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All right, you're a guitar maker. Or a violin maker. You don't plan on making any lutes.
Why should you care about Historical Lute Construction?
Because this is a book about the soul of lutherie. The insights, information, and techniques in Historical Lute Construction will broaden your lutherie horizons and change the way you look at musical instruments.
Sharing information is the Guild of American Luthiers' only mission, and it doesn't get any better than this. Robert Lundberg spent fifteen years in close collaboration with the GAL staff to produce Historical Lute Construction. It is a monument to his understanding, scholarship, and skill. And it is also a monument to his selfless sharing of all that he could discover. In these pages you will stand at the workbench of a master luthier as he shares with you in detail the fruits of a distinguished career of scholarship and craft. It will be a rich source of information, example, and inspiration to any luthier.
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Dana Bourgeois
Flattop Guitar Maker
“I learned more about guitar making from this than from most of what I've read in the past fifteen years put together. And I do a lot of reading. This is a window into Lundberg's total mastery over his subject. It's awe inspiring. The information in historical perspective is peppered with little how-to masterpieces. From conceptualization to realization, each little aspect of making the lute is covered. This is the fusion of left and right brain. Totally absorbing!” |
R.E. Bruné‚
Classic Guitar Maker
“Robert Lundberg's exemplary research into historical lute construction and his willingness to share this with the lutherie community set the highest example of dedication our art has seen. I hope every luthier will acquire this magnificent book and study it thoroughly, not just for the specific historical documentation regarding the lute family, but more importantly, for the thorough approach to lutherie which this book so eloquently advocates.” |
Clive Titmuss
Lute Maker
“To have a lifetime of working knowledge about historical lutes, their materials and measurements is a great resource, but to have it with the practical information needed to build fine period instruments in one book, that is beyond price. Bob Lundberg's legacy is not just his study of the instruments of the past, or indeed the wonderful lutes and guitars he built, it is also his de-construction of the methods of old luthiers. Only the GAL could put this on paper and pass Bob's wealth of experience to those who want to make lutes.” |
Cyndy Burton
Classic Guitar Maker
“Robert Lundberg spent much of his adult life studying historic lutes and using that knowledge to build lutes patterned on the wonderful examples he found in museums and collections. This book is a rare combination of scholarship and practical how-to by a master craftsman who loved to build instruments and, more importantly for us, loved to share that knowledge. Anyone with the least interest in woodworking or historical instruments will find treasure here.” |
Michael Darnton
Violin Maker
“Robert Lundberg was known as a meticulous researcher and craftsperson. I wish he'd been involved in violins instead of lutes — the violin field could use more people like him. Nevertheless, his lute construction series was so interesting, well-done, and unique, I think the book should be in every string instrument maker's library as an example of how to look at and appreciate any stringed instrument. Many of his attitudes about lute construction transfer directly to working with violins, and I imagine should also give guitar makers a lot to think about.” |
American Musical Instrument Society
“...Historical Lute Construction... offers a wealth of invaluable and relevant information for the general reader who is interested in the craft of instrument making from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. [...] The author's readable and engaging text is accompnied by hundreds of photos, diagrams, and informative captions; his direct, conversational writing style reflects his personality and his natural gifts as a teacher. [...] Even the reader with only a casual interest in mathmatical design will marvel at Lundberg's lucid description of the geometry of barring arrangements, wood thickness graduations, and rose designs, all laid out with full-page diagrams and photographs.” |
John Greven
Flattop Guitar Maker
“If you can't build a lute with this information, there's some kind of major impairment involved. I'll buy it even though I don't build any lutes. Beautiful, methodical presentation; very impressive. Sequence of events, concept of process that produces optimal results. Great addition to any guitar maker's reference library.” |
Ervin Somogyi
Flattop Guitar Maker
“Robert Lundberg's book is a completely professional presentation of a complex body of material. Lavishly illustrated through Jon Peterson's intelligent photography, Historical Lute Construction will be a useful book in any luthier's library. Even for instrument makers who will never make a lute, it's a must for seeing what wonderful work can be accomplished in a low-tech way if one is only willing to learn the skills.” |
Robert Benedetto
Archtop Guitar Maker
“For those of us not privileged to personally know Robert Lundberg, within the pages of Historical Lute Construction we share an indelible sense of pride in our craft.
For the rest of the civilized world, behold one of the many wonders provided to you by an esteemed colleague. Lundberg ardently details past and present
achievements of the world's finest lute makers, chronicling the instrument's long and elegant history.” |
Robert Cooper
Pioneer Lute Maker/Author
“Bob Lundberg was one of the best luthiers who ever lived, and of those, certainly one of the best informed. I await with great anticipation the arrival of this treasure of information.” |
Jeff Elliott
Classic Guitar Maker
“A magnificent, definitive, comprehensive, historical study of lutes and their construction. Useful information for makers of all stringed instruments. A great legacy by a great maker and scholar.” |
John Monteleone
Archtop Guitar Maker
“Only in vast portions of time are icons written on any given subject. This is one of them. No matter what instrument you are associated with, this book offers such great insight and experience that one couldn't help but absorb something from it. There's some goodness here for everyone.” |
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