I don't know why we have never seen a lute with a bandora/orpharion
style neck - flat except for the thicker part on the treble side. I
really like that kid of neck.
Nancy
From what I remember about surviving museum specimens, ultra-thin
necks
didn't arrive until quite late. There's a Hoffmann 13c lute with
a
neck only 3/8" thick where it meets the pegbox, though, of
course,
there's quite a camber on the fingerboard that makes up for it,
to some
extent.
In contrast there's an ivory-backed 11c in the Victoria and
Albert
collection (C17?) with a whopper of a neck - almost 3/4" thick at
the
nut end, but with very little camber on the fingerboard. I made
a
replica of this one (not ivory!) and it's comfortable to play,
though
people do comment on the heftiness of the neck.
[1][1] http://www.vam.ac.uk/users/node/14513
So on the basis of very few examples, I've a hunch that lutes of
up to
10 courses (and maybe beyond) would have had fairly thick necks
and
flattish fingerboards.
Bill
From: Sean Smith <[email protected]>
To: lute <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, 14 November 2012, 23:40
Subject: [LUTE] Re: 8-ch lute strings spacing
My medium hands love my fat necks.
I have an E lute made from an old vandervogel guitar and Mel was
constrained by the join to keep the neck join pretty thick. He
offered
to take it down later if it got to be a bear but I like it.
Probably
not optimal for most but it works just fine for me. My one older
"butterknife neck" 8-c is the hardest to switch to.
Sean
On Nov 14, 2012, at 3:14 PM, Edward Mast wrote:
String spacing is indeed most important. But I rarely (never?)
see
mentioned thickness of the neck. For a couple of years I played
an 8
course lute with a rather thin neck, which I assumed to be
normal.
Then I got an 8 course with a thicker neck and found (I do have
large
hands) that barred chords that had been difficult on the thinner
neck
were considerably easier on the thicker neck. I quickly got rid
of the
thinner neck instrument. Perhaps something else to consider when
buying a lute . . .
Ned
On Nov 14, 2012, at 5:52 PM, Luca Manassero wrote:
> Dear list,
> five years ago at the Neuburg (Bavaria) Summer Academy I
happened
> to try an 8 course lute built for a friend of mine by Martin
Shepherd:
> the strings spacing fitted so perfectly that later on I
e-mailed
Martin
> to have "his" strings spacing. I still use it on all my
Renaissance
> instruments.
> In any case all lutemakers I approached over the last seven
years
> ALWAYS asked me "my" strings spacing requirements: they NEVER
simply
> used their without asking first.
> Last but not least, I have played a few "exact copies" of
museum
> instruments: in all cases an extremely narrow strings spacing
made
them
> almost unplayable (to me). Having big hands I don't see why I
should
> play on a very narrow, mandolin-like neck. What if the
original
> instrument (aka Gerle...) was originally built for a 10 years
old
> little girl?
> Luca
> David Tayler on 14/11/12 18.29 wrote:
>
> It depends on the player, the technique and the size of the
hands,
the
> width of the fingers, etc., but in the critical spacing of the
first
> three courses I would not go below 5mm center to enter between
pairs
> and below 11.5 between the chanterelle and the next string
over, if
the
> top string is single. There is a cross point at the plucking
point
that
> is the real figure, that is, the width where the string
plucked. As
for
> the other courses, it also depends on the string material. For
an
early
> style lute, you can also use a "close parallel" spacing, but
unless
the
> maker knows how to do it, I would not try it.
> The reach of the hand is important in an eight course
instrument,
but
> that depends on the hand. So at eight courses, you may have to
compress
> the spacing slightly if reach is an issue. If they live in
California,
> I can take a look, but otherwise you may have to rely on a
generic
> pattern, or borrow a few instruments to see if they fit. It's
like
> buying shoes. You can ask what shoe size you need, but you
still
have
> to wear them. Ninety percent of lutes have the wrong spacing,
so it
is
> worth getting it right when it is built.
> dt
> --- On Sun, 11/4/12, Jerzy Zak [1]<[2][email protected]>
wrote:
>
> From: Jerzy Zak [2]<[3][email protected]>
> Subject: [LUTE] 8-ch lute strings spacing
> To: "lute mailing list list" [3]<[4][email protected]>
> Date: Sunday, November 4, 2012, 5:06 PM
>
> Dear Lutelist,
> A student of mine is expacting a new 8-ch lute. The maker has
little
> experience with an instrument of such number of courses. So we
all
need
> some advice from you. We need a typical spacing on both sides
of
> strings, aEUR|if there is such "typical" spacing, of course.
Anyway,
at
> least a distance between the outer strings would be of help,
if not
all
> measurements.
> Thanks in advance!
> Jerzy Z
> ---
> To get on or off this list see list information at
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>
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>
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>
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>
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> 5. [11]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>
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References
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5. [9]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
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7. [11]mailto:[email protected]
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10. [14]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
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Nancy Carlin Associates
P.O. Box 6499
Concord, CA 94524 USA
phone 925/686-5800
web sites - [16]www.nancycarlinassociates.com
[17]www.groundsanddivisions.info
Representing:
FROM WALES - Crasdant & Carreg Lafar, FROM ENGLAND - Jez Lowe & Jez
Lowe & The Bad Pennies, and now representing EARLY MUSIC - The Venere
Lute Quartet, The Good Pennyworths & Morrongiello & Young
Administrator THE LUTE SOCIETY OF AMERICA
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References
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2. mailto:%5b7%[email protected]
3. mailto:%5b8%[email protected]
4. mailto:%5b9%[email protected]
5. http://www.vam.ac.uk/users/node/14513
6. mailto:[email protected]
7. mailto:[email protected]
8. mailto:[email protected]
9. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
10. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
11. mailto:[email protected]
12. mailto:[email protected]
13. mailto:[email protected]
14. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
15. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
16. http://www.nancycarlinassociates.com/
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