Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello to everyone. I've been lurking here for a little while, and wanted to introduce myself and ask a couple of questions. I'm in the "Sopranos Country" area of New Jersey, and I'm about to embark on my first "real" build. I've built a few cigar-box instruments (not all guitars - one is a Greek Baglamas), each one more complex/sophisticated than the last, and they actually sound pretty decent plugged in. I've also built a Saxon lyre, but, while that sounds pretty nice, it's a pretty limited instrument... Now I want to have a crack at a more complex, fully acoustic instrument. I will build for my own enjoyment, and have no desire to make it a career or anything like that.

I've been a woodworker for many decades, have a fairly well-equipped hand-tool shop. My only power tools are a small lathe and a drill press that I use mostly for metal work. I really love making my own tools, and do a little smithing to serve my tool needs. I'd like to build instruments using only (or mostly) hand tools, mostly because I enjoy working that way, but also because of limitations of budget and space.

I should be starting my first real project soon - I'm leaning towards something in the lute family, either a tzouras or a trixordo bouzouki, and anticipate starting to cut wood within a week or two. If anyone is interested, I'll keep records and post progress (though I'm sure my efforts will seem hopelessly naive to most of the folks posting here...).

The tzouras is traditionally carved out of a single log of mulberry wood, though many are made with glued up ribs nowadays, like a lute. The bouzouki is always made more like a lute. I live near NYC, and have no access to logs of anything, but do have a few large slabs of what I believe is basswood. So here's the first question: How much impact would the choice of wood have on an instrument whose body is carved out to a wall thickness of between 3/16" and 1/4"? Wondering if I should just use those slabs for something else, and go with bent/glued ribs...

Second question: It really makes no sense to buy guitar sets to make ribs for lute-style instruments. Figure is irrelevant, and I would probably have to buy at least two sets to make one instrument, with lots of waste. Instead, I was considering buying some 8/4 maple and/or walnut at the lumber yard, and then ripping 1/4" strips off the boards (in the quartersawn direction) and planing them down to make the ribs. Does that make sense? I figure about 4 board feet would give more than enough to make all the ribs for a 24 rib instrument, including waste ...

Third question: I've always done all my stock prep with hand tools. But the thought of ripping 50 linear feet of maple or walnut by hand is giving me pause - I'm not as young as I was... I still have space limitations, though, so was considering getting a 9" or 10" benchtop bandsaw. Is it worth it, or are they just toys? If so, any recommendations? Maybe I need to suck it up and just rip this a little at a time...

I've really enjoyed lurking here and reading the old threads. What a storehouse of knowledge you've created here! Thanks in advance for any feedback/answers.

Bass wood should work fine in place of mulberry for a hollowed out body.

" I was considering buying some 8/4 maple and/or walnut at the lumber yard, and then ripping 1/4" strips off the boards (in the quartersawn direction) and planing them down to make the ribs. Does that make sense? I figure about 4 board feet would give more than enough to make all the ribs for a 24 rib instrument, including waste ..."

That does make sense, but if you are using 2 inch wide staves (widest point) why would you need 24 of them? Walnut would be much easier to handsaw than maple. Some one with a table saw could knock out 1/8th in thick strips in a few minutes and save a lot of hand planing to boot. In Jersey there has got to be someone close by with a tablesaw.

Most of the little bench top bandsaws I've seen (and a few I've used) weren't too good. If you can find a used 12 inch (80 inch band) craftsman saw you can mount the motor beside it (rather than under it) and use it like a bench top saw.

Hi Dino, welcome to the Forum.
I for one would be well please to see your process and progress.
Can't help woth the first questio.
Makes sense for your purpose to buy from the lumber yard.
As to the bandsaw, Im sure some people may advise something bigger, and bigger can better, but personally I've used a 10" bandsaw (good quality) for 6/7 years now, and have no intentions of upgrading unless I win the lottery and get a bigger shop - even then I will keep it.
I've ripped mahogany sides with it at 4-1/4", sawn out guitar necks from double blanks, and even resawn hard maple for neck laminations at 3-3/4" occasionally with a decent blade, so it's not a toy.
I'm in UK, so I'm afraid I can't recommend a brand on your side of the pond.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Thanks for your answers! On the number of ribs: I have a tetraxordio bouzouki, a student model, and it has 19 ribs. Even though it makes no difference to the sound, more ribs are considered more desirable - I was thinking of alternating the maple and walnut to make stripes, and going for 25 ribs, total.

Most of the ribs on my bouzouki are less than 1", but the two side ribs are closer to 2" wide (that's typical for lutes, I guess). And the end cap strip is also wide. So I approximated. But to your point, I could cut two ribs each out of most of the strips, so that would cut the number of linear feet to rip almost in half.

I do have a friend with a tablesaw ... I might ask for a favor in return for beer. (The universal currency.) But now that you've reduced my ripping by a factor of two, maybe I don't need to...

Thanks again!

Dino,
Welcome to the forum. You will find a lot of very talented people here willing to share their knowledge with you, as I have. I was recently the receipient of enough wood to build a guitar and more from forum member Joel. In that same spirit, I have some various top and back sets I would pick through and gift to you if you are interested. Not the highest quality AAA stuff, but usable. Let me know your size and wood type parameters and I'll send you what will work.

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Brad Hall
Mystic Dawg Guitars

Good on you Brad -- way to go!

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

Brad, that's an incredibly generous offer, and I really appreciate it! I saw that other thread when I was browsing old discussions, and was stricken by the good vibes here. (I don't think I've used the word "vibes" in that sense in about 40 years, but ... it fit ).

I have half of a Western Red Cedar top set that I was going to use for the tzouras, since it's only about 7 1/2 inches at the widest part. (I used the other half for a Saxon lyre, so this has been sitting around for a while...). But I'd love to take you up on the offer of a top set for the bouzouki build - spruce or cedar or whatever. Thank you.

The top will be about 15" long and 11" wide.

Dino, the only set of top wood I have that will work is redwood. You would be welcome to it. I'm building a OM guitar with a redwood top now and really like working with it. If you like cedar (who doesn't?) you will like the redwood. If interested, pm me with your address and I'll figure out a safe method to ship it to you.


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Brad Hall
Mystic Dawg Guitars