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| My 7 course (13-strings) Roosebeck Descant Lute! |
I used to be a full-fledged "luter" in my younger days. I got my first lute (an 8-course by Aria) for Christmas 1976. Although I still have that lute its days as a playable instrument are essentially over! In 1984 I purchased a 13-course Baroque lute from a high school friend in Lexington, KY. By the turn of the millennium my interests in music had changed and I ended up selling it to a guitar student from the University of Louisville.
This past summer I came across what have been collectively and rather jokingly called "Ebay-lutes" under the name Roosebeck. In reality these lutes are factory-made jobs from Turkey. I was fully aware that there is no way these Turkish lutes are on par with hand-made instruments from Europe and the U.S. however, I was interested in at least having one in case there was a need for me to play lute for some occasion. Here is a link to Roosebeck instruments: Roosebeck Lutes
Most of the cheaper Roosebeck lutes sold on Ebay are essentially "blemished" models. I found new, unblemished ones for well under $600.00 available on Amazon.com. When mine arrived I was somewhat surprised at the size of the descant lute-- it is little!
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| This lute is roughly the size of a baritone uke. |
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| The back strips of flame maple. |
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| A close up of the body/neck connection. |
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| A nice laser-cut rose! |
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| The bridge features two types of wood (maple and rosewood) |
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| Nice laser-cut design on the back of the peg-box! |
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| The lute came with a rather worthless 'gigbag', my wife got me a Roosebeck case for Christmas that the lute fits nicely in! |
Nylon frets- they tend to not wear out like gut frets!
Cons: Factory made- and yes I wasn't expecting a $5,000 hand made lute so I don't mind.
Very difficult to hold because of its size.
Sound: I have mine tuned to 'A'. It is the lutes "sweet spot" as far as sound and projection. For a little thing it does a nice job projecting.
Below is a link to my Soundcloud page to hear what this lute sounds like:
Roosebeck Lute Demo
Over all these Roosebeck instruments are great for a beginner or novice wanting to learn to play a lute. For no more than I play this little thing does nicely!
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| My venerable old 8-course Aria next to my new Roosebeck descant lute! |
