Archlute

I've been doing a lot of lute repairs in recent years, but this is my first lute build. It was a commission for a return customer who wanted a lute in the style of the Liuto Forte instruments. It has single strung courses, and a slightly different bracing system, but is otherwise very similar to a traditional lute. The bowl is of bird's-eye maple - not the easiest tonewood to work with, but visually stunning on a large lute bowl.

The design was initially based on a Martinus Harz 675mm scale archlute, but with a number of modifications made to suit the different stringing. Most obvious externally is the shorter length of the bass strings which would be 960mm rather than the original 1440mm, making the size of the instrument a little more manageable! The use of copper wound bass strings rather than plain gut strings allows the shorter scale length.

I'm now taking commissions for lutes - either traditional or Liuto Forte style. Send an email with your requirements