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WBO 23 - Certandan Deep Strings
- Thread starter Flamingo21
- Start date
These are the 2020s. Social drinking can be done virtually.
...so everybody needs a cask of red (or white, or ginger-beer, and an appropriate wine-color zoom filter)
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Let's see - allowing for drinking and procrastination, that makes 2025 the year of the Thaumaturgatic Resonator wine-cask at the LC.
That's true. Well, here we go! You're all invited! Have a virtual cup of Certandan red wine! Cheers!
To improve the spring system, I installed a second spring leaf under the existing one.
This ensemble gives the leather top a distinct hump, which will be levelled when the bridge and strings are installed.
Here's how tensioning the top works: the first rope ties the top to the rim in a zig-zag manner:
The second rope is then woven through the first, creating small loops:
And then that second rope is pushed towards the top, which increases the tension:
The tension is now high enough to play it like a deep drum:
https://youtube.com/shorts/VQO8L0p4cjg
This ensemble gives the leather top a distinct hump, which will be levelled when the bridge and strings are installed.
Here's how tensioning the top works: the first rope ties the top to the rim in a zig-zag manner:
The second rope is then woven through the first, creating small loops:
And then that second rope is pushed towards the top, which increases the tension:
The tension is now high enough to play it like a deep drum:
https://youtube.com/shorts/VQO8L0p4cjg
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I saw them in the seventies supporting Captain Beefheart
I've come to like the Rough Rope quite a bit, and it has become part of the instrument's style. Even this anachronism doesn't escape the Rough Rope:
From the jack, a cord runs through a slit in the coopered rim towards the bridge.
The cord is only just long enough:
From the jack, a cord runs through a slit in the coopered rim towards the bridge.
The cord is only just long enough:
Hmm
You could wrap the jack and cord in twine with a little glue.
That would serve no function, but might look cool.
You could wrap the jack and cord in twine with a little glue.
That would serve no function, but might look cool.
Or make a leather sleeve for it, or run it under the head and put a grommet right under the bridge.
It’s always fun thinking up laborious tasks for other people’s builds.
DIY hollow braid cord cover - the ideal covid-recovery project, and business opportunity for parting the "vintage caps and cloth insulation are the keys to tone" folks from their cash.
Hmm.
Are Leyden jars and linen insulation the key to proper electric bass tone for classical? Or does silk give that unstoppably smooth tone?
Pretty sure Leyden jars are the right caps for steampunk, anyway.
Hmm.
Are Leyden jars and linen insulation the key to proper electric bass tone for classical? Or does silk give that unstoppably smooth tone?
Pretty sure Leyden jars are the right caps for steampunk, anyway.
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Things aren't always as simple as they seem.
When I made the tuner pegs, they had exactly the right tightness in a 10mm hole. Loose enough to be turned by hand, tight enough to not turn by themselves under string tension.
What I didn't understand well enough, is how small the margins are. In other words, if the fit is even a little bit tighter, or looser, it may not work. I foolishly thought that if one hole is a fit, another hole will also be a fit as long as it's drilled with the same bit. (But a hand drill can have a slight wobbly motion.)
Also, it turns out the two tuning pegs weren't the exact same thickness. Of the two holes I drilled in the neck, one was definitely too large, the other seems to work with one of the tuners but not the other. Since the two holes need to have a certain position relative to each other I decided to drill two new holes.
Here I'm drilling the two new holes. Not an elegant solution, but you can always try to cover stuff up afterwards.
To cut a long story short, I botched up the second set of holes as well. I won't bother you with the details.
As of right now, the plan is to use one of the old holes and one of the new ones. I've put aside the thinnest of the two tuners and am making a new one. I described somewhere in the thread how I turn the pegs inside folded 40 grit sanding paper to make them round. This works far better than files.
But guess what, now I'm out of 40 grit sanding paper.
To be continued....
When I made the tuner pegs, they had exactly the right tightness in a 10mm hole. Loose enough to be turned by hand, tight enough to not turn by themselves under string tension.
What I didn't understand well enough, is how small the margins are. In other words, if the fit is even a little bit tighter, or looser, it may not work. I foolishly thought that if one hole is a fit, another hole will also be a fit as long as it's drilled with the same bit. (But a hand drill can have a slight wobbly motion.)
Also, it turns out the two tuning pegs weren't the exact same thickness. Of the two holes I drilled in the neck, one was definitely too large, the other seems to work with one of the tuners but not the other. Since the two holes need to have a certain position relative to each other I decided to drill two new holes.
Here I'm drilling the two new holes. Not an elegant solution, but you can always try to cover stuff up afterwards.
To cut a long story short, I botched up the second set of holes as well. I won't bother you with the details.
As of right now, the plan is to use one of the old holes and one of the new ones. I've put aside the thinnest of the two tuners and am making a new one. I described somewhere in the thread how I turn the pegs inside folded 40 grit sanding paper to make them round. This works far better than files.
But guess what, now I'm out of 40 grit sanding paper.
To be continued....
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These screws on the back still needed to be made invisible. Because for this build, I consider screws to be an anachronism.
On some scrap wood I made these pastel decorations. It may be the first time I tried my pastels on wood.
Deisa is the name of the river that flows through the province of Certando, from east to west. Braccio is a range of mountains in the south.
I didn't want to have to clamp these, so I decided to use CA glue. I don't have a lot of experience with CA, I hope it works.
On some scrap wood I made these pastel decorations. It may be the first time I tried my pastels on wood.
Deisa is the name of the river that flows through the province of Certando, from east to west. Braccio is a range of mountains in the south.
I didn't want to have to clamp these, so I decided to use CA glue. I don't have a lot of experience with CA, I hope it works.
Turns out I'm not only a beginner at building Certandan instruments, but also at playing them. 
But at least it's kind of playable now.
https://youtube.com/shorts/nG9qY0Id8ow?feature=share
But at least it's kind of playable now.
https://youtube.com/shorts/nG9qY0Id8ow?feature=share
Just harmonics. That's why I want to make a movable capo, so you can have harmonics from different fundamentals.
Slideable capo, photographed against a fitting background of a bow, rosin, a tuning gadget, and my phone.
I'm now finding it harder than before to play harmonics, part of that is the fact that they are now in different places all the time. Here's my best effort so far:
https://youtube.com/shorts/gotxrNJksmc?feature=share
I'm now finding it harder than before to play harmonics, part of that is the fact that they are now in different places all the time. Here's my best effort so far:
https://youtube.com/shorts/gotxrNJksmc?feature=share
