I can tell you how you can spot a "good lute" (if you buy from a lute maker) in Western Europe and USA, very simple:
BY IT'S PRICE!!! And on the other hand I think you can't make a rule (or a set of rules) for "what makes a good lute", important is when you buy it that you like the sound, it's a good feeling to play on it and it looks nice also. P.S.In my opinion, Joel van Lennep and Paul Thompson are the top quality lutes nowadays (still...) :) --- On Sat, 4/7/12, William Samson <[email protected]> wrote: From: William Samson <[email protected]> Subject: [LUTE] What makes a good lute? To: "Lute List" <[email protected]> Date: Saturday, April 7, 2012, 4:25 PM I haven't really got much to add to the subject line. I've been chatting with Rob about this and various points have emerged I'd be interested in hearing what priorities you might put on the various characteristics of a lute in deciding if it's 'good' or otherwise. The kinds of things that have come up are (in no particular order): * playability (action, string spacing etc) * sound (which I can't easily define) * authenticity of design/construction * materials used * quality of craftsmanship * reputation of maker Of course these are rather broad headings and might easily be refined, clarified or broken down. Thoughts, please? Bill -- To get on or off this list see list information at [1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
