Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: Guitar bridges
The problem is that I have not made any notes. I don't think I have seen
many slots. I remenber I saw several Sellases, and other Italian guitars
in Paris, mostly built before 1640. But also in other musea.
It would be very helpful to have a catalogue.
Lex
The Royal College of Music have a guitar made by Giovanni Tesler in Ancona
(Foscarini's town) in 1620 but it has been converted to 6 single strings and
the bridge is not original.
There are two other interesting thing about it. It has a string length of
only 61.5 but apparently has been cut down. And there is some indication
that the strings may have been hitched to the tail which makes me wonder
whether it might have been wire strung at some time. Would that be why it
was cut down?
Somebody sent me two beautiful photos of another Tesler guitar in the Musée
de la musique ine Nice. This is dated Ancona 1618. It still has 5 courses
and has a string length of 60cms but has obviously been cut down. The
bridge might have slots - its difficult to tell and it is not clear whether
it is original.
Yes - we need a catalogue of all the instruments with all their details -
but life is too short.
Monica
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