PracticumEighteen:

Installingthe Nut, Frets,and Strings

Photo1. The lute nutismade fronbone, ebon),ol

other hard m aterial. Iloryhrd beenthc materialof
chocesincethe end oflhe 16thcentury,but is not
normallyanacceptablcchoicetod,y.Markand cut the
nutblanklo length. ForRcnaissancelutesthe rough
x5Mvlx80rM.
blank sholdbc approximately5,lM
Photo2. Flattenlwo sideswith I flat sandngboatd or
file and seethat it ils tjghth into the nut rebate

Photo3. Tracethe shapeof the fingerboarclonto lhe

nut usinga 1.2\4shim or spacel.
Photo4. File or sandthe nut down to this traccdllne
and roud over- Thc nul shoulLlbc ascloseto ar cxacl
quartcr roundsectionaspossible.Thishepsthestr'ings
sideolcr it. The finall1cstrokesshouldbealongthe
lengthol the blank.
226

Photo5. Sandthc blank with 22i:gdt uril snoorh.

The endsshould bc roundedslightli'and alsosandcd
smooth. Then sandthe enlire nut wirh dry4ll0 gdr.
Photo6. Polishtbe nutwith a har.l cottonbullng
$heel adlire compound.Poishoff ary Nbbing
conrpoundresi.lue with a cleanrag.
Photo7. Using"vonutspacing
tcnplate.
markrhc
nnngspacingonlo thc nut at the aporofdre radius,
Nhereths srooves\\,illbe filed. Thc groovesof a lulc
nul. unlikc thosefor agrirar orviolin, do not erirendIo
rhebreak ovef pont olthe string,but arejust shallo$
notchesmidwayin the curvedsuceofrhe nur_The
e\hemepegheadnee ofthc lute makesa dccp notch
on the top of lhe nut unneccssa.r'.
Photo8. Wilh averyfine mouserailile,cut short,
jhallow srovesinto the nul. Iuse nythumb asa gride
hefeto makelhcgrovesmatchthe templatccxacdv.
hecausee1nsligbtdistanccs_
which one ighrnot
nolice,cansignificantlyalterrhe fring spacing.
Photos9 and 10. Polishthe grooveswilh a fine liren
threadand ine polishingcompound.Waxrhe nut with
n icrocll,slallinewa\ and ir is finishcd. The lute nut is
notgluedonto placeb ul held wirh slrirgpressureonlv.

Photo11. Using the fretdistanccconstructionorthe

fret faclolsbelow,makea charl o the fiet distances.
Lay out thedistanceson the figerboard and markthesc
locationswitha tily pin prick. Ever illhe lutenistplays
in mean-tonetemperamcnttheywill be grtefillbr
thesereircncepoints.

Photo 12. Markwithasoft leadpenciltlelocalionsof

the bod],fretsif uscd. Using the ruler ergeasa guide,
placethe outsidemrh lo locatethe exactpositioDofthe
end ofeach fteL thcrcbyassuringalignment.These
n1arks,although alhcmaticallt'correct,will suallyr.lbund a little sho of their tonally coect position. ln
order not to soundflat,the bodyfretslvil need
locatcdby ear.
correctedpositions

Determning Fret Positions

luteis, ifpropery
The neckofthc Renassance
proportioned,long enoughto be te.lwith eightiiets
p l - c e L l .. e m io n r i n r c n r l . .O t e r ' h ec e r t t ti t. .
t r < r ch - \ e h e e n| " r \ l ' , r m ud . r n d m ( . l n d ' e i \ e l
for layingou! fretson lutesand guilars,al involving
mu\rbl( lrJrsmrLlelr^r .\, 'rI pi(cesfgul .l rirg
tied aroundtheneck. Sincetheywerc not i\ed,
theycouldbe sljd a little up ordown the neckto
changethe tenrperamentofthe insument. The
authorsolsomc tutors,asin RobertDowland's
l/aietie o Lute Lessotls(London, 1610),and some
composerssuchasHansGerlcinhist-va ren,n seJ'
ldinslichsLauenbuch,(Nrremberg,1552)give
specificiDstruclionson the placingof someor all of
the frets. Of morc scientficnatureare the
instructionsby Juan Bermdoin Dcckracinde
Instrumentes
Musicales,(Osuna,1549,1550).The
moderntemperedscalemakesanytotallyaccurate
+rPrnl r.em-niimn,..ihP

