There were several printed publicatinos that called for ensembles of lutes in different sizes. The ones whose front material I have had a chance to review generally specify an intervalic relationship rather than specific pitches. This is most easily understood when one considers the desire of the publisher to sell volumes to all who could possibly make use of them.
The modern G-lute is a bit of a compromise, large enough to have a nice bass sound, broad enough in range to be a good solo instrument, useful as an accompanying instrument. But, not a huge enough bass sound to work well as the only bass member of a consort; not as facile as a smaller lute, or an octave lute when playing 'top line'. A mandolin-like small lute is preferable for the highest parts. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
