7 course bass lute based on a model by Wendelin Tieffenbrucker

It has bee usual in the renaissance period, that the music is written for a consort with different sizes of lutes. Therefore besides a Standard tenor lute a alto lute descant lute, probably a soprano lute and a bass lute was necessary. A lot of music survived. Caused by a order by Hans Michael Koch, Hannover I designed such an instrument.

As no instrument has survived I developed my own one. This instrument is based on a lute by Magno Tieffenbrucker. Originally this instrument must have been a chitarrone which is now shown as a 13 course baroque lute in Vienna in the kunsthistorisches Museum. The alteration of this instrument has been made by Thomas Edlinger in Prague. I myself made the body a little bit smaller and raised the number of ribs from 11 to 15. I use this body for my baroque theorboe too.

This lute will have the following features:

• Mould with 15 ribs made out of curly maple with spacers of black stained maple
• Soundboard made out of fine european spruce, having the original design for the rose, inlay around the edge too. give a good protection
• The neck is made oud of lime or poplar wood which is then veneered with ebony or other wood on request
• The fingerboard is made out of ebony
• The standard string length is 62 cm, but it is possible to reduce this on request to 72 cm
• The pegbox is made out of beech and veneered with ebony
• For the pegs I use plum wood, a very good wood for this purpose or boxwood .
• The mould is varnished with french polishing