This 8 course renaissance lute had been donated to The Lute Society for their hire fleet. This instrument had been built in the 1980s and needed considerable refurbishment to bring it up to a playable condition. Problems to be fixed included:
Here are some photos detailing the refurbishment process.
Original Lute, showing wide neck and overall construction |
Fixed frets and fingerboard |
Heavy Bridge From front |
Original heavy looking pegbox, with a couple of odd man out pegs |
Original rose, cut in thick cedar soundboard |
The original soundboard was attached with synthetic glue and lots of guitar style reinforcement so removal was tricky. Anyway it was not going to be kept! |
Underside of original soundboard showing heavy barring |
Original rosewood fingerboard removed, and neck trimmed to a better shape |
A new soundboard was made of alpine spruce (picea abies). The soundboard was thicknessed and tuned according to historical principles. |
New pegbox made from sycamore and mahogany to match the neck and ribs |
Pegbox attached prior to fitting the new soundboard and ebony fingerboard |
New ebony fingerboard - fitting the "beards" into the soundboard |
New pegs, showing different stages of turning and finishing |
Pegs fitted with new strings and nut |
New bridge - a correct lightweight historic design, carved in plumwood |
New gut frets and body frets in ebony |
The French Polish on the back of the instrument was freshened up to bring out the natural beauty of the wood. |
Closeup of the new rose |
Final instrument ready to be loved and played. It now has a dark resonant sound with plenty of character. |
In its new case, ready to go back to The Lute Society |
Contact us if you have a lute that needs refurbishing or some TLC.