G'day,

Davetnova: As Wilfied says, they are different. The instrument I see, from Terry Allan Hall's description, has standard guitar (nylon) stringing, six normal modern machine heads and a normal "folk guitar" width neck. The only real "lute" aspect is that it has a half round back and an oval shape.

Wifried: As well as "Hurdy Gurdy", that is also called a "vielle" ... its French name. At a recent party in Sydney (at the home of Mudcatters JennyO and Jack Halyard) for visiting CraneDriver and Sussex Carole, a couple played vielle and "Belgian bagpipes". They do a lot of work in the mediæval reenactment area ... and the European Festival circuits ... representing roughly 16th century traditions. At that time the vielle was starting to be played by ordinary folk, rather than just the nobility and royalty.

Regards,

Bob