Renaissance & Baroque Guitar
Roosebeck Lute-Guitar, 6-String Variegated with Geared Tuners
Roosebeck Lute-Guitar, 6-String Variegated with Geared Tuners
Ideal for: Classical and folk guitarists who want the look and feel of a lute without learning a new tuning
A guitar in lute clothing: standard tuning, lute body, modern playability.
The lute-guitar is exactly what it sounds like: a guitar fitted with a lute body. It plays in standard EBGDAE tuning with six single strings, has the same mahogany neck shape and 51mm bone nut as a classical guitar, and uses smooth-operating gold geared tuners. But the bowl-back body is built like a lute, alternating lacewood and rosewood staves with no internal bracing, topped with European spruce and a carved geometric rosette. The result is an instrument that's instantly familiar to any guitarist but produces a distinctly old-world voice.
Lute Body Voice with Guitar Tuning
The bowl-back construction gives this instrument the warm, rounded voice of a lute, while the standard guitar tuning and stringing keep it accessible. Three plain nylon trebles and three nickel-wound basses produce a balanced, classical-guitar-like response with the open, breathy projection that bowl-back instruments are known for.
Variegated Lacewood and Rosewood Bowl
The bowl is built from edge-glued staves of two alternating woods: lacewood for brightness and rosewood for warmth. The variegated look is striking, light staves alternating with dark ones, and the tonal blend gives the instrument its characteristic balanced voice.
The European spruce soundboard features a carved geometric rosette cut directly into the top in 16th-century lute tradition. The pegbox is topped with a carved woman's head, a traditional decorative element.
Standard Guitar Tuning with a Lute Option
Tuned standard E B G D A E like a classical guitar. If you want to play actual lute music, the third string can be tuned a semitone down to F# to enable lute fingering for transcribed Renaissance repertoire.
Technical Specifications
| Strings | 6 (3 nylon + 3 nickel-wound) |
| Body | Alternating lacewood and rosewood staves (variegated) |
| Soundboard | European spruce with carved rosette |
| Neck | Mahogany |
| Nut | Bone, 51mm (2") wide |
| Tuners | Gold geared with black ebonized buttons |
| Recommended Tuning | E B G D A E (standard guitar) |
| Lute Tuning Option | 3rd string down to F# for lute fingering |
| Dimensions | ~44.5 inches L × 14.25 inches W × 8.75 inches H |
What's in the Box
Every Lute-Guitar ships ready to play.
Have questions about this instrument? Contact us or browse all Roosebeck instruments.
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Tradition you can feel, craftsmanship you can hear.