I have an 8-course EMS lute. If I'd waited till I could afford a
"cheap" student lute I'd never have got a lute at all.
It was a "factory repair" so it was even cheaper than the usual low
price. After replacing strings (probably not absolutely essential), nut
(very necessary!), and frets it ended up being playable and total cost
about the same as a regular EMS lute. It is not perfect, but it is
playable and what mostly needs fixing now is my playing ability (which I
am working on).
A friend got a non-brand-name Pakistani lute, and it was pretty bad -
the sound board was way too thick and so it produced very little sound.
Even after considerable work it was still deemed "unplayable."
For anyone who is getting one of these lutes, the most essential thing
seems to be to replace the nut - the notches are too deep and V-shaped
so they are guaranteed to jam the strings.
I was recently having considerable frustration with trying to get the
instrument in tune with itself. Then I realized the frets had wandered
slightly (trying to do some weird imitation of equal-temperament, I
think). With the help of the LSA fret placement chart everything is
sounding much sweeter!
Stephen Fryer
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