The folding stuff

The folding theorbo is now a reality. Prompted by the sad tale of a Ryanair calamity, lutemaker David van Edwards set about designing an instrument which could be dismounted for travel and easily reassembled at the other end. It's a brilliant piece of work, and the casemaker's contribution is pretty impressive too.

Read the full story on David's site, illustrated with an excellent set of pictures of the new instrument, as well as one of the shameful Ryanair case smash which started it all off.

The instrument plus case costs £6,500. Unfortunately you still have to buy a seat for it, but at least you can be sure it will fit - airline seats were not designed with theorbos in mind...