I also don't see that a bit of overlap presents any real difficulty. To
take the theorbo again: no-one says that because the upper two courses
of a large theorbo are tuned down an octave and the same notes can be
easily found on other courses that this represents some sort of
I agree with you absolutely. I hope I've got it right but what we
both think is that the first open bass string is tuned in unison with
the 3rd course rather than an octave below isn't it. This always been
an idea in my mind - especially as it is obvious that the open basses
