I have the troublesome Aria lute. It is an 8-course model L75, which I bought new from Richard Brune in 1977 for $700. I seem to recall hearing that Aria was a Yamaha product, but all I knew at the time of purchase is that it was "made in Japan". It is obviously mass- produced, with a simple soundboard and a punch-cut rosette. But I've certainly gotten my money's worth with it, and if I could find a local luthier I would have the cracked pegbox replaced. It has good enough action for me. The case that comes with the lute is very nice. From what I've heard it's way better than the current $600 Pakistani lutes.
I am not what you'd call a serious lute player, so I have low demands of my lute and the old Aria is good enough for me. I was more serious when I was younger but it was all I could afford. I played the Chicago King Richard's faire with this lute (even got paid!) from about '79 to '82. Since then I'll go years without playing it, then a couple years playing it then repeat. When I was not playing it it acted as an ornament on my wall, which probably helped the cracks form. I only had trouble with it holding standard pitch (a'=440) after the cracks developed in the pegbox. Now that I understand that 62cm lutes are usually tuned lower, I would be surprised if it does not now hold a'=415. Maybe I'll try that tonight. I see that the Aria lute from Ted Biernacki (referred by Wayne) is for sale on ebay, with lots more pictures. Is that why you're asking? That seems to be a later model than mine (an L85 vs. my L75) and has a different peg box design. The pegbox on the ebay lute looks considerably healthier than mine. It looks like it has gut frets (my lute came with tied nylon frets which I replaced with gut). Would I buy the ebay lute if I didn't already have an Aria? Probably yes for a few hundred dollars, but I'd want to see better pictures of the pegbox, both sides to make sure there are no cracks, and the height of the action first Is that what you wanted to know? Best, Steve On Jul 10, 2006, at 7:06 PM, Bruce O. Bowes wrote: > Can anyone give me any general information about this Lute. I > noticed that > someone is having difficulty keeping an Aria up to pitch. I would be > interested in any insights that you could pass along. > > Cheers > > Bruce > > -- > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --- http://homepage.mac.com/stevepur --
