This is a late Renaissance style lute, the body a slightly reduced version of the Magno Tieffenbrucker, Venice c. 1609 8c lute in the Bardini Collection, Florence. The original has 35 yew ribs with dark lines between them, and a back of the elegant elliptical Venetian form. My model has a nearly flat fingerboard, and the chanterelle string has a treble rider. I have in the past made this model with a slightly shorter string length and a 9-fret neck, but my preference is for the longer instrument, to give a really strong bass response with gut strings.