Dear All, I am back again after an intense period of work that did not allow me to keep up reading the messages.
Now that I am on the market for a new 10 or 11-course lute I realized how difficult it is to choose the right maker among the many ones available today. It is difficult to get references from reliable players and most of the makers have a long waiting list so they do not have instruments in stock for the potential customers to try and have an idea of their work. I though it could be a good idea if we could introduce our instruments to the lutelist with some information about them and some description of their sound and qualities. I would be also a good way to promote young, less experienced makers, encouraging us to order from them. To start off I will introduce my instruments to the list: 1) 7-course lute by Malcolm Prior (1998) after Venere. Multi rib rosewood back. 58.5 cm. Excelent! Very deep singing sound full of low harmonics. Quite loud. The only little problem is that it doesn't "speak" so quickly. For the rest I am very happy with it. The level of craftsmanship is mint. You can listen to it at: http://www.lutevoice.com/samplesen.html 2) Theorbo by Nico van der Waals (2000). 82 cm/ 164 cm (long neck). Yew multi rib back. It is based on his own design. Beautiful sound for solo repertoire. The bowl is too small compared to the string length and I have the feeling when I play it with orchestras and ensembles that I would be happier with a louder sound. The level of craftsmanship is really good but not mint. I have also a vihuela but the quality is not good enough to be mention here. I am looking forward to know about your instruments! Many greetings, Alfonso marin To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