Surelythe mostelegantofthe ancientmethods

fo1detemining ftet locationis "The Ruleof
-lb
Eighteen." constructis, onc drawsthe IineAB,
lhe lengthofwhich is the opcn srjng lengthofthe
lute. ,Aperyendicularis constructedat A whichwill

be the nut position.An arc,with a radius1is of AB

is drawnfrom 4 andwill intersectAB at D nndtlre
pcryendicularatC. AD is thc dislancefrom the nut
to the irst et. Lne BC isthen drawncreating
triangleABC. ConstructDE perpendicularto AB.
An arcis dftwn fiom Dwith a radiusequalto DE.
Thiswill interscclAB at F,whichis the positior of
thesecondlrcl. This confruction is repeaicduntil
the numbcroilietpositions neecledaremadc
The fbllowingftet factorsfor equaltemperament
are givenby Stanle],Buclensin hsexcellentarhcle
"On Frctling a Lute,"/LS,4 III, 1970,pp.53 63. To
usethis methoLl,shlply multiply the stringlengthb)
( c \ a c t n rt , a r r i \ ( : , ct : r . hf i e lp o \ t i o n .T \ e
semitoneswill,in all probabiiiry,be alittle sharp. A
tor
descriptionof what is happningand suggestions
i
.
L
1
F
t
t
g
.
n
e
a d j r . r i n rgh ( . . . r . a . c u r J i - g
e
n
e
t
1
Domboisin his article"Coect and EasyFrel
Placement"l|.S:M,1973, pp.30 32.
1) .05613 7).3325E

13) .52806 19) .66629

2).10910
3).15910
,r) .20630
5) .2s084
6) .29289

1,r).ss45s
1s).5795s
16) .6i3i5
1',7)
.62542
18) .64615

8).37004
9) .40539
10) .43876
11) .47027
12) .s0000

20).68s02
21).70270
22) .71e38
23) .13514
24) .75000

The eightfrets on a Rcnaissance

lute are gencallv
arrangedso thal theydescendin diametertowardsthe
body. I would qpicallyusethe follolviDgdiameresl
i) 1.00Nrvi
2) .90Mr{
i) .85MM
,l).82MNr

5).79NrM
6).76NiM
7).73NrM
8).70MM

I lolvever,g1vades,so don'tworry abo tbeingrea11y

e\act.ThemiinpointstoconsidcrarethaftheIstiicr
sho!ldbe large,the 2ndfretshould drop considerablvin
dameter,and oachofthe restshouklbe about.03NlM
sn1allerthan
thcprecednglf the lutehas avery high action,that is, if thc hoight
ofthc strirgsabovethe fingcrboardat theneckorly
join is,lbr eample,n tle vicinityof 5N[,! then itwould
be better to tie onletsofa more constantsizeor cvcn
rhesaesize.lI. or the other hand,the actionis low.
thena larger1l fret together$'i a biggerdrop
betweenliets and endingwitha.66MMmight help.
The ultm-sirplefret knot I usewasshownto e by
Jacob\andc Geest,who presumablyfirstusedit.
Photo l3. tseginbyburningthe cnd ofthe pieceofgur
shich you intend for thc lst liet. This fuscsrhe strands
of sut togetherso theywon tuntwist, and swellsup the
end so the knotwo'l slip. Iuse a soldcringifon but a
matchoralcoholflamowill
alsowork.Trf a 1.10M\a
for
the 1l iict.
Photo14. With thc lute standingon irs trebeside
facingawayfrcm you,passthebumed end ol rhe iier
nderthe sldngs(if it hasstdngson it) and pull it free
ofthe neck. Tie an overhandknor (sinply rhc iilsr half
oi a "gran , knoC'or a "squareknor") and run the knot
out to near tho erd of the el cut. Passihe olhcr end of
helengthol frct g tthroughthcoverhandknot.

