Ah, now this is the sort of input I was looking for. Many thanks for the warning.
I, too, live in Northern California, just North of San Jose. Do you know of a decent bass lute in the area that would be for sale? Thanks, Grant On Jan 26, 2008 12:34 PM, Michael Bocchicchio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- Grant Green <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >Does anyone have an > > opinion on the Early Music > > Shop theorbo that's now being advertised? I am > > strictly a hobbyist player: > Grant, > I'm a luthier in Nor Cal. I just finished > repairing/making functional a Pakistani theorbo from > EMS for a customer. The instrument arrived with a > concave fingerboard, cracked upper pegbox, and a > soundboard that was too short and had been spliced > using a strip of rosewood as a spacer (just plain > weird). The soundboard was over 3mm at the edges (way > thick!) and the crude and over sized bridge was > attached with three dowels presumably to a plate below > the sound board (not historical and certainly not > good). The strings that came with it were un-rectified > and not sized at all with the same size used for > several courses. They looked more suitable for a Weed > Whacker. Most of the pegs were set too close to there > maximum usable depth. The neck extension was made of > some type of rosewood and was so heavy that it caused > muscle fatigue in the shoulder and arm. > When all the mechanical problems were fixed, due to > the strangely made and heavy-thick soundboard, it > still didn't make much sound for an 88.5cm instrument! > I removed over 1mm from the sound board and it got a > little better, but still a disappointment. > My advice: wait, save, and spend a bit more money and > enjoy a good instrument. After the customer payed me > to make it playable, he had way too much invested in > this "never be good" instrument. I have pics if you > would like to see the cracked and unusable upper > pegbox. > Best, > Mike > PS, the roses look like they were cut with a steak > knife. > > > > > > .. And then some of us are "pre-beginners", not > > having a lute of any form > > yet... > > > > For the past 40+ years, I've mainly played woodwinds > > and classical guitar, > > but have recently become interested in playing with > > a local early music > > group (recorders, shawms, crumhorns, etc.). (I've > > owned a raft of early > > woodwinds for some time, but haven't had much call > > to play them.) Along the > > way, I've developed a strong fascination for the > > lute and theorbo, and have > > been lurking here hoping to pick up on the attitudes > > you seasoned players > > have towards the various versions of the instrument. > > > > I have a predilection for the bass & contrabass end > > of the spectrum, so am > > gravitating toward theorbo. Does anyone have an > > opinion on the Early Music > > Shop theorbo that's now being advertised? I am > > strictly a hobbyist player: > > still have two daughters in college, and can't > > afford to give up my day job > > ;-) If you have any questions about patent law, > > feel free to ask... > > > > Thanks, > > > > Grant > > > > On Jan 26, 2008 3:40 AM, Rob > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > So I call on all those lurkers who are even too > > shy to contribute emails, > > > let us know what you are up to, ask questions. I > > have many questions of my > > > own - the subject is too large for one person to > > know everything. And I > > > for > > > one enjoy contributions from beginners and > > amateurs (in the best sense of > > > the word) than from arrogant know-all so-called > > professionals. > > > -- > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > > > > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html<http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html> > <http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html> > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > Grant Green - > > www.contrabass.com > > Heckelphone, Sarrusophone & Interesting Instruments > > > > -- > > > > > -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Grant Green - www.contrabass.com Heckelphone, Sarrusophone & Interesting Instruments --
