Official Luthiers Forum!

Before I get started, I should hasten to make it clear that I am currently in no position to purchase the kind of product about which I will proceed to ask. OK, that said...

I'm not in the most stable of life-situations at the moment, but when things improve I would like to begin playing transcribed lute, vihuela, and four-course guitar pieces at local Renaissance fairs. I know a zitherer (zitherist?) who does this a couple of times a year, has a great time dressing up in a fun costume, plays fun stuff in a relaxed atmosphere for an undemanding audience, and actually makes a little spare cash in the bargain. Not a lot, but being paid even small amount to enjoy oneself over a weekend is something I can live with.

The problem is that while I love early music, I'm no early-music specialist and (though I enjoy listening to them perform) I don't want to become one. I know that you can get reproductions of period instruments, but I just want to play the stuff on the instrument I already know. The problem, of course, is that toting a modern-looking guitar to a Ren fair simply wouldn't be right. Even if the fair administrators would allow it, I wouldn't be happy with myself--I'd feel like I was destroying the illusion these events are meant to create. I'm obviously no purist, but in this particular context I'd want to maintain the appearance of playing a period instrument.

So, the million-dollar Q: does anyone make vihuela-ish or lut-ish bodies with standard (modern) necks?

Again, pardon my ignorance--for all I know, maybe there's some technical reason for which lute- or vihuela-style bodies sound awful with nylon strings, or don't produce enough volume to be practical, etc. But Haans said I could ask!

Probably just a case of needing a pick up up grade or a bigger amp. Seriously though, might take a bit of trial and error (bit of cash won't hurt) to get what you're after. I've heard some great sounds out of odd instruments over the years. David Lindley is a good example. I think I saw him playing some lute like instrument, probably tuned to something none traditional for a lute. PU'ed and driven pretty hard. Sounded very cool. His Weissenbourns are set up to give enough bottom to rattle your fillings out. There are people out there that specialise in pulling sound you're after out of an instrument. Rick Turner comes to mind. Having a good bankroll is always a good start to finding solutions. Same with retrofitting a old instruments. I know little about it but I think there is only one original Stradivarius fiddle. I believe new necks are common alterations. You appear to be in need of a personal luthier.

https://www.google.de/search?q=gitarren ... 80&bih=874

? Like this ?

Above. The Lute Guitar is your best option. Cheap enough not to worry about being damaged and with a lute like appearance. It won't convince the real aficionados but 99.9% of the population will be convinced.

You can find lute guitars listed on ebay. They are usually nylon strung and most I've had were a bit quieter than a good classical guitar, but had a pleasant sound. Some have scalloped fretboards.

So they do exist! I was afraid that DannyV's wad-o-cash answer might be the only solution, but a thankful sigh of relief to the rest of you for the cheaper solution. A 99% audience-satisfaction rate is just fine.

Much appreciated.

There are German Lute-guitar type instruments that were in fashion in the first half of the 20th century....you can usually pick them up pretty cheap. The guy who taught me to build picked up a bunch and converted them to cheap lutes that he could lend out to his students (all of his undergrad guitar students were required to study lute/ren. Guitar/vihuela during their third semester.

There's also always the option of buying a really cheap lute (since it for outdoors non concert type playing anyway, The cheap plywood ones are fine) and then just tune it to guitar tuning