Actually, we already have the "Late Dowland Model Lute"- it's disguised as an 11 course d-minor French Baroque lute. Knock off a course, maybe trim the neck slightly, reconfigure the bridge holes & nut grooves and "Viola!" (viola da mano de Flanders). I have always hated the clunky look of nearly every builder's 10 course lute, and thought that if I wanted a 10 course custom built I would merely order one based on the 11 course model. I have been pleased to see that some 10 course lutes are now, in fact, built on the 11 course platform- and some can even be configured either way after purchase.
>The reason lutemakers have not been making lutes with 10-fret necks >is probably that everyone (until recently) has wanted a lute of >about 60cm which can be tuned to G at modern pitch, and there are no >historical lute bodies that small. That in itself is interesting, >and suggests that longer string lengths were common. Lutes of about >67cm seem to have been very common, but those which survive with >their original necks are still 8-fret lutes. If you really want a >10-fret neck you have to combine a relatively small body with a >relatively long string length, and this takes you into territory >where it is less easy to say that your lute is based on a historical >original. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
