How is a lute made?

What actually happens in a lute workshop to make a piece of wood sound so beautiful? The Füssen lute makers were masters of their craft who could turn a small piece of yew wood into this magical instrument.

The lute maker splits a piece of hardwood like yew into long chips and cuts them.

The chips are joined together over a block to form a "shell". Bending irons are used to bend the chips into the right shape. This is easy to do, because heat and humidity make the lignin that strengthens wood fibres soft and malleable.

For the soundboard, a spruce trunk is split to make a pair of wooden boards, which are then planed to a thickness of 1 to 2.5 mm. The outline of the board is drawn on the two joined plates and then the sound hole, an ornate rosette, is cut out.

After the board has been cut out and the ornate rosette has been carved, reinforcement slats called beaming are glued in.

The last component to be attached to the lute's soundboard is the lute bridge, which the strings are mounted to. You can see the production steps here.

After gluing the bridge, the board is now ready to be glued to the shell.

The neck of the lute is made up of many small pieces which are glued together and veneered.

The lute's neck is attached to the upper block of the lute shell using a nail or a long screw.

The strings are tuned using elaborately swirled pegs. The pegbox attaches to the upper end of the neck. It can either be bent, which was common during the Renaissance, or straight. The theorbo houses a second pegbox, which holds the unrestricted, unfretted bass pegs.

The strings are traditionally made of dried, wound, and polished sheep gut. Since the 18th century, strings wound with metal have become common, as they protect the strings and improve sound.

To finish, the lute's delicate back is sealed with varnish. The varnish recipes are as different as the shapes of the lutes themselves. One recipe made in the Museum of Füssen consists of turpentine oil, dissolved resin, turpentine, mastic, and linseed oil.

Lute cases are made to transport the precious lutes. The lute case displayed here is one of the oldest in the Museum of Füssen and dates back to the mid 16th century. The case itself was made in 1646.

The inside of this lute case from 1646 is lined with copper engravings. The lute player with the deer facing her symbolizes the sense of hearing.