THE LUTE SOCIETY

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Posting is free for current Lute Society members, for membership rates see the membership page. Email your text to the webmaster, photos are not accepted, but a link to a photo can be included in the text.  Postings will be removed after 6 months. Re-postings are accepted, but it would be sensible to reconsider the price. Email the webmaster for re-postings.

Alternatively members may wish to consider The Lute Society hire lutes, which are administered by Bruce Brook. Contact Bruce for further details.

Stolen Lutes

This is a new item on this page and hopefully will be used only a little. Postings will be maintained for up to a year.

Lutes available for Hire

Alexander Technique

Stephen Gottlieb 7 course lute in G, String Length 59 cm made in 1983. Ebony edged fingerboard and body. With fibreglass MTM fitted case. Cleaned, re-fretted and re-stung in nylgut by the maker in Feb 08. This is a particularly rich and well projecting instrument. A complete set of photos are available on request. £ 2,200 contact Tony on 01603 454402, tony@minstrelsgallery.com

For Sale: Overseas                    Top of this page         Back to home page

10 c. lute, made by Ray Nurse in 1979. 13 yew ribs. 62,5 cm string length. Very good condition (renewed recently by Alexander Batov), with Kingham case. 3,000 Euros. Manolo Laguillo (Barcelona, Spain) +34 669 43 55 27. manolo@manololaguillo.com

Wayne Cripps has a page with lutes currently for sale at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute/forsale.html;  see also the lute marketplace at www.internetlutesociety.com

Wanted                 Top of this page         Back to home page

The Lute Society hire lutes The society has an extensive collection of lutes available for hire. These are administered by Bruce Brook. Contact Bruce for further details.

Fraud                          Top of this page         Back to home page

I have just had a message from a Lute Society member to the effect that fraudsters are continuing to target people selling lutes - and other objects of high value - over the internet. This is the second time in a few months I have been contacted about this, and have circulated a warning. Here is a typical message from a fraudster, and below that an explanation from the police of how the scam works.

----- Original Message -----
From: slimgee4all@outblaze.net
Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2004 7:56 AM
Subject: PURCHASE

Hello,

I'm really interested in buying your 10c lute 63.5cm, by Bernd Holzgruben as a gift for my Son. I'll be looking forward to sending me any available picture of the item and also the last price you want to let it go for,so as to make necessary arrangement for the payment. My method of payment is a certified cashier's check that is drawn on a reputable U.K Bank.

I'll like to know cost of shipping to NIGERIA, and if you can't, i'll handle it by contacting my shipping agent for the shipment arrangement. I'm waiting for your mail today.

Thanks,

SAMUEL ADENUGA -- Powered by Outblaze

And here is the police's explanation of the scam.

Detectives in Avon and Somerset are warning people about a sinister new on-line fraud. People who offer their vehicles for sale on the Internet, are being targeted by the unscrupulous fraudsters. The potential buyers ­ usually located in another country ­ contact the sellers with a proposal to buy their vehicle after spotting adverts on the Internet. The offer is usually coupled with an explanation that the buyer has a cheque due to his business from another source and that the cheque is in a larger sum than the agreed cost of the vehicle. The seller is then asked if the cheque can be made payable to them to cover the cost of the vehicle with a further request that the difference is forwarded by the seller back to the buyer. Det Con Andy Davis of Avon and Somerset Police's Fraud Squad said: We believe the scam is being operated by West African crime teams. There have been a number of approaches to people in the force area during the past few weeks. It is known that cheques when sent to the sellers, are either stolen of forged. Any difference between the price of the vehicle and the value of the cheque, if sent back to the buyer, will be a potential loss to the victim. It is well known that these crime teams - who operate from all over the world - regularly bombard e-mail users with requests for personal or company bank details in order to transfer huge amounts of (fictitious) money, with an offer of large financial rewards. Those who take up these invitations inevitably end up losing considerable amounts of their own money.

It now seems that these same people have diversified and are now trying to con vehicle sellers out of their money. Our advice to anyone who is approached in this way is to immediately cancel any dealings with the person concerned. There is no logical reason for anyone wanting to pay for goods in this way and people selling vehicles are advised to seek more regular and secure methods of payment such as a banker's draft, said DC Davis.