Photosl5 and 16. Slidethererto theplaceor rhcneck

shere the nexthigherfret will bc. Pinch rhe frer lighrty
to the neckand pull down on thc lengthofgur unril rhe
knottightensup. Continuetopulluntilyou thinkthe
gut mjght bek and rhenreleaseit. lt shoukl.lraw
slightll,backth rough the knot. Clip rhc extra lenglhot
ct olllcavinp a stub abouttwo diancters in lergth.
229

Photo 17. Bur'lthe little stub endsuntil lhcy swellup

and are brown. Thiswill preventthe end iiom slipping
backlhroughthe knot.
Phofo18. w}en they are cool,about rwominutes,the
liets canbe slidinto thcircorrect positions.

Photo19. Anachronific thoughtheybe.bodyftetsate

usuallyrequestedby contempoaryllrtenists.
T
completethe octavein aRenaissance
lute wouldrequire
lbur. If used,theseftcts shouldbe narrow and tlin and
madeofavery hardwoodsuchasebonyor boxwood.
Photo20. Beginby planinga pieceofebony to.68MM
thick. Then. holding it in the benchvise,planeone
edgeuc, thatis,flatand sqLrare.
Photo21. Using a kdfe an.l straightedge.
cut offa strip
about l.5N{Mwidc.Replanethe edgcadcut another
strip. Continueuntil a dozenorso stdpsare made-

230

Photo22. llind that itworks bestto cul lhlj srip

partialry'.with
the kdfe. saytwo or threecuts.and thon
!o breakil thc restof the wayoff- The cul cdec tcndsrc)
be straightcltlis wal'.
Photo23. Holcl the stdpscdgewisein ashallovcroove
salvninto a srxx)th, hardmapeboard. Thc groove
mrstbeeriactly1.20MN{
dcep and.70\4Nr
u'ide. One of
the ebonystripsisplaccdin the groove.cut sidep.
Planeit dowll until theplnejust glidesover the block.
Photo24. Thenlile il to cxactlyl.20NrM.

Phofo25. Bevelthe end with i'our knife and cut the iicl
io length.
Photo26. tseveltheolhcr cnLandthen,withaven
sharpscraper,round the lop edgcofthe fret.
Photo27. Prepareall the iiclsou are goingto use. I
decrease
the lengthftol11sixcourseswideat the 9thlicl
downtojust lhrce courseswideat the 12thlct. These
hgherfretsaremost
oftenneededorthciitrwo

231

Photo28. Hold eachiier in placeand rrl, it, with rhe

chantrelletuned up topitch, to checklhe intonation.
AJ'u he ^.J(.uIrntrrk
T ] c n u. . i rq .
thinnrier asa gidelbrocation and to ensure
str.ightness,
glue the ftets down to lhebelly. Hold thc
fret firmlv agairsttheruler and downonto thebcllylor
aboutfifteenseconds.
Photo29. Then lift the ruler ancl,placingir overthe
liet, pressdownfor an additionalfift-vto si\ty seconds.

Photo30. Immediatelyceanofftheglue squeeze-oul

with the end ofthc ruler.

Photo31. Thelinishedfreh shoukberelarivelvorderh

lookingandmoreorlessflat.
Someheightadjustmenl
or levelingto eliminateanybuzzingis to be cripectedin
the final adjustmentsater lhe lute hasbecnstrungup
andtuned.

