Martin Shepherd wrote: >In the Ambassadors the lute has the normal arrangement of octaves - it was the Berlin >painting which seemed to show the upper octave on the bass side. > This is not directly lute-related, but the lower double-strung course (G) of 18th-century Neapolitan mandolins are sometimes strung today with the brass octave on the bass side. A seemingly-accurate woodcut in Leone's method seems to show this. From a practical perspective, this actually works well for a plectrum instrument where this reversal makes it easier to hit the bourdon rather than the octave on a fast "up-stroke" of the plectrum. The down-stroke easily hits both strings. The result is the octave string functions almost sympathetically, adding dimention but not sounding independently.
Eric
