| Opus 54 - Renaissance Lute |
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Grant Tomlinson crafted this strikingly beautiful replica after conducting painstaking research in European museums. The body consists of twenty-five strips of yew, separated by thin bands of sycamore. Carved in the spruce soundboard is a delicate gothic-style rose. Tomlinson made his own amber varnish. The design of the bridge, which is made of dyed pearwood, is typical of Paduan luthiers in the late sixteenth century. 
Grant Tomlinson 
Video ExcerptGrant Tomlinson Vancouver, British Columbia 1992 In 1975, Grant Tomlinson's attempts to play early music on the guitar led him to study the lute under Canadian instrument maker and musician Ray Nurse. He soon became interested in making stringed instruments, primarily the lute. Intent on achieving the closest possible reproduction of baroque and Renaissance instruments, Tomlinson conducted intensive research on lutes in major European collections for nearly a year. He measured, photographed and studied over seventy original lutes. In 1986, he received a Canada Council grant to study lute making under the renowned English luthier Stephen Gottlieb. In addition to making lutes, Tomlinson is active in the Lute Society of America, for which he gives lectures and workshops and writes specialized articles for publication. His reputation now firmly established, Grant Tomlinson attracts a clientèle of professional musicians and serious amateurs from Europe, Japan, the United States and Canada.
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he model for this lute, which is outfitted
with seven courses, is an instrument
made by Vuendelio Venere in Padua in 1592 and preserved in the
Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna. Venere produced a number of
instruments in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
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