<html>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><font size=3><br>
My name is Elizabeth and I live in Australia. I recently bought a
celtic harp. Other then that I really don't know what to say except
"hello" :)</blockquote><br>
Good day, Elizabeth. My name is Dänae Denby-Spencer and I'm a
luthier, a member of the Guild of American Luthiers. I've been monitoring
this list to try to get a handle on what's going on SCA-wise with ancient
music and its performance, because theat's the primary market for my
little hobby. <br><br>
For those folks having the Lute discussion, there are a number of
instruments I've been preparing for sale at SCA events and I so may have
some knowledge of use to you. <br><br>
To begin with, I'm not a very "guitar-centric" luthier and
actually came to my craft through psalters, dulcimers, harps, pipes,
drums and the like--in fact, I rather resent the guitar's over-prominence
in Western music--there's so much more! Even so, the guitar is a
very popular instrument at SCA events but suffers from looking too common
and modern. I address this need by the construction of either
lute-shaped guitars, Citterns, Bouzouki or "English-style"
guitars. My object is to sell a quality instrument at a fair price
which can be instantly played by a guitarist while also fitting the
costume needs of the performer. There's a lot more folky strummers
out there than classical arpeggio-masters, which is what the discipline
of the lute demands, anyway.<br><br>
There is a company in Wisconsin, USA that makes a pretty decent guitar
that meets this requirement, and a certain amount of my trade comes from
placing them in the hands of SCA performers. Their web
address is :
<a href="http://www.musikit.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv" eudora="autourl">http://www.musikit.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv</a><br><br>
They also have a wonderful "baroque bass" which I should love
to build one day, were it not so over-priced. Fortunately they sell
their plans.<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
J. K. Danae Denby-Spencer<br><br>
<a href="http://www.geocities.com/athens/atrium/6331/luthiery/siteindx.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.geocities.com/athens/atrium/6331/luthiery/siteindx.htm</a><br><br>
"Do not meddle in the affairs of bards, for they are unsubtle, and
your name scans to<br>
Greensleeves"
</font></html>