Hi (what's your first name?) All the surviving solo repertoire (and I'm sure someone will correct me if am wrong) is for 6 courses on the fingerboard. Some players prefer seven for continuo reasons. At the string length you are thinking about, you could tune it in D, as in the small French theorbe de pieces.
Rob www.rmguitar.info -----Original Message----- From: T. Diehl-Peshkur [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 08 December 2007 15:24 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Theorbo I had a request to all the performers/teachers among you here. Any help would be appreciated. I am on a waiting list for a theorbo to used only for solo music, almost exclusively late (like de Visee) although it might occasionally be used to play with very small ensembles at home, or a few early pieces at some time in the far future. The only points for me is to have it strung only in gut (which should not be difficult, I assume), and also on the small side (74/76 cm stoppable string length, probably 8+6.) My hands are not small, but used to 68/70 length, and I am concerned that anything too big will be a problem for me. The model will be Sellas, a multi-ribbed version. Final pitch to play at is not an issue, since I am on my own for that.. If there are any issues I should think about, or watch out for regarding string length or string grouping (like 7+7?), please do let me know, as I have the time now to discuss change details, and I only know baroque lute- so I am a total theorbo newbie. Thanks all! -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html