At 03:32 PM 3/18/2007, Stuart Walsh wrote: >Roman Turovsky wrote: > > And I do. One of the earliest pieces of iconographic evidence shows a > > sevenstringer with a raised fingerboard. > > It is in my torban pages "regional iconography". > > RT > > > > >Guitars have been made with lots of variations in design and tuning. > >For example, Russian guitars - with seven strings and detachable necks. >Good job that they've got raised fingerboards.
Personally, I don't really think of Russian guitar as cittern. Yes, they are tuned to an open chord similar to some citterns, but most I've personally encountered are structurally much more similar to Viennese guitars than waisted citterns. This is another reason that biological analogies don't translate directly to instrument organology. Luthiers are free to borrow inspiration for new developments from completely dissimilar instruments. No horse can borrow an elephant trunk for its progeny. Eugene To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
