Dear Luca, There is an excellent article by Stephen Barber on the Beare collection Dieffopruchar lute in 'The Lute' (Lute Society Journal) 1982, volume XXII Part 2. I believe that his drawings of the original continue to be available, and they are likely to be the starting point used by makers who offer lutes modelled on it. In the article Stephen writes:
'The profile of the Dieffopruchar neck, unlike the Gerle neck or that of the lute in the 'Ambassadors' painting, is straight. In common with these, it is rather thicker than later lute necks; there are, I feel, interesting comparisons to be made between this shape and thickness of neck, and the necks of contemporary Venetian viols.' As it happens, I own one of Stephen & Sandi's lutes based on the Beare Dieffopruchar, and it's the perfect 6 course lute for me. The neck certainly has the parabolic section of the original, but it's tapered in thickness - a synthesis of the original and known details of other lutes of this period. I find it extremely comfortable to play, and I imagine it's a very carefully considered feature of their design. I suspect that I would probably find an exact copy of the original a bit of a handful at the pegbox end of the neck. I have heard numerous stories over the years that suggest that the idea of an 'exact copy' of any historical instrument can be full of pitfalls for the unwary. And there is no need to suffer for the sake of authenticity, because the range of possibilities within the realm of 6 course lute neck design are surely such that all shapes and sizes of hands can be accommodated. If the Maler and Fugger inventories are anything to go by, that's surely what 16c makers did. So I would recommend that you don't let your experience of this particular lute put you off trying other different, but still historically inspired 6 course lutes. Best wishes, Denys -----Original Message----- From: Luca Manassero [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 05 November 2007 16:03 To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Neck section in a 6 course lute 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 [2]http://liuti.manassero.net References 1. http://www.lutesandguitars.co.uk/htm/cat01.htm): 2. http://liuti.manassero.net/ To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
