Assistance for Novice Lute Makers

If you have purchased a 7 and 8 course lute plan from me, then this page provides information and backup for that plan. I taught adult education in Bristol, Bath and Swindon from 1978 to 1998 and this plan evolved during those classes. There were many revisions, the latest being the inclusion of dimensions for both 7 and 8 course lutes.

You will be directed towards making a lute based on the old lutes but which will be acceptable to modern players of historical lutes. Many organisations are mentioned here. If they have a website or email address, that will be on my links page.

There is quite a bit on this website which will be of interest.

Photographs from my Workshop They show the sequence of procedures of making a lute.

How to make Lute Pegs

History and Revival of the Lute

Conservation, Ecology and MusicalInstrument Making

Lute and Musical Instrument Making Links

My Lute Catalogue

At the bottom of this page is an order of construction and a FAQ.

There are many good books on guitar making and they will provide much of the information needed - planing, thicknessing, wood bending, joining the soundboard, glues, seasoning timber, etc. Check your local library - books can often be reserved.

Robert Lundberg's excellent articles from American Lutherie are now available in book form. Reviews from the lute builders list have been very favourable. The Guild of American Luthier's webpage shows some samples from the book and it does look wonderful, especially the colour photos of old lutes. Cost of the book is $75. Have a look at the GAL website for further information.

The next necessity is a plan. Museum plans are very valuable - they show so much detail about how lutes were made. But please don't be tempted to buy a plan from a museum and make an instrument from that plan. The plans show the instrument as it exists today; often too large or small for today's players, damaged, modified or repaired. It is rare (but not unknown) to see an modern lute that is a copy of a museum lute.

Besides my own 7/8 course lute plan, there are several sources of plans for making modern recreations of the lute.

The Lute Society (the UK one) sells four plans. The six course and chitarrone are especially good, while the 7 and 10/11 course plans are a little out of date.

The shape of the bodies of old lutes is quite complex. For one thing, the cross section of the lute body was rarely a semi-circle. For another, the first and last ribs are larger than the rest. The 7 and 10/11 course plans ignore this, but they are meant to be used in conjunction with the Lute Society Booklet No. 4, Lute Construction.

Guild of American Lutherie sells plans for many types of lute, but cautions that they are meant to be used in conjuntion with the Robert Lundberg articles. From what I have seen of these plans, they give a lot of information.

Choosing materials and the design of a lute can be daunting. Fortunately, quite a few lutemakers now have catalogues on the net and it is possible to read descriptions and see pictures of their lutes. You will get some very good ideas from these pages. If they make a particular type of lute, then you probably can make one of that type too. If the established makers don't make what you want to make, find out why they don't.

If you want to know what woods I use and what styles of lutes I make, look at my . There are more European lute makers to investigate on my links page and a more comprehensive list of makers can be found on any of the Lute Societies pages.

The wood from the soundboard should always be Swiss pine (picea Abies) (at least that's my opinion!) obtaiable from musical instrument manufacturers suppliers. These are often listed in the back of woodworking magazines.

Be certain to use old fashioned hide glue - the stuff that smells and needs a double boiler. Actually, if you get the glue from violin maker's suppliers, it will be surprisingly pure and non-smelly. The unigue advantage of this glue is that it comes apart with heat and moisture, making all sorts of repairs possible.

A great deal of research has been published in the Lute Societies Newsletters, the Magazine Early Music, the Galpin Society Journal and the FoMRHMI quarterly. Many of these publications now have an index on the internet.

Beware of books and plans which allow a lute to have metal frets, use guitar strings, use violin pegs or tuning machines, use different wood for the soundboard, or make very heavy lutes after Hermann Hauser. Most lute players prefer historical instruments - this is what gives the lute as a woodwork project an extra dimension. The lute is a tool for musicians.