• Roosebeck Vihuela 6-course - Maple/Mahogany Main photo
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Renaissance & Baroque Guitar

Roosebeck Vihuela 6-Course, Spanish Renaissance Guitar

Roosebeck Vihuela 6-Course, Spanish Renaissance Guitar
6 Courses / 11 Strings Maple & Mahogany Spruce Top Ebony Fingerboard Tied Nylon Frets

Ideal for: Classical guitarists exploring early music and serious students of the Spanish Renaissance repertoire

The Spanish Renaissance ancestor of the modern guitar.

The Vihuela is the Spanish Renaissance instrument that links the medieval lute to the modern classical guitar. Played in guitar position with six courses of strings, it gives you access to the rich vihuela literature of Milán, Narváez, and Mudarra, plus any Italian or Elizabethan six-course lute music. This Roosebeck reproduction features alternating staves of maple and mahogany on the back and sides, a spruce soundboard, an ebony fingerboard, and a beautifully ornate mahogany mustache bridge against the light spruce top.

Bright, Articulate Renaissance Voice

The spruce soundboard combined with the maple and mahogany body produces a bright, articulate tone that cuts cleanly through polyphonic textures. Eleven strings in six courses (five double, one single chanterelle) give you the harmonic richness Renaissance composers wrote for. Aquila Nylgut strings on courses 1–4 paired with phosphor bronze wound basses on courses 5–6 deliver authentic period voicing.

About Aquila Nylgut: A modern synthetic that mimics the warmth and texture of historical gut strings without the maintenance headaches. It's the standard for serious early-music performance.

Maple and Mahogany in Alternating Staves

The body alternates staves of maple and mahogany on the sides and back, a construction that gives the Vihuela both visual character and balanced tonal response. The neck is maple with an ebony fingerboard and tied nylon frets, plus three rosewood frets on the spruce soundboard for the highest positions.

The mahogany tuning pegs and ornate mahogany mustache bridge stand out against the light spruce top. The matte finish is true to historical practice.

Why this matters for early music: Renaissance instruments were built with multiple woods specifically to balance tonal characteristics. The maple-mahogany combination is documented in surviving period instruments.

Tuned G C F A D G — A Bridge to Lute Repertoire

Suggested tuning low to high is G, C, F, A, D, G (range G2–G4). This tuning opens the entire Spanish Renaissance vihuela repertoire — Milán's El Maestro, Narváez's Los Seys Libros del Delphin, Mudarra's fantasias — plus six-course Italian and Elizabethan lute music played in guitar position.

For classical guitarists: If you've wanted to explore lute repertoire but found the right-hand position unfamiliar, the Vihuela is the natural bridge. Same playing position as a guitar, with access to the entire Renaissance literature.

Technical Specifications

Courses 6 (11 strings: 1 single + 5 double)
Body Alternating maple and mahogany staves, matte finish
Soundboard Spruce
Neck Maple with ebony fingerboard
Frets Tied nylon (neck) + 3 rosewood (soundboard)
Tuning Pegs Mahogany
Bridge Mahogany base with ebony top, mustache shape
Strings Aquila Nylgut (1–4) + Phosphor Bronze Wound (5–6)
Recommended Tuning G C F A D G (range G2–G4)
Dimensions 39 inches L × 9.6 inches W × 4.5 inches H
Weight 2 lbs (7 lbs with case)

What's in the Box

Every Vihuela ships ready for serious study.

Padded Gig Bag 

Have questions about this instrument? Contact us or browse all Roosebeck instruments.

Questions about this instrument?
Talk to our team  or browse all renaissance & baroque guitar.
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Tradition you can feel, craftsmanship you can hear.
Solid tonewoods
Cured, cut, and chosen for sound.
Voiced by hand
Fretboards dressed, action set, bridges fit by our luthiers.
Made to be played
Built for working musicians, designed to sound better the more you play it.
Since 1973
Five decades of building instruments that last generations.