7-course vihuela wanted

[don groves]

I play my Dan Larson vihuela in G with several recorder playing friends and find myself wishing more and more for that low F. Rather than tune down and have to learn all new fingerings, I'd rather buy a 7-course instrument.

So far, I've had no luck with Google searches, except to find this group which is a great success in itself! Can anyone here help me locate such a beast?

Best regards to all,

don

[Jelma van Amersfoort]

I know Sebastian Nunez just made a very beautiful 7 string vihuela. Maybe you can mail him and ask or pictures? You'll find him at: http://home.hetnet.nl/~sebas-vero/.

[don groves]

Thank you, Jelma, for your response. I have looked at Sebastian's website and will contact him as you suggest. I hope to find an existing instrument for sale so I won't have to wait for one to be built for me, but, alas, that may not be possible.

Thank you also for your offer of friendship, which I have gladly accepted :-)
--
don

[Alexander Batov]

Hello Don,
I will be making 7-course vihuela for one of my customers sometime later this year; a 59cm String Length instrument based on the 'Chambure' vihuela body. It has a fairly wide body width which suits 7-course configuration rather well. Just to get an idea what I mean, you can see some images of my 6-course 'Chambure' version here:

http://www.vihuelademano.com/e.0748/pages/e.0748.htm

It's also worth to mention that the original 'Chambure' vihuela was converted, sometimes during its life, to 7-courses by addition of an extra slot in the bridge! So there is some good historical justification here.

A lower priced flat back version, if that's what you are looking for, is also possible.

Alexander

[don groves]

Thank you for the reply, Alexander. A flat back would be fine. I'm more interested in sound than appearance ;-)

If I ordered one from you, how long would I have to wait to receive it?
--
don

[Alexander Batov]

Hi Don,

Please let me know your email address and I'll answer you with more details. You can find my on the 'Contact' page of my web site: http://www.vihuelademano.com/contact.htm

Alexander