Inspired by the type of work that I have seen in Edlinger's lutes I am currently using the design of the bowl and belly of E.25, an anonymous lute from the collection of Musée de la musique, Paris, as the basis for an 18th century adaptation. The original E.25 is conserved as an archlute but this was not its original state. The soundboard is dated to 1555-1560 and the 17 rib ivory bowl is a typical late 16th century Germano-Italian design. An ornate extension dates from the 18th century. For further information on the original see the web site of the Musée de la musique or Les luths (Occident) catalogue des collections du Musée de la musique (vol.1), edited by Joël Dugot.

This lute is an example of my approach to lute making. I built the first model, an archlute, for Richard Kolb who wanted to replace his Tieffenbrucker with a larger instrument. When Richard used his new archlute in a Handel and Haydn Society (Boston) director William Christie commented favorably on the lute's qualities. My new lutes always attract attention and it wasn't long before Daniel Swenberg, hearing something in the timbre of the new archlute, suggested using this form for a 13 course baroque lute. So emulating the 18th century masters who used old lute parts for new lutes I build this model as a 13 course in yew (top photo) or rosewood (left) with a bass rider or Jauck style extension.

Baroque lute specifications: the bowl is approximately 35.3cm wide, 46.0 long and 15.3 deep. String lengths can be 70-73 cm for a 10 or 11 fret neck with bass courses on a rider or Jauck style extension.