@dusepo Hi, can I ask your advice about the attached?
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@dusepo Hi, can I ask your advice about the attached?
The charity shop I volunteer at has just had this lute donated. I know very little about lutes, and less than I thought!
It’s 7-course, no maker’s label. Any idea a) what it is, and/or b) if it has any second-hand value in its present condition?
Any advice gratefully received!
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R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
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@dusepo Hi, can I ask your advice about the attached?
The charity shop I volunteer at has just had this lute donated. I know very little about lutes, and less than I thought!
It’s 7-course, no maker’s label. Any idea a) what it is, and/or b) if it has any second-hand value in its present condition?
Any advice gratefully received!
@Gaolaitch Wonderful! Not every day a lute ends up in a charity shop!
This looks like one of the lutes that was built in the 60s and 70s, sometimes from kits. The bridge, rose design and open pegbox point towards this. It does look in pretty good and playable condition from what I can see though (can't know for sure without seeing it IRL).
It definately still has value! How much exactly really depends on the playability.
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@Gaolaitch Wonderful! Not every day a lute ends up in a charity shop!
This looks like one of the lutes that was built in the 60s and 70s, sometimes from kits. The bridge, rose design and open pegbox point towards this. It does look in pretty good and playable condition from what I can see though (can't know for sure without seeing it IRL).
It definately still has value! How much exactly really depends on the playability.
@dusepo Thank you! Yes, very unusual to have as donation. I agree with what you say about likely being a kit. Also the pegs are of a softer wood than I expected (me being a cellist) so there was a surprising amount of give in them when I tried to tune it.
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@Gaolaitch Wonderful! Not every day a lute ends up in a charity shop!
This looks like one of the lutes that was built in the 60s and 70s, sometimes from kits. The bridge, rose design and open pegbox point towards this. It does look in pretty good and playable condition from what I can see though (can't know for sure without seeing it IRL).
It definately still has value! How much exactly really depends on the playability.
@dusepo If I knew what pitch it should be I would have tuned it properly. The top string (looks like nylon) felt tight around E4 (A440).
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@Gaolaitch Wonderful! Not every day a lute ends up in a charity shop!
This looks like one of the lutes that was built in the 60s and 70s, sometimes from kits. The bridge, rose design and open pegbox point towards this. It does look in pretty good and playable condition from what I can see though (can't know for sure without seeing it IRL).
It definately still has value! How much exactly really depends on the playability.
@Gaolaitch I wondered if the lute society had any similar lutes on their hire page and found an almost exact match!
"no. 56: 7 course Harwood and Isaacs kit lute, grade B"
https://www.lutesociety.org/pages/hire-lutes
So, yes a kit lute from the 60's/70's. I looked up the brand name, and a lot of them have that same rose design, as well as the other things I mentioned typical of that era. Many of the ones I saw are in far worse condition, but they don't always hold up well.
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@Gaolaitch I wondered if the lute society had any similar lutes on their hire page and found an almost exact match!
"no. 56: 7 course Harwood and Isaacs kit lute, grade B"
https://www.lutesociety.org/pages/hire-lutes
So, yes a kit lute from the 60's/70's. I looked up the brand name, and a lot of them have that same rose design, as well as the other things I mentioned typical of that era. Many of the ones I saw are in far worse condition, but they don't always hold up well.
@dusepo Great sleuthing, thanks. I’ll point the shop at that link.
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@dusepo If I knew what pitch it should be I would have tuned it properly. The top string (looks like nylon) felt tight around E4 (A440).
@Gaolaitch What's the scale length? I can then give you a rough idea of the tuning.
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@Gaolaitch What's the scale length? I can then give you a rough idea of the tuning.
@dusepo I *think* 60cm vibrating string length. Does that sound right? I was also dealing with a mandolin-banjo and may be mixing up my measurements. (I’ve left the shop now but can double check if necess. )
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@dusepo I *think* 60cm vibrating string length. Does that sound right? I was also dealing with a mandolin-banjo and may be mixing up my measurements. (I’ve left the shop now but can double check if necess. )
@Gaolaitch Then you'd be correct! That'd be tuned in E or F (my standard models are 56cm scale length for tuning in G or A). The strings do look a bit thick in your picture, and there do seem to be more wound ones that I would use on my lutes. With them being thicker and there being 3 unwound courses, I wonder if someone put guitar strings on it at some point.
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@Gaolaitch Then you'd be correct! That'd be tuned in E or F (my standard models are 56cm scale length for tuning in G or A). The strings do look a bit thick in your picture, and there do seem to be more wound ones that I would use on my lutes. With them being thicker and there being 3 unwound courses, I wonder if someone put guitar strings on it at some point.
@dusepo Aha, yes the strings are not good early music strings definitely. Could be all wrong, as you say.
I need to see what the shop wants to do: the focus is on maximising the value of the donation, of course. But that usually does not extend to fixing or improving anything. Or anything beyond cleaning, to be honest. They might say it should be sold as seen.
I need to talk to them a bit. All they want is an answer to ‘what price’ but I know there are too many unknowns yet.
