Editing Lute (section)

===Neck===
The ''[[Neck (music)|neck]]'' is made of light wood, with a veneer of hardwood (usually ebony) to provide durability for the ''[[fretboard]]'' beneath the strings. Unlike most modern stringed instruments, the lute's fretboard is mounted flush with the top. The ''[[pegbox]]'' for lutes before the [[Baroque music|Baroque]] era was angled back from the neck at almost 90° (see image), presumably to help hold the low-tension strings firmly against the ''nut'' which, traditionally, is not glued in place but is held in place by string pressure only. The ''[[tuning peg]]s'' are simple pegs of hardwood, somewhat tapered, that are held in place by friction in holes drilled through the pegbox.

As with other instruments that use friction pegs, the wood for the pegs is crucial. As the wood suffers dimensional changes through age and loss of humidity, it must retain a reasonably circular cross-section to function properly—as there are no gears or other mechanical aids for [[Musical tuning|tuning]] the instrument. Often pegs were made from suitable fruitwoods such as European pearwood, or equally dimensionally stable analogues. Matheson, {{circa}} 1720, said, "If a lute-player has lived eighty years, he has surely spent sixty years tuning."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Das neu Eroffnet Orchestre|last=Mattheson|first=Johann|year=1713|location=Hamburg|pages=247ff}}</ref>