Some years ago my wife Barbara and I went to a concert given by lutenist Steven Stubbs, who, at the time, was based in Seattle but has since moved on. After playing several pieces on the lute, he introduced his newly acquire "theorbo" and brought out a beast that looked like this, but here, it's labeled a "chitarronne".

I roamed around on google.com a bit. Under "theorbo" I came up with this. I also found this (like the one Steven Stubbs had). Under "chitarronne" I found this. Looks like the same instrument to me. I tend to think that there are a variety of arch-lutes or bass-lutes that go by the names "theorbo" or "chitarronne," with the words used interchangeably. If someone knows for sure, I'm more than willing to be enlightened.

"Guitarronne" came up with the Mexican bass guitar often seen in Mariachi bands.

Try getting one of these suckers into an airline overhead locker. . . !!

Don Firth