l'n sureTdon't needto tcllyou that

historcallLrtes
wereoricinal! strungwirh
gut Strings-From arcient admcdieva
timesup urtjlthe Rcrissanccperiftl the
compassof strirgedinstrumer!s
wasljmited
to five oi si\courses,ndyou canbe sure
that thc lastrasscoursecouldn'thr,e
soudcLswell
asthe othe^l During tho
Latc Renaissance
periodscveraltechniques
lveretried to makelhcweak soundofrhe
bassstrjngsstronger.Plain gul. cvenhigh
ristgul, which is a little nore llc\ible for
itscliamelcr
thanlow twist,jusldocsn,t
wofk rrJ wcll by oLLtsrandards.
Catlinesare conjcctured10havebeen
sonc lhing of an answer. 'Iday.rhesearc
ndebytwistingthree(somerimestwo or
n)url separatcwer gut srdngstogelherinto
a ropelikc string$'hiclcanel]d Lrpwirh
quitelargcdiameters.
Theyseem
to have
beenusedbeginnlnglarein lhe 1rlcenrry.
lor. asexample,
the 1581Venele
7 course
haslring boesvhichwoukl accepr
catlincs
(it is.ofcourse,
possibe
rhallhe
stringholcswereddllcd out largcrata
liler date). Dudrgthe earlyBaroqueo ry
L1i 1620allcasr,catlincswefecertainl)n
1rvor.anclespociallyirFrarce.renlainedso
urtil the end oflute plaling there.
Clurrent researchbyVlimlno Perutlo
(AquilaUS^ PO. Box8276l.Ponland.OR
97282)suggcsrs
thar"loadedlrrings mighr
alsohavebcona possibilit_!.
Finl usedn rhe
late l6th orearly 17thcentul1.theseloadc.l
frinqs hale beenchsmicalhrcared !obc
hea\'jer(a net gahh nass).fts rsdonebI
ioakrrethemin a bathoflerw meral
rrhrions\!lichwouldatach nlccularlvlo
rheprolcin fibers. Thjs acldilionat .r\,
eiht
(massperunitlcngth)
wouldalkrwrhcsame
Lli.rnete
r slrircs to be 1une.1o$rer.
By thc middleofthe l7 century,
insumcntswerobeingbuilt with srring
lenglhandconlpsscombin!rions\\,hjch
rolrld onll solrndusingovclspunst ngs.
Ihesencw stligs rvouldlarc beennrado
wilh a coreofsilk fbss overspunwjth iine
coPpcr,srhr.o gold$irc. These
ovefspunstftngsrernaincdrhe tavoriteof
l1oststringplaversunlil and includingthe
prcsenttime. Usualll,.lhecorel1l:rterialot
nodorn stringsis nvlonflossard tle
co! crnp$,ire is silver,plaredcoppcr.
Ihcre is considerablecontroversr
cocerningthe useofsul\,crsus pla;tic
1n)'.lor)strir gsor histoticali'-based
influments which.unifiLrnately,often
ovorshadows
the realproblen which is thc
\,aryingDecdsofdi crentplaycrsplayingir
divel1se
siluations.Conve.rionLt
$ isdonr

Dcrcrmi ing Srring Tension

Thefollowingformulalion Dr. I lclmut Hemrinshausis useflrl
t t".In\,,r, gr' .-,,r.
. de nr Ii grle(n.i..r.,T
rt. c,r. .nb''cter.r^).t,rer.pu .lri-j.i..r.,,rfl(\
mathematicaoperati andwill rotbe coYcredlere.)
fxlxd=cxl
c=constant(1orgutuse 49 and for nylon use54)
f=frequec,-in Hefiz (H,
l=vibratinglengrholstring in mclers (N,r)
d=diametcr
ofstrngir millimerers
(,rNr)
k=ten\ion' of string in kihgrams (KG)
E-amplc:What $ould be the con.eddianeter of a nvlon
c ' r " - r . . v l i c -r \ t . \ e l ! - ( ! r , , c t . . ' 2 r . . . u l r q l r i . h . , .
stmg lens of62.Nr(.62ju)and a proposeclrensionof.l.0Kct
fx lxd = c: ':1,rk
392x.62!,:= 54: ra?

- 1:lzxo:y
a =1s+''],r+1

'l'he
iollowingtctors.alsoiom Dr. I{ermirghaus.areuscful
lbr deterntiningtensionclrnges\thenptchcrargc! arc maoe.

