After Schelle     73/97.1cm     eb'A440    10½ frets    11 ribs    Model JJ

This lute is modelled closely on an instrument made in Nuremberg in Sebastian Schelle’s last year, 1744 and still in playing condition. It is in the collection of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg. It is an elegant model, with a long almond-shaped 11-ribbed body, probably emulating the much earlier Bologna lutes of Maler and Frei. (It is in fact very close in style to the ‘Warwick’ Frei. The original has the back in rosewood, and this makes for great power and penetration, excellent for playing in small ensembles. Maple will give a rather warmer sound, perhaps better for mainly solo playing. I recently made this model in ebony, and found, rather to my surprise, that this gave a tone colour somewhere between rosewood and maple. The fingerboard is cambered, and it has a treble rider.