What Thomas said. Playability is probably the most important factor in a student instrument. My first guitar was cheap and had a warped neck and such a high action that it's a wonder that I stuck with it long enough to trade it in on a playable instrument (an Aria). My first lute was one of those German heavy lutes (Steiner), with a guitar style bridge and string spacing. One of the first things I learned from Pat O'Brian at my first lute seminar was that trying to learn thumb-under technique on that instrument was going to be a struggle. The spacing at the bridge was way too close. Nothing wrong with the quality of the instrument, but its design was getting in the way of my attempt to learn good technique. I got a Larry Brown eight-course with a more suitably designed bridge and things got a lot easier.
Moral of the story: make your starter lute is not going to work against you. Go too cheap and you are likely end up with something that has a warped neck and a horrible action (or other design or construction flaws) and is likely make learning the instrument difficult and frustrating (not that it's an easy instrument to learn in any case). That said, it's hardly necessary to start with a concert-quality instrument. I have played some of Ed Greenhood's student instruments and they are quite playable with good sound and very reasonably priced (he used to sell them for around $1K, but that was a couple of years ago). I'd have no hesitation in recommending them to beginners. ----- Original Message ----- From: Thomas Schall<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Lutelist<mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2005 1:42 AM Subject: [LUTE] Re: student lutes (Re: Who wants to sell "New Boy" a lute?) Dear Gary, generally I would agree - it's better to start playing on a lute of lesser quality than never to start. But: There is a quality ("Pakistani-Lutes") which makes it extremely difficult to fall in love with the lute and it's music because except the shape there is not much of a lute on them. And: There are builders (Faria, Busato, Lechner and there is also a czech builder - sorry if I might forgot someone) who offer instruments at a reasonable price and of - as far as I have heard - great quality. So: I think a starter with limited financial resources first should look at these makers and we as community should recommend them. If they are still to expensive a look at used instruments could help - If none of these instruments should be affordable then finally a cheap instrument of questionable craftsmanship could be a solution. But then we need to give advice to a correct adjustment of the instrument. We are a small community and we should help everybody to get the best possible entry into the lute-world! All the best Thomas Am Sonntag, 30. Oktober 2005 08:11 schrieb gary digman: > I find the let-them-eat-cake attitude of some for those in lesser economic > circumstances somewhat elitist. One can't pry dollar bills, or euros, from > one's wallet that simply aren't there. Sure, it would be most desireable to > have the instrument of one's dream at hand. but there's no reason not to > start now with what is at hand while working to realize the ideal. John > Dowland's first lute was probably not of the same quality as his last. > Time's a-wastin'. > > Gary > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html<http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html> -- Thomas Schall Niederhofheimer Weg 3 D-65843 Sulzbach 06196/74519 [EMAIL PROTECTED]<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ab 15.7. neue Adresse: Wiesentalstrasse 41 CH-8355 Aadorf ++41 (0) 52 365 00 04 http://www.lautenist.de<http://www.lautenist.de/> http://www.lautenist.de/bduo/<http://www.lautenist.de/bduo/> http://www.lautenist.de/gitarre/<http://www.lautenist.de/gitarre/> http://www.tslaute.de/weiss/<http://www.tslaute.de/weiss/> --
