After ‘small’ Frei     66.5/71.8cm    f' A440    10¼ frets    11 ribs     Model Z

An elegant mid 16C type of lute in the characteristic long Bologna style (the ‘pearl’ mould of Thomas Mace). It is modelled closely on the smaller of the two lutes by Hans Frei in the Vienna Kunsthistorischesmuseum, no. C34, probably made in the first half of the 16C. The original back is of 11 ribs of maple, but it can as well be made in ash, yew, fruit- or other woods. The plain pegbox and neck can be made in plum, maple or beech, and various decorative schemes, such as stripes of bone or horn, are possible. It has a cambered fingerboard and treble rider, and the bass rider can be made in several styles.