Hi,
Regarding a lute gig bag, I bought one of the ud gig bags available on ebay a while
back. The padding in it is there, I think, but it's quite thin-- better than a basic
canvas bag, but nowhere near as good as some of the current guitar bags. The handle
is just one thickness of nylon webbing; otherwise, it seems reasonably well made. It
has an adjustible shoulder strap, as well. If you were to carry it with the strap
over one shoulder, the strings would be against your back. It has a zippered
accessory pocket over the belly that runs from about the rose down to the end. I
don't think you'd get an 8.5x11in sheet of paper in it without creasing the corners.
It zips (to me) backwards-- with the peg head to the right vice to the left. If
you're left-handed, it would probably feel quite natural. It feels odd to me.
As I hook the tape measure on the far (small) end of the 8C lute's peg head (where the
pegs for the middle strings are) and stretch it to the nut, then to the 'bottom edge'
of the lute (a few inches beyond the bridge), it measure 94cm or 37in. It looks like
the bag would still hold it if that measurement were as much as 5cm (2in) longer. Any
greater overall length and it would not fit. This combined measurement, not the
string length will govern fit in this case (no pun intended). Overall, the bag
measures 100.5cm (40in) long. However, the last three inches of the neck/peg head
portion are round, not square across. Thus, if the lute is close to the max length
and has long tuning pegs out at the end of the peg box, it might present fit problems.
For me, the bottom line is this: The bag provides a handle/strap to carry the lute.
It will keep the dust and light mist off while you carry it somewhere. Beyond that,
it offers virtually no protection, but it's better than nothing.
If anyone else has a source of better/more appropriate gig bags for lutes, I'd be
interested, too.
Best,
Steve
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