Ramon Marco de Sevilla <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > Are lutes built strongly enough to handle strap buttons?
yes, but... make sure you have the work done by someone with experience; the neck end of the lute has a small block inside that anchors the ends of all the ribs and provides an excellent point of attachment for that end of the strap; the other end of the lute can be as thin as three layers of rib-thickness wood; typically 3-4mm thick in all. Historical lutes are depicted in some paintings with a 'strap' of gut run between two buttons. A hook or a button on the clothing of the player engages this loop. MOdern players have tried this with some success, and have also used both banjo- style or guitar-style straps. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
