❌SOLD❌ Albert J Litto 7 Course Renaissance Lute, 1965

Here we have an Albert J Litto 7 Course Renaissance Lute, built during 1965 in Kenmore, New York.  This lovely Renaissance lute demonstrates many traditional construction techniques. The bowl back is composed of flamed maple ribs, bent and joined. Inside the bowl, the ribs are sealed with parchment tape, made wet to induce expansion, then coated with hide glue. The water on the inside forces the ribs to curve from side to side, and the hardening glue keeps them in this shape.

The neck and head are flamed maple, two sections joined together. The head has an extension for the high string tuner – there isn’t enough room in the box itself for that peg. The top is red cedar, and the traditional ‘rose’ soundhole is a carefully carved lattice. The paper label inside is installed before the top, because there’s no way to get in after it’s on! The tuning pegs, fingerboard and bridge are rosewood.

Traditional Renaissance lutes have gut string frets, tied to notches in the fingerboard edges and bone or wood frets on the top. In a departure from this tradition, this lute has modern beaded frets, plus a set of traditional bone frets.

This lute is in good condition, with little wear. There are a few small marks on the top – cedar is not very hard, and the finish is thin.

The Albert J Litto 7 Course Renaissance Lute is sold without case.

While there isn’t a lot of information about A J Litto, we know that he began his career working with his father, Albert S Litto. Albert S founded the Litto Manufacturing Company in Buffalo during 1935, to produce violins. The father was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1895 and studied violin building under Karoly Raab in Sombor, Serbia and worked for Paul Pilat in Budapest. He emigrated to the USA and worked for H E Macmillan in Cleveland before opening Litto Manufacturing in Buffalo during 1935. Another student of Pilat was M Remenyi, of the family that later moved to Canada and founded the Remeny House of Music in Toronto.  Albert J Litto died around 1977.