Intenal
lrst
ml1or third
majorthird
louh

lncrease
1.000
1.122
1.26L793
l.415
r.-5EE
1.780

Decrase
1.000
.891
.701
.630

Example:A sfig hasa tensionof p=2.000K.r

ar D'. What is
the tcDsionlthe pitch s raisedro f'? As rhe tore F is a mjnor
third higherthnrhe torcD', the tctor. accordingto tho table
abovc,is 1.:115.
Pr - 2.000((;
= 2.ti0(c
', = 1.000r(cx1.415
E-\ample:The tensionofrhe entire stringirg is 6[KG.What is
the increasein tcsionif thc runineis raisedby a se itone?
Pr = 60(.
= 67.300r.c
P. = 6f)KGxl.222
.\other rNclul formulalionl t|c good Dr. Herminglaustejls
us lhe changcn tensionwhenrhc st ng lengthchangcs.
P.= P:(L.1Lr)l
Eranplc: Wha! is the changein tersion ofar idcnricatsring
\\'hrchat a lengthof62.iNr(.62M)hasa tensionof2.000KG?
P,=Pr!(.rjs\J1.2M)l
P. = 2.00[KGx
1.2-- ].,100Kc
The tensionhasincreasecl
i.om 2.000KG
to 2.400KG
with thc
changein strnglcngrhto 6.qcNr
(.68r).
\

i.,,

thesenetul
"tu5inrlell(

l,res Ad.|

:33

sa_!s
that lutessoundberrer\\,hcnslnrngandpl:.-edwith
gut slrirgs, and nrostlutenists$ ould. I believe.agtee
wjth this. There are.ofcourse,exceptionsto thisrulc
b r r e \ e r - . r c n ^ r r . n r h . r h (e e . r \ c . a l _ . . u l
drawracks
to usingor1,!sut fri gs. Cul sldgserc
expensive.Theycanbe hlo to threetimesthe costof
plain nllon strings(or more).and callincscof
ant$,hereftoln $111oS38cacll Ar a rule, gut strings
do'1lasl asong.crceptingfbr c:tiine\,u'lich don't
cverseemto losetheir nuscal qutllitics.lrcccntN
heardsomecatinesI radein l9lJl whichharu ouer
constantl,\,
in tule ard regularlyplayctl,ami horvcver
ursightlythet mght be.the-r'fll soundLrcat. .Also.$t
sldrgsarc leLTsusceptible
to changesin lempcralurc
and humidlt\. makingthcn 1r more .lificult to keep in
Thc choccofstings for lute! is toda],greatcrthanit
lasreenfor perhapsthe lasill0lcar. Cood overspun
stings rre nradebr Savarezhon1
f ncc(Savarez,B.P
4356.69212LlonCedex.+.Frincc) and Pyramidffonl
Ccrlnan! (Satenud StnlmpieilLnidbrikJungel
CmbH. PO. Box 6. Il-910ltEBtbcmcuthErlangen.
German]).
I useLa Bella L te nyontrebleswhcharc lar
superiortuanvotherl've11ic.l
anLllcss
expensive
tool
The La Bella o!cpun bas\esIfind ratherinfcrior to
theS.rlarczrnd
P\'r'amid
anddon'trecom cndthcm.
Asampleofstringingfora 22rV (i.9c\t 8 course
lute alA=:1.10H2.
would be aslllorl,s.Thisis,r
medium hgh tnsionwhchis the lensionI plrn ior
$'henI dcsignmy utes:
l)

2) rl',rl'
3) alir
1) 111
5)cic
6) Gis
8)

CrC

La Bcll
La Bella
LBella
Pr-ramid

.,13N,iv
. 5 l N r \ ix l
c)05x l

t(x)ii5x 2
r0l_5IEllgAl
ryram.1 L0l8i 1011A1
T\ ramd
1028i 9075

ryram

Pyramid

Photos32 and33. I beginbytyingallofthe sldrgs

ontothe lutebrdgc.Makethepegboxasncats
pos\ible,and be ccrtaintlLtnone ofthe strirgsovert:rf
anvof the olhers. Cut off rhe lefroversting
rne the lute abouta lLlfsteplow for thc ti$r fe\\
loursor so-then bdng it up to full rension. I lind thfu
thislittleperodollowertensroIr
helpsthc lutefjnd ilt
!ice soorer than it otherwisewoukl.

