Thomann Renaissance Lute 7/13

I bought this plain vanilla lute, my first, because it had received several good reviews. On the whole I wasn't disappointed. The sound is good based on what I've heard of other lutes and it appears to be mostly well made. My lute teacher, who is an expert lutenist, thought it was very good for the price.
But...the top string broke almost at once when I tried to tune it, and two more top strings followed within a short space of time. Following my lute teacher's advice, I took the lute to a luthier who at once remarked that the nut was wrongly shaped - cut at almost a right angle rather than a gentle curve where the strings pass over it. He fixed this quite easily and I have had no problems since. He also shaved a little off the top tuning peg as it was turning a little too stiffly.
The repair was quick and inexpensive. I could have returned the lute to Thomann to be repaired under warranty, but I didn't want to go through the trouble of packing it all up and sending it back from the UK.
Apart from the top string I am still using the original ones, which four months on sound fine to me. As and when I change them I will probably try Nylgut based on others' recommendations.
I think the lute is still good value despite the problem, but I do think more care should have been taken when making the nut.

I bought this lute as my very first lute to begin learning on. I would say it has a very good price vs. performance ratio. The lute sounds good for the price, which was also confirmed by a professional luthier.

The downside are the factory strings, which you should change immediately. I also had a problem with my nut since the chanterelle string kept breaking while trying to tune it up to pitch, but this was easily fixed by my luthier. Because of this, I give it 4/5. Otherwise it's really fun to play and it sounds great with new strings. I personally use nylon on the chanterelle and nylgut strings on the rest.

Tip for beginners - don't get scared in the beginning, any lute is quite a tuning simulator when new strings are installed and they need a few days of tuning to stabilize. Just be a bit patient with it.

I have owned this lute for 11 months now, I took a chance on buying a Thomann instead of renting and I truly do not regret it.

The good/pros: it is lightweight, overall construction is solid, maybe a touch overbuilt, it’s aesthetically minimalistic compared to custom made lutes, but by no means ugly.

Setup from the factory is very good, no issues with the nut, action at the 8th fret sits at 3.5 at the bass and about 2.8 at the treble, so virtually perfect. No issues with strings cutting at the bridge or nut.

Playing is very easy meaning I don’t feel like I’m fighting the instrument. Finally, the case is EXCELLENT, while being a gig bag technically, the hard polyfoam inside is robust and well fitting and the case does not lose humidity, my Boveda packs have not needed replacement since putting them in, one in the headstock compartment and two over the sound board.

The compromises (cons) these aren’t many. There are some aesthetic flaws, the occasional fill can be spotted, but nothing that will affect playing, I expected this and there are 3 total flaws I could find, to be honest I was expecting a mess, this is beyond acceptable at the price. The stock strings are awful, spend the money and switch to Aquila New Nylgut and you’re good to go, the instrument is now amazing. Some of the pegs strick and slip at first, but this has gotten better with time and peg compound, which is normal for any instrument with friction pegs. The last compromise, and Thomann is honest about this, but because the lute is a little overbuilt, it is not quite as resonant as a more expensive instrument; this however is marginal, it still sounds amazing especially once you switch to better strings.

Overall, when I first decided to get a lute I was at a crossroads or renting through ALS or for the cost of ~10 months of rental, buy my own from Thomann. I chose the latter and have no regrets, even to the point of if I ever need to replace this instrument (hope not) I would strongly consider buying this exact instrument again if I still could not afford a custom built instrument.

Thank you Thomann for providing me an affordable entry point to the beautiful world of the renaissance lute, this instrument now means the world to me. I hope others get to experience it the same way I did.