Questions: Bass Theorbo

by Gregg Miner

Originally published in American Lutherie #88, 2006



Roger G. from Woodlands Australia asks:

While on holiday in Venice I ran across a busker playing this instrument, which I think is a bass theorbo. I’d like to make one. Are plans available? Any info on dimensions, tuning, construction, or materials would help. And is there music written for this instrument?


Gregg Miner of Harpguitars.net replies:

What you saw is a fairly common “hybrid” instrument that, strangely, has yet to have a commonly accepted English name. I have an entire page of them in the Hybrids Gallery of Harpguitars.net, and I classify this one as a “theorboed guitar-lute.” Historically, these were most often sold in German catalogs under the name “basslaute” (English: bass lute). This is a confusing term (and inappropriate, in my opinion) as the instrument is neither a true lute, nor a bass version of same. Similarly, the 6-string guitar-lute (our common American term) without the theorbo-style extension for additional bass strings was simply sold as a “lute.” These instruments were meant to generically emulate the appearance of a historical lute or theorbo. They share the lute’s body, but in every other way are like a guitar. In fact, the theorboed guitar-lute is tuned and played exactly like a harp guitar (similarly called a “bass guitar” in Europe). The six fretted strings (originally gut, now nylon) are tuned to standard guitar tuning, and the four to six bass strings (occasionally two, three, or nine) most commonly tuned DCBA[GF] (descending from the neck’s low E). There is also an alternate “re-entrant” tuning.