute, the two
instruments are both of the same model, Venetian, so we should probably conclude that to use
single of double frets was a preference of the individual player or in the set up of the instrument,
and not necessarily tied to a geographic fashion, in this case certainly related to the individual lute
in question as the boy playing is the same in each painting. I recently inspected two paintings of lute
players by Artemisia Gentileschi painted around 1615. Both showed very clearly the instrument’s
detail and double frets.

Artemisia Gentileschi 1593-1652 Self portrait as a lute player

So was this a practice particular to Italy or the Italian makers. Matteo Sellas would seem to have
preferred this arrangement, as we have seen on the small attiorbato (1638) in Paris (above) and can
be seen on one of his baroque guitars of 1630 exhibited in the Metropolitan museum’s collection of
historic instruments.
Matteo Sellas 5 course guitar 1630

The practice continued into 17th century France as shown in a work by Laurent de la Hyre (1606-
1656) on a 13 course single strung theobro. Referencing the images in opening chapter of Robert
Lundberg’s book Historical Lute Construction, double frets can be clearly seen at least in the
restored display set up of a bass lute by Michielle Harton (1602) and another converted to a German
Baroque lute by Hans Burkholtzer (originally 1596) in the Kunsthistorisches museum in Vienna. I
can however find no examples in the numerous paintings of lutes from the Dutch and Flemish
schools, though Theodoor Rombouts and Van der Bruggen painted fret boards very accurately,
where we definitely see only single frets. Not that the absence of proof proves definitively the
absence of a fact to paraphrase the late Ian Harwood.
Laurent de la Hyre 1608-1656

What advantage, if any, do double frets give to the lute or guitar and it’s player. Firstly I was
initially sold the marketing ploy that they last longer! To be economically valid they would have to
last for more than double the life of their single cousins without slackening or wearing, in my
experience this is not the case so they will cost you more in fret gut. They certainly do not slacken
and move as much with changes of temperature and humidity as single frets that’s true, as the way
to tighten them before tying the knot allows you to stretch the gut more. An action similar to a
pulley system which doubles the force you can apply while tying the fret. Also being double, the
friction at the turnaround edge of the fret board is also duplicated, this gives a certain confidence
when for example playing rapid descending scales which often pull an aging single fret up towards
the nut, the narrower end of the neck and make them slide towards freedom and musical chaos. Yes
we should change them more often, but we don’t, at least until bits of matchstick will hold them in
place. The wear is frankly about the same as single ones, at least with Nygut strings onto gut frets,
perhaps even a little more tricky to manage as the finger side of the two strands tends to wear first.
It’s also essential when tying a new fret to ensure that the strand towards the bridge is as tight if not
tighter than the other, otherwise it has a little freedom and can move freely and cause buzzing.
Hendrik ter Bruggen 1588-1629 Theodoor Rombouts 1597-1637

Where there is a definite advantage, is in permitting a very low action and thus fast scale runs. If
you wish to lower the strings towards the fret board, it constrains you to use some very thin frets
then it’s much better for them to be double. I now start at the first fret with 0.75mm from 1.00 or
1.1mm previously. This allows you to press down to the wood quickly and easily, with an even
pressure on both strings of the pair. The technique is similar to that used on the Turkish Saz with a
very thin twine wound even four times around the neck, to give a flat but firm fret. In the case of
octave stringing it also helps to avoid the different sharpening of a thick string to its thin octave
partner as you move up the fret board towards the soundboard, taking the two string out of tune
with each other. It gives a precise feel when performing trills and embellishments having the fixed
keynote finger firmly on the wood and the string having more contact with the fret, remains firm
and sounds loud and clearly. This gives particular benefit on baroque lutes with a long diapason.
Angled frets, contrary to an article printed in this bulletin some time ago, are a feature of the lute.
Iconography shows quite clearly frets at all sorts of angles. The important thing is to be in tune in as
many positions as possible not the aesthetical disposition of the frets. The difference in intonation of
thick and thin strings, gut or synthetic, old and new, as well as temperament requires that frets are
often quite inclined off the shortest distance between the two sides of the fret board, leaving them
tenuously clinging onto their position, double frets in this case remain much firmer.
Turkish Saz

Could it then be that the choice of single or double fretting was though certainly determined by the
player’s preferences and habit, perhaps more from the lute he found in his hands and the vagaries of
the strings available. The almost mass produced lutes from makers in Venice and Bologna were
shipped through traders across Europe, the lutenist did not have the same personal relationship with
the original maker that we have today. Who knows what action and set up the lute had when it
arrived. If it was excessively high it could be opened and adjusted, but if it was low it’s more of a
problem, without dismantling the whole lute or adjusting the bridge. Doubled, thus wide but flat
frets are one quick and easy remedy.