Interesting- my experience has been the exact opposite. My hybrid 6 course (Arnault de Zwolle body mated to a typical late 15th/early 16th century 8 fret 6 course fingerboard) originally had a very thin neck; extremely uncomfortable (hand cramped up) but only after about 20 minutes or so of playing. Mel Wong re-necked the thing a couple of years ago; much thicker neck -don't know if it conforms exactly to historic specs- but now it's a joy to play, and my technique is based on the lowered wrist/classical guitar form. Dan
> Dear Collective Wisdom, > I need some advice on the neck section of an Italian 6 course lute. > Last week I met in Milano a lutemaker who made a copy of the well-known > Magno dieffopruchar lute held in the J & A Beare Collection in >London. I was > together with a well known Italian lutenist who, at first, refused even to > try the instrument, as the "parabola"-section neck of the lute was > incredibly deep. > After what has been a very instructive (and funny) discussion we all tried > the instrument with different results: I am a tall guy and therefore the > neck measure has not been a major issue for me, while my teacher complained > that the measure prevented him from playing easily. > I have to admit that I had never played on such a "thick" neck, but the > lutemaker insisted that the measurements taken on the original instrument > matched perfectly her neck. > I have after checked many lute pictures, including the Holbein >"Ambassadors" > portrait and spent some time on the very informative page in >Barber & Harris > website ([1]http://www.lutesandguitars.co.uk/htm/cat01.htm): I >tend to think > she's right. The original 6 course lute neck was very "thick" (or deep, if > you prefer). > The trouble is that all 7 course (or more) lute I have played are REALLY > much more confortable to play, especially because thir necks are thinner. > Is any of the lutemakers on this list able to provide me some measures to > think about? Any advice? > By the way: that lute sounded great, with a well-balanced, clear tone and > an excellent projection. > Thank you in advance, > Luca -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