Robet Lundberg
t91B-2001

ErlangenSeriesLute Plans
Thc lollowirgscvclule planswcre dmwnbyRoberl
Lundbergto accompanythe "Historical Lute
sereswhen it nn inAnaican Lutheie.
Clonstruction"
Eachofthese plansis avaiiabefron the Guildof
Acrica Lulhic$ asa Iull sizcblacklhe pinl. Conlacl
the CAL ollcc or wcb pagclbr lull inibrnation.
Thcscdawingsdo notncccssadlydcpictany
( \ n I r I r \ r r un i r r . L \ i , . r l \. - p J r ( r r . ' n i . . ' n f' n
thc originalinstrumcnlsmaybe projcctedom availablc
evidence.Somelatitudehasbeen takent(r makethem
practical,workable
instrumentssitabletomodern
players-Peasealsonotetlattle drawjngsareoot
presentedhereat anyparlicularscalc,

Theseplansare designe.lto be sedin connectron

$'ith the inftnation containedin thisbook. Each
drarvingpresentsthe essentialinformafion neededto
makea particularnodcl o lu lc. A nunbcr of details
will not appearon the drawings,becausethe]'are
develope.tfion principlesandrelationshipswhich
are
erplaine.lin the text. Someofthesemissirgdeiailsare:
the outlineofthe cap,thejunctureofthe ribsandcap.
thewa],the ribs flow togeiherat the neck,the patternof
the rosette,detailsofthe treble andbassbals,fine
pointsof bdclgeconstruction.pegs,consructionof
fbrlls,matials-thicknesses,
andfinishes.

23',7

6-csRenaissance
Lute,H. Freica.1530
GALInstrumentPlan#17
ErlangenLectureSeriesPlan#1

J
s

J
^J

ri
?
3
_{ ,_{93
Jt

{r.

h I I {" - ;

*$ : :j
- t J*,cl +

2:!

-Z:1.8-!:-*.-

t\---I

6-csDescantLute,Venereca.1580
GALlnstrumentPlan#18
ErlangenLectureSeriesPlan#2

m]
ilII
'il]l

8-csBassLute,Dieffopruchar
ca.1600
GALInstrumentPlan#19
ErlangenLectureSeriesPlan#3

fi1
ililt

10-csRen.Lute, Dieffopruchar1612
GAL lnstrumentPlan#20
ErlangenLectureSeriesPlan#4

'T'T
r ff
!+[

7-csRenaissanceAlto
Lute,Venere1592
GALInstrumentPlan#21
ErlangenLectureSeriesPlan#5

13-csBaroqueLute,Dieffopruchar
ca.1600
GAL InstrumentPlan#22
ErlangenLectureSeriesPlan#6

ni:'o
.ff" pa ct^i k

14-csArchlute,
M.Sellas1639
GAL lnstrumentPlan#23
ErlangenLectureSeriesPlan#7

II

AncientLute Makers
LauxBoss(Bosch):Arelativeof LauxMaler. He
workedin Maler'sshopin Bolognaabout 1530,but
nearFssen.
apparentlylater returnedto Schongau,
Several(altered) lutesby him survive;he is mentioned
in the Fuggerinventory.

MichielleHarton (MichaelHartung): Padua,flourished

at the end of the 16th century. Severalwonderful lutes
in original condition survive. Tiained in Veniceby
Leonardo Tieffenbrucker,the father of Wendelinus
Tieffenbrucker.

