Hell Ed, How badly must a lute be damaged? I think the question should be, how much is a replacement lute worth? Obvioulsly for any instrument, the repair cost outweighs the decision to buy again. Of course if one takes the instrument to a luthier who is going to do everything in the pure art form, and the instrument is not up to par with what is being built, then I would say, either buy or repair yourself or at least in the uncoventioanal way. Take the action of a guitar or lute for example:
the proper method for fixing the action , is to take off the top, reposition the neck, plane it if need be and reglue the top; a total of at least 12 hours of work. Now take the unconventional approach; saw the neck at the neck joint, to about the fret board, without sawing it off, just enough to get some flexibility; pull the neck back or forward, put a wedge to fill the gap and reglue, there you go, a 2 hour job, cheap and works just the same. However it is unconventional . You say, some people have more time than money; by the same token, some people have more money than common sense. I have seen people with lutes who could not play for beans, and people with no money and only a cheap lute, that could play really well..... and some people willing to spend a lot of money to fix something, simply by snobism, while others who are being practical and spending their money where it will really make a difference. Take my latest venture, I have an 11 course lute, made in the late 70's ; I don't use it much for 11 course music, so I have decided to convert it to a small tiorbato; Now I could have the neck removed and have a longer neck put on, with a double peg box, etc....The lute cost me 1000$ in 1978, which was then the price...however not up to par with what is being made now. So instead of refitting a new neck at a costly price, I am having an extension added to the existing neck, by having first removed the pegbox. That will be less costly , and will work just as well.....grant you may not be as esthetically pleasing, but I need a lute to be able to play, and not to look at as a work of art to be exhibited on my wall... regards Bruno Cognyl-Fournier Ed Durbrow wrote: >>Just from curiosity, how badly must a lute be damaged >>to make repair more expensive than a new lute? >> >> > >Herb, >Another classic question. >It must depend on the lute, for example, if it was a priceless museum >object, it could justify a quite expensive repair. If it is a piece >of junk, what's the point? > >However, read on. When a brace came loose in my Aria lute, it cost >7/8 of the price I paid for it to repair it. Since it is such a major >operation to take the top off, we decided to replace the top with >something better. Hiro also moved the bridge and put it in a more >historical position. In a sense, it became an opportunity. I ended up >with a much better lute. > >If someone can do the repair themselves, it might change the balance. >Some people have more time than money or derive a sense of >satisfaction from doing something themselves. >Keep 'em coming. :-) >cheers, > > To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
