:: Model
:: Courses
:: String Lenghts
:: Pic
 :: Notes
mandolin (pandurina)
5-6
32
after an anonymous (probably) Italian 18th c. original in Paris. Museum's drawing.
renaissance guitar
4
52
my own design, in the absence of reliable originals.
baroque guitars
5
52
66
74
after G. Tessler, Ancona c. 1620, in Rome; vaulted back and 'pagoda' rosette. Flat back and flat rosette alternatives upon request. The A and D versions are scaled according to the proportions of the original. From G. Parrinello's notebook.
chitarra battente
5
57
triple metal courses (double treble), after the Italian 18th c. anonymous original in London. Possibly the only noble' example originally built as battente and not a modified baroque guitar. The original has metal frets disposed after a meantone tempera-ment. Drawing by S. Barber.
viola da mano, vihuela
6
57-64
my own design, in the absence of reliable originals. While the two instruments are musically interchangeable, the technical differences are a pegplate and flat back on the vihuela and a sickle-shaped pegbox and gently vaulted back on the viola da mano.

medieval lutes

 

4

5

52

52

the result of a project developed for, and with, Claudia Caffagni (la Reverdie), inspired by Italian frescos from the 14th and 15th centuries, turned out to be quite good plectrum instruments. Both tuned in A, the four course Trecento model, if tuned in fifths, has the same open string range, minus one tone in the bass, as the five course Quattrocento model tuned in fourths. The Trecento shell has nine ribs, the Quattrocento eleven.

renaissance lutes

small lute

 

4

 

33

 

freely based on the Venere in the KHM in Vienna and tuned one octave above the tenor, it is part of the family that includes treble alto tenor and basses (in E and in D).

treble lute
6
44
 
after two twin instruments by Venere in Vienna. Museum's drawings.
alto and tenor lutes
6
7
8
10
57-64
''
61-64
64-67



after originals by the 'Italian' masters Frei, Venere and Tieffenbrucker active in Bologna, Padua and Venice. Drawings from the respective museums. 11 or 13 rib shells are the rule, 25 (27 on the10 course) are possible alternatives, upon request.
bass lutes
7-8
  
in E and D, freely based on Venere originals, in the context of the complete family that includes small, treble, alto and tenor.
 
10
76-82
after P. Railich, Venezia 1640s, in Brussel and Rome. Soundboard drawing from the Brussel Museum. 31 ribs.
mandora, gallichon
6-7-8
71-75
based on the A. Berr described below.
baroque lutes
11





13
71,5





71,5/77

71,5/96

71,5/97







75/90/102




















after A. Berr, Vienna 1694, in the Ptuj museum in Slovenija. According to Baron, Berr was Logy's favourite maker. The slender 9 rib body is also ideal for the mandora, as can be seen from many examples from the 18th c. My own measurements and X-rays from the Ptuj museum.

developed from the A. Berr, with bass 'rider'
or
'swan-neck' extension.

after J. C. Hoffmann c. 1730, in Berlin. The 23 rib flat back seems to have become a feature of Hoffmann's late instruments (see the more or less identical lute built in c. 1740 in Nurenberg) were presumably developed after the Italian models he had been altering over the years. My own measurements.


after A. B. Jauch, (Graz) 1734, in Copenhagen, virtually a twin to the J. Jauch built in Graz in the same year, now in Vienna. 15 rib shell and triple extended pegbox typical of these makers, original s.l. 77.7cm. My own measurements. Information on the Vienna instrument from A. Rutherford’s sketchbook.

archlutes
14
57-64




64/136
67,5/142


71/154
Model in A after M. Sellas, Venezia 1638, in Paris. My own measurements. Model in G after very similar originals by the same maker. 15 rib shell, with short or long extension upon request.

after M. Tieffenbrucker, Venice 1610-20, in Vienna. 27 rib shell. Museum's drawing.


after D. Tecchler, Roma 1725, now in the Met in New York. 15 rib shell. Drawing by E. Pacini.
theorbos
14
82-88
inspired by originals by P. Railich in Brussel and Rome, and M. Tieffenbrucker in Brescia. 31 rib shell.
roman theorbo
14-16
92-96
after M. Graill, Roma 1631, in Rome. 41 rib body,the original has 40(!) ribs, 16 courses and a string length of 96.4cm. Drawing by G. Parrinello.
'lesser' french theorbo
14
75.5/127.5
based on a Venere original, altered into a theorbo 'pour les pièces in D' and then into its present angélique form, in Yale. 13 rib body. From M. Lowe's sketchbook.
geman theorbo    
after Schelle, tuned in D minor with top string in D (i.e. common Baroque tuning minus top F).
tiorbino
14
52/96
my own design, somewhat tempered with data from an anonymous instrument in Cleveland, from R. Nurse's notebook. 31 rib shell.