Robin,
I'd say go with an individual lute maker. The
lute market isn't big enough to allow for enough
quality control from factories/brands right now.
One could buy a perfectly playable student classical
guitar from, say, Yamaha for a quite reasonable price.
If one is looking for a mass-produced steel-string or
electric guitar, there are plenty of other brands that
offer no-frills, but workable instruments at rock
bottom prices.
Not so with lutes. Its probably cold comfort for your
wallet, but a very good lute is still quite afforable
compared to almost any other early-music instrument.
If you were interested in purchasing a recorder, you
would drop a significant chunk of money - probably
more than a what you'd spend on a lute - to get
yourself a true Renaissance instument.
Having said that, you CAN find bargains out there.
Two of my instruments are extremely nice,
professional-level lutes that I got for very
reasonable prices. Check out Wayne's Lute Page. If
what you'd like right now isn't on there at the
moment, but you have a little patience - maybe a week,
maybe month, maybe two - you can find just about
anything you're looking for.
Also... Have you considered a ten-course lute? This
will cover all of the repertoire throughout the entire
renaissance and into the baroque, even continuo.
A WORD OF WARNING: Some folks will probably inform you
that you are not permitted to play 6- (or 7 or 8)
course music on the 10-course lute - even though it is
all directly playable without any changes to the music
- but we know that there was no direct transition from
one type of instrument to another back in the day.
(Apparently, however, nobody has any problems playing
Dowland's later music for 9-course lute on a
10-course.) Perhaps if you aspire to become a
professional concert lutenist, you can worry yourself
with these problems when you get there, but even the
working pros are more flexible in this regard than
some might think.
Good luck with your search!
Chris
--- Mosabi Greyfox <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Greetings!
>
> Hi everyone! I am new to the lute list and to
> lutes. I have been looking
> every where for a good starter lute. I have
> talked to a friend of mine who
> is a luthier. He said I should expect to
> spend in the range
> of $2500 (can) and up for a decent lute. See I am
> a guitar player and the
> most expensive guitar I own is only $800 so I am
> not in a big hurry drop
> that much cash.
>
> So that brings me to my question to all of you.
> I have been looking at 7 course lute
> made by EMS in
> england. [1]www.e-m-s.com
> This model hovers around $780 can in various
> stores.
> I have read a few reviews on this lute and the
> seem pretty good. But one
> person reviewed it as unplayable. I asked my
> luthier if he knew about this
> brand but he did not.
>
> So the question is: Is this lute a good buy? Has
> anyone played a lower end
> EMS?
>
> Thanks everyone for your time!
>
> Robin {Bard in training}
>
> References
>
> 1. http://www.e-m-s.com/
>
>
> To get on or off this list see list information at
>
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>
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