Thomas, Martin, et al. For the current state of the instrument, my interpretation was the same as Thomas'. However, the photographs are somewhat ambiguous. If you look at the bridge, the spacing seems to favor all the courses being double, but if you look at the nut for the fingerboard strings, you see what appears to be a groove for a single first course that is unoccupied (and could not be used unless the top two strings are reversed on the pegs).
An accurate assessment would require additional photographs (close-ups of the bridge and the nuts) or a look at the instrument in person, but it does seem like it could be played as an 11-course in transitional or d-minor tuning (top two courses single) with at most a redrilling of a few holes in the bridge (they may be already present) and maybe one additional groove in the fingerboard nut to space a single second course to your liking. The rake of the pegbox looks too shallow to allow for a treble rider to be glued on to add a single first string in addition to those already present. Regards, Daniel Heiman --------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Thomas Schall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 12:04:12 +0200 Subject: Re: Antwort: Re: more about the old theorbo Dear Martin, The neck and the shape of the body would suggest IMHO it's not a theorbo but a german baroque lute. This would also suggest double courses for the basses. To be sure we would need the measures of the body. I would opt for 2 single courses on the top, 5 doublecourses on the fingerboard and 4 doublecourses for the basses. best wishes Thomas Am Sonntag, 17. April 2005 10:50 schrieb Martin Shepherd: > Dear All, > > I looked at the picture last week, but I remembered counting 12 pegs in > the lower pegbox and 8 in the upper - 6 double courses on the > fingerboard and 8 single basses, no? > > Best wishes, > > Martin > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >The fact that there are no frets on the neck suggests strongly that the > > strings are not original. They also seem to have been put onto the > > instrument by someone clueless about how to tie them to the bridge and > > who did not know which string to run to which peg. Finally, it looks > > like the layout should probably be with the first two courses single, > > since there are only 12 pegs on the pegbox for the fingerboard strings > > (or was there a treble rider that is now missing?). > > > >Daniel Heiman > > > >-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > >Anyhow - max 11-courses. I'll ask around to check if somebody knows more > >about the instrument. > > > >Thomas > > > > > > > > > >Roman Turovsky <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> am 14.04.2005 01:13:57 > > > >An: LUTE-LIST <[email protected]> > >Kopie: > > > >Thema: Re: more about the old theorbo > > > >>Wayne, > >>This looks old indeed - but why call it a theorbo when the courses are > >>doubled? It looks like a 10-course archlute, perhaps the famed "liuto > >>francese" used in Italy? > >>Just guesses > >>Alain > > > >Look closer. It looks like it is missing the chanterelle. > >RT > > > >>Wayne Cripps wrote: > >>>I have pictures of the old instrument at > >>> > >>>http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute/Raillich/ > >>> > >>>Jiri Cepelak has looked at it, apparently. > >>> > >>>Wayne > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>>To get on or off this list see list information at > >>>http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > >CONFIDENTIALITY : This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and > >may be privileged. If you are not a named recipient, please notify the > >sender immediately and do not disclose the contents to another person, use > >it for any purpose or store or copy the information in any medium. -- Thomas Schall Niederhofheimer Weg 3 D-65843 Sulzbach 06196/74519 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