Magno Dieffopruchar (MagnusTieffenbrucker):

Venice,flourishedin the secondhalf of the 16th
century.Dated instrumentsrangefrom L516to 1670.
The first known luthier namedMagnusTieffenbrucker
settledin Venicein 1519and died there in 1560.His
luthier sonMagno died in Venicein1576. At leastone
other Magno Dieffopruchar headedthe famous
workshopearly in the l7thcentury. Many other family
membersby different names(for instancePaolo,the son
of Magnojunior, and Mois,brother of Magnojunior)
alsoworked in the shopbut their instrumentsappearto
havebeenmadeand soldwith the "Masno
Dieffopruchar"label.

Johann Chrstian Hoffmann: b. 1683Leipzig, d. 1750.

One of the mostimportantviolinmakersof his time.
Builder to J.S.Bach. Violins and lutes.

to
JosephusJoachimusEdlinger: Sonand successor
ThomasEdlingerII. He trainedasaviolin makerin
Italy, and rebuilt Renaissancelutes in the Weissstyleas
hisfatherhaddone.
ThomasEdlingerlI: d.1729. Aviolin makerin Prague
who wasperhapsthe most important converterof fine
Renaissance
lutesto 13-courseconfiguration.He likely
wasinspiredby the lutenist SilviusLeopold Weissto
createthe bass-riderbox for the 12th and 13th courses
of strings,and probablybuilt the first examplefor Weiss
in 1718.
Hans Frei: Bologna,flourished in the middle of the
16thcentury. Known from severalextant instruments
and various authorsincluding John Evelyn in his
famousdiary. Recentarchivaldocuments(summaryin
the recentbook by PasqualandRegazzi,Le radici del
dellaliuteria a Bologna)revealhim to be a
successo
Germanwhom the Bolognesecalled Giovanni Franchi.
His two sonstook over his shopafter his death and
madeFrei lutes,aswell asguitarsand theorboes,well
into the 17th century.

Martin Hoffmann (father of Johann Christian):

b. 1653Leipzig,d.1719. Maker of violins,gambas,and
lutes.
\
Hans Jordan: Markneukirchen,Saxony.The most
prominent 20th-centuryGerman lute maker before the
revival of lute making accordingto historicalprinciples
in the 1970s.
Laux Maler (Luca Maler, Laux Maller, LucasMahler):
Alute makerworkingin Bolognabeginningca. 1518,
who died thereJune 5th,1552.One of the mostfamous
and important lute makersof all time. Built 9-ribbed
luteson the "pearl mold" shape.Formedan association
of mastersand pupils in 1530which built well over a
thousandinstruments.
Matteo Sellas(MathusSeelos):Venice,flourished
during the first half of the 17th century. Many
extravagantinstrumentssurvive,built of ivory, or ivory
and ebony,or snakewoodwithinlaid necksand
pegboxes.Theorbos,archlutes,and guitarssurvivefrom
this very activeworkshopor association.
LeonardoTiefenbrucker: Brother of Magnus
Tieffenbruckersenior,father of Wendelin (Vendelio
Venere),andfounderofthe greatPaduanVenere
workshop.
JoachimTielke: Hamburg,b. L64L,d. l7 79. Maker of
violins, gambas,lutes, and guitars. Many of his extant
instrumentsare made of preciousmaterialssuchasivory
and are lavishlyinlaid.

GeorgGerle: Innsbruck,flourishedfrom 1569to 1589.

His singleextant instrument is signed(in German),
"Georg Gerle,His RoyalHighness'Accountant
in
Innsbruck." Court recordsshowhe built several
instrumentswhile in Innsbruck.

Marx Unverdorben: Venice,flourished first half of the

16thcentury. Teacherand relative of Laux Maler.
Severalbeautiful lute bodiesby him survive,particularly
in London andBarcelona.

Magno Graill: ApprenticedwithRomanluthier

MagnusBuchenbergand took over the workshopwhen
the elderluthier died after 1600.Severalvery fine, large
Romantheorboesbyboth makerssurvive.

