Thomann Renaissance Lute Deluxe 7C

Das Instrument ist sauber verarbeitet und bundrein. Sehr gut geeignet für einen Anfänger oder für Leute, die Gitarre spielen und zusätzlich die Laute kennen lernen möchten. Ein Problem jeder Laute ist die Stimmung! Hier muss man sorgfältig und geduldig vorgehen. Das ging aber schon den Lautenisten vor 500 Jahren so. Ein Stimmgerät ist hilfreich. Die Laute entfaltet ihre klanglichen Qualitäten nur, wenn die Chöre genau eingestimmt sind, aber auch die Saiten untereinander (Resonanz!). Hier ist genau wie beim Spiel Übung gefragt und Geduld!

I am on the whole very pleased with this instrument:
It is well-made and looks good.
It is light and resonates well.
The finish seems to be a very thin coat of satin varnish and looks great.
The nut is made from bone and is, correctly, not glued to the neck but held in place by the strings. The action is, if anything, slightly high but this could easily be fixed.
The frets are single-tied and came positioned correctly to give what sounds to my ears near perfect intonation. The higher glued frets are also correct.
The pegs fit well, move smoothly and the instrument is surprisingly easy to tune.
The rose is obviously laser-cut but it looks great and I would expect nothing more at this price. It is also integral to the table and not glued in later.

Mine had a problem: the fingerboard was slightly concave across its width meaning the frets did not lie flat against the wood causing rather bad fret-buzz in places. Fortunately I have the skill to fix this - I flattened it with a cabinet scraper and re-finished with brazil nut oil. Be ready to return yours if it has this problem.

I purchased this lute as my first lute ever, and it's a great beginner instrument.
Pros:
+ It sounds good, not too soft, not too loud. Not too sharp and not too dull.
+ The lute is very light and easy too hold.
+ The frets can be moved into a more accurate position.
+ It's easily playable and learnable (I would say that it's even easier than a guitar) and anything you play will always sound good.
+ The lute is easy to transport and comes with a sturdy and protective gig bag.
+ The instrument looks great ;)

Cons:
- The lute is difficult to tune.
- The strings are hard to replace.
- The strings go out of tune easily.