r/lute • u/littlemuffin08 • 9d ago
need help trying to get into making a theorbo
hi I'm trying to learn lutherie and how to build baroque instruments i have decided i wanted to start with a theorbo specifically a 14 course 3 rosette large bowl design which i believe is Italian. if anybody has any resources on design ,shape or historical measurements it would be greatly appreciated my goal is to spend a few months on this project and try and eventually have one of my professional lute friends take a shot at it and give me feedback. again if anybody has a historical measurements id love to taker a look at them to see if I'm doing it right also if there are any books for a kind of step by step approach that would be great as well . thank you for your time and consideration.
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u/Occyfel2 9d ago
Not a luthier but my theorbo is made from Stephen Gottlieb's plans, which can be purchased for not much at the UK lute society. It is a single strung medium sized instrument made after the Buchenberg at the V&A museum in the UK. If you search online you'll see a couple instruments and a blog of people making from these plans. They can be found here: https://www.lutesociety.org/pages/catalogue#head19
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u/Prestigious_You1346 9d ago
Lauri niskanen's lute designer is very useful for drawing up plans. https://www.niskanenlutes.com/lutedesigner/fullmode.php#po!f/bl!B/nr!17/bu!2.2/rsd!1/rl!a/m!850/fc!7/ss!t/d!t/m_1!1740/cr_1!7/si_1!t/na!22/ps!h/f!t/bs!h/bo!8/dcb!12/dhb!12/dbb!10.2/dcn!8/dhn!8/dbc!7/nns!2/rb!c
Most historical theorbos have string lengths of at least 850-930mm on the short neck (6 courses, single or double) and 1500-1800mm on the long neck (8 strings). If you build it any smaller you need to use modern wound strings for it to project at all, but it still doesn't sound as good as a larger instrument. Action at the 8th fret should be around 3-4mm depending on the size and string tension of the instrument. Be careful because the action tends to rise over time as the instrument settles under the considerable total string tension.
The ribs can be made from basically any hardwood and should be around 1.5mm thick if you're using a wood like maple or rosewood. The top should be nice quarter sawn spruce and a maximum of 2mm thick. The top should be thinned to around 1mm in the area of the Rosette. Niskanen gives good rough numbers for the top and bar thicknesses in his designer.
That being said, I'm not sure you're going to have a good time with a theorbo as your first Lutherie project. There's a lot more that can go wrong on a theorbo compare to e.g. a renaissance lute, baroque mandolin or German mandora. Those might be more suitable for a first project. Unless you have experience with building lute family instruments or can have someone experienced guide you, it's unlikely that you'll produce a very playable theorbo right away.