WendelioVenere(WendelinTieffenbrucker): Padua,
flourished from 1560o 1620. The first Wendelin
Tieffenbrucker-whose namethe Italians apparently
couldnot pronounceandthusbecameVendelioVenere
- probablyapprenticedand eventuallytook over his
fatherLeonardo'sshopin Paduain the middle of the
245

century.He died before1591,but the Venerelabel

continuedto appearin lutesmadeby his successors
(his
nephewChristophoroEberleandgreat-nephew
WendelinEberle) until at least1611.More lutes
survivefrom this workshop than any other, with many
examplesin fine originalcondition;alsotheorbosand
bowedinstrumentswere made. An associationof
severalmastersandpupils.

A Noteon the Spellingof Makers'Names

The text containsa numberof inconsistencies
in
the spellingof ancientmaker'snames.There are
referencesto LeonardoTiefenbruckerand
WendelioVenere,but there is alsoa facsimileof a
label (p. 28) which saysVvendelio Venerede
Leonardo Tiefembrucker,plus there is a Vendelinus
Tieffenbrucker,and a Magno Dieffopruchar. The
authormentionsaVenere associationseveral
times,and alludesto the possibilityof therebeing
three Magno Dieffopurchars.What'sgoingon?
Sincewe couldnot consultMr. Lundberg,we asked
his friend and fellow lute historian DouglasSmith
to help us through this tangle. Here is someof
what he had to say.
Somemakerswerenot consistentin spellins
theirownnames.and thisis complicated'by
archival
documentswhere anotherindividual,perhapsfrom
a different country,refers to the lute maker with a
different spelling(or misspelling),or a different
name altogether. It wasalsocommonfor the lutes
of a particular shopor associationto carry the name
of the founderof that shopregardlessofwhich
builderor buildersmadethem. The reasonis
probablythat the founder'sname,like Henry Ford's,
had establishedthe imageof the workshop,and it
mayhavemadegoodeconomicsenseto continue
usingthe namelong after the founderdied.
Furthermore,a typicalshopmayhavehad at least
one apprenticeor family memberworking alongside
the master,doingless-skilled
work suchasturning
pegsor makingcases,andin somedocumentedcases
(VenereandMaler) therewerefour or more,so
many luteswere likely to havebeen the result of a
collaborativerather than a solo effort.
Our examplesaboveare the luthiers of the
Tieffenbruckerfamily. Leonardo and Magnus
Tieffenbrucker I were brothers,sonsof Ulrich
Tieffenbruckerwho emigratedfrom Fssento

246

Venicein 1519.Magnusstayedin Venice,probably

takingoverdad'sshop- he wasprobablythe older
son- and Leonardowent to Padua,whichwas
ruled by Venice.
Over a periodof abouta century@a.7520-1620),
therewere at leastthree different Masno
Dieffoprucharsin Venicewho would havecalled
themselvesMagnusTieffenbrucker in a German
environment. The Italians couldn't pronounce
Tieffenbruckersothey createdDieffopruchar.
Mang is the Germanname(there'sa monasteryof
SaintMang,the patron saintof Fssen,by the castle
on the hill at the top of the town). Magnusis the
Latinversionoften usedby Germans,and Magno is
the Italian version. As noted in Lundbers'slist of
ancientlute makers,other luthiersprobalybuilt
under this labelaswell.
As for the Tieffenbruckerswho lived and worked
in Padua,WendelinTiefenbrucker,son of
Leonardo, appearsin one placein the text,with a
Latin version of his first name,asVendelinus
Tieffenbrucker. The Paduanscreateda different
namefor him altogether,VendelioVenere. (This
renamingphenomenonwasnot uncommon.In
Bologna,for instance,archivalrecordsshowHans
Frei to havebecomeGiovanni Franchi.) Lundberg
rendersVendelioVenereasWendelioVenere,for
the mostpart,but thereis alsoVvendelioVenere,
andthe labelwhichreads"VvendelioVenerede
Leonardo Tiefembrucker." As it turns out, all of
theserefer to one builder,and to an association,
or
school,of makerswhoproducedinstruments
bearinghis name.
Rather than trying to tidy up an inherently
messyorthographicsituationwehavedecided,for
the most part, to usethe namesand versionsof
namesastheywerepresentedin the original
Am eic an L utherie articles.