On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 8:12 AM, Jean-Marie Poirier <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm afraid it isn't that simple... I am left-handed so I know what I'm > talking about. In fact a lute is not built like a guitar and it is not enough > to change the strings the other way round to ba able to play a left-handed > instrument.
Another lefty here. Jean-Marie is right, it's not a good idea to use a right-handed lute the other way round, too many complications. Having said that, I do own one right-handed lute, and have re-strung it. Just so you know what a bad idea that is, I'll give a short summary of the problems playing that lute gives me. It's a 7-course: single first course, 6 double courses. That makes 13 strings. I have not altered the bridge or nut, so to have it as a left-handed 7-course I have a single first and a single 7, only the middle 5 courses are double now. That makes 12 strings, and one spare peg. It has a very awkward string spacing, left and right. For fixing that, changing the nut would not be a big problem, drilling some extra holes in the bridge is a little more tricky, especially as they must be very close to the existing holes. I never bothered. The neck is, as it should be, slightly off-centre. That means it's slightly off-centre the wrong way round now. You don't want to know how awkward that can be, playing in high positions. The neck, the whole instrument in fact, is slightly warped, perhaps designed to be so, perhaps it came about when the maker was adjusting the instrument, perhaps it happened over time. The result is a good action: low for the first course, a little higher for the basses. But that's good action for a right-handed lute, so more circus acts needed to play it as a lefty. Minor aberrations as slanted bridge or nut to compensate for tuning differences in high and low strings I don't particularly notice, the other problems are great enough to occupy me when playing it. Luckily I once managed to push my knee through the sound board, in a desperate act preventing the lute from falling from my lap, firmly pressing it with my hand to make sure the knee went all the way through, which resulted in an excellent repair job by a better luthier than the original maker. He managed to improve the action by shaving of a considerable part of the edge of the bowl, before gluing the, repaired, soundboard back in place. Repair cost me almost more than the lute itself. Remains the question, why do I bother with an instrument like this, having a good collection of quality lutes? It's my teaching instrument when I have to go off to my music school: strung in all-carbon (yuk!) and Pyramid (yuk!). From 415 to 440 in no-time between pupils. D-minor for the next. Single bass to C, D, or F, whatever is needed. Everyone is allowed to have ago on it, drop it, sit on it, leave it in the rain, dry it on the heater. In good Dutch: it's my StuiterLuit (bouncing lute). Would I ever bring it on stage? No. Would I ever record with it? No. Would I ever play it at home for fun? No. Do I ever treat my pupils and myself to a proper lute? Regularly. Should you treat yourself to a proper lute? Definitively! David -- ******************************* David van Ooijen [email protected] www.davidvanooijen.nl ******************************* To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
