----- Original Message ----- From: Martin Shepherd <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: 03 January 2004 21:47 Subject: Re: new pictures
----- Original Message ----- From: lutesmith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: 04 January 2004 17:45 Subject: Re: new pictures > > Martin, > > Very nice looking lute! > > I seem to recall JD expressing a preference for 9 tied frets. Most luthiers > nowadays seem to avoid this since somehow the classic proportions are a > little stretched. Since I am also curious to see how 9 neck frets would > work I wonder what your take on this is. > > all the best, > > Sean Smith > > Dear Sean, Dowland actually recommends 10 tied frets. It is not uncommon (in paintings) for 11c lutes to have room for ten, though of course only nine are usually tied. I find this particularly interesting as it implies a lowering of pitch - Dowland actually talks about the French *lengthening* the necks of the lutes, and in any case it is much more likely that someone would lengthen the neck of an existing lute rather than build a new one! Dowland's comments are supported by some contemporary iconography - the pictures of lutes in Fuhrmann (1615) and Besard (1617) show big multirib lutes in Venetian/Paduan style but with nine or ten tied frets. Best wishes, Martin
