I have had my six-course since 1976 and my 13 course Lundberg Baroque lute since about 1978. Original tops, and they still sound great. My original Hugh Gough 8 course, from 1973, has gone through very historic style conversions, first to 10 courses and now a small archlute. My only significant "new" purchase was my "Chambure" vihuela from Harris & Barber, 2002.
"have worked with many musicians, and I can tell in a few moments if their instrument will record well or not, and they usually are interested, but unable to change it. By the time the recording rolls around, it is too late. And the sad thing is, that after awhile we imagine the sound to be different than it is, and the recorded sound seems different." David- your recording/comparison set-up sounds very exciting to me, and I would love to try it out, not because I can do anything about what instruments I own, but to evaluate the sound- separating if possible touch, technique, and stringing from the inherent & immutable qualities of the wood. In particular, diapasons for my archlute are driving me a little nuts- but the stringing on my Baroque lute sounds so fabulous to me that I'd like to hear if that is "real" or not. Please email me off-list if we can arrange a date; Thanks, Dan >David, > >Do you change lutes often? You are correct, in that many >professional players do so. > >I have hung on to most of my instruments, as there are no perfect >instruments, or perfect players. Ubkess there are serious issues >with a particular lute, I tend to try to coax the best out of my >instrument. I suspect that after a period of time, many players hear >something in another lute, or they discover a minor undesirable >factor in one they have, and they move on. > > > >At 03:28 AM 11/16/2009, David Tayler wrote: >>Funny how so many professionals change their lutes so often (there >>are some notable exceptions) >>I wonder how much of that is a recent recording experience, and the >>lute is changed after the recording instead of before it. >>I mean, if the pros can't pick a winner, what chance do we have? And > >if advice were the important factor, who advised them? -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
