All, I think the real issues with student lute pricing is that very few take it up as their first instrument. The vast majority come from some guitar background and they will have already spent a fair amount of money on other guitars or other instruments by the time they get to the lute.
I think my own situation is not atypical: I already had a bachelor's degree in classical guitar performance before I even touched a lute. Just before I graduated, I mentioned to my teacher how much I enjoyed playing lute transcriptions. He said I could buy a cheap lute "for around $200" if I "wanted to mess around with it on the side." The thought had never occurred to me and it hit me like a lightening bolt: play lute music... on a LUTE!?!? Needless to say, I searched for months for that $200 lute. All of the instruments on Wayne's page were hours and hours away from me. I wasn't about to send $3,000 to some random person in California or Spain. I really couldn't believe there was no one within an hour or two's drive selling a lute so that I could at least try it out. After a while I was getting discouraged and was ready to give up. By chance I happened across a big name lutenist online selling a 10-course. It was way more money than I wanted to spend and my fiance was a bit miffed, but, knowing next to nothing about lutes, this seemed like a sure bet. I have to admit, I probably had some stars in my eyes and this was no doubt partially a factor in buying this particular lute. I suppose it worked out for the best: I'm now almost finished with my doctorate in lute performance and she's still with me. I wonder - Would things have turned out differently if I'd been able to get a cheapy in my hands two weeks after I spoke to my teacher? Would I have kept up the interest with an inferior instrument? Still, who knows if the instrument with name recognition hadn't come my way? Chris --- On Tue, 11/23/10, Margaret Munck <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Margaret Munck <[email protected]> > Subject: [LUTE] Re: EMS Lutes > To: "Christopher Wilke" <[email protected]> > Cc: "lute mailing list list" <[email protected]> > Date: Tuesday, November 23, 2010, 5:22 AM > Hi > My first post, though I have been lurking > for a while.... > A year or so ago I bought the [1]EMS > 7-course special . Although I > knew it would be better to pay a lot more > for a better one I had no > idea whether I would get on with it at > all, and there were none > available for hire at the time. > It was playable out of the box but tuning > was a pain as the nut was > awful and the pegs not great either. I > have done a bit of violin > making, so I was confident enough to make > the following modifications: > replaced the nut and lowered the action > slightly, refitted the pegs, > flattened the fingerboard which was > slightly concave so that the frets > were a little loose in the middle, > replaced the nylon frets with gut > and tidied up the carving of the rose. I > also replaced the strings with > Nylgut (apart from a Pyramid rectified > nylon top), following advice > from Jacob Heringman. > The new nut is ebony and a big > improvement but I think bone would have > been better. The pegs are as good as I > can get them but because of the > small heads I find it easier to use a > simple home-made peg turner for > tuning. > These modifications greatly improved the > sound and the playability. > The string spacing at the bridge is a bit > close, though, and there is > nothing I can reasonably do about that. > Nevertheless it gave me a great > deal of pleasure and I have no regrets > about buying it. > The case is servicable, providing > adequate protection, but the surface > is easily scuffed. > Recently I had the opportunity to buy a > second-hand 6-course lute by a > 'proper' maker. This has a better > sound and string spacing but still > doesn't match up to the work of the best > makers, either in sound or in > price! (I paid -L-1300 including a > Kingham case.) > The EMS lutes are made in Pakistan but > the shop does exercise some > quality control and rejects the duds. For > someone who is really > strapped for cash, can't find a good > second-hand deal or one to hire or > borrow, I think one of these lutes is not > a bad option at all and a lot > better than none. If she could find > one second-hand she would get > better value for money. The Lute > Society (uk) has an 8-course in the > small ads just now, and I would consider > selling my 7-course if she is > interested - it is in Glasgow. > HTH > Meg > > On 22 November 2010 13:48, Christopher > Wilke <[2][email protected]> > wrote: > > I have a student who came to me > with one of those Pakistani lutes > that he bought on eBay. I'd > heard many horrible stories about these > instruments, but I have to say > that for him it is not a bad > instrument. It is certainly > not the most resonant lute, but neither > is it overly heavy or > guitar-like. The neck is quite straight and > the string spacing is fine. > The action right now is slightly higher > than I like, but its within a > range that could be fixed with larger > frets. (It's too high for > him as a beginning student, but advanced > players might actually like the > action where it is.) All told, I've > played low-end lutes by name > makers that are only marginally better, > but at much higher cost. > I asked him if he did any > modification and he said that he didn't > know the first thing about lutes > (his main instrument is bassoon) > and that it came as-is right out > of the box. If - and that's a big > IF - I knew that all of these > lutes are like this, I wouldn't > hesitate to recommend one to > someone wanting an inexpensive entry > level instrument. I've heard > others say that the quality control is > low on these lutes, however, so > maybe my student just lucky. > Chris > > > > > > >> Hi all, > > >> > > >> I have a student interested > in taking up the lute, > > but she doesn't want to spent too > much money initially. She > > asked about the EMS lutes, > unfortunately I have never seen > > or heard one before so I can't > really offer she any advise. > > >> > > >> I was hoping anyone > familiar with these lutes > > could comment on their quality / > value for money, and > > whether these lutes are a good > option for a beginner with a > > small budget. > > >> > > >> Cheers, > > >> Andrew > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > > >> To get on or off this list > see list information > > at > > >> [3]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list > information at > [4]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > -- > > References > > 1. > http://www.earlymusicshop.com/product.aspx/en-GB/1000586-ems-7-course-renaissance-lute-special > 2. mailto:[email protected] > 3. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html > 4. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html > > To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
