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Hello everyone,

Long story short, i've decided to make a typical portuguese guitar, called the Coimbra (region where it comes from).

Since I couldn't find any drawings anywhere, I decided to design it myself based on the info I found.

To those of you who have already built something similar, or any of you with any particular comment about it, please post it here. I'm all ears.

Thanks!

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CNC is a tool, not cheating

Good luck. Looks like a fun project. I have been watching those tuners for awhile but they aren't getting any cheaper. Please post here if you find a more affordable set than from the guy on Ebay. I would also like to see how you install them.

Michael

Like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m842Ssr1MuY Or were you going to make a little one?

I have no experience with these outside of listening to Amalia Rodrigues. (She's reason enough to learn to build and play a Portuguese guitar--but I haven't.)

I'm refinishing a guitar built by Jose Dos Anjos Fontes Mota. This is a very nice ladder-braced steel-string guitar on a classical plantilla--spruce top, padauk back and sides. I haven't been able to learn much about the builder, except that he hales from Portugal, and also builds Portuguese guitars. http://www.cmvfc.pt/default.aspx?module=Noticia&ID=958 Miguel, do you know anything about him?

Oh, that looks so cool! are you going to post a build thread? I'd like to follow it!

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Phil

http://www.oleninstruments.com

"Those who tilt at windmills are only considered insane by those who can't see the dragon."

Nice graphs! I´m afraid i can´t help you much, as i never built one of those myself. I do think that the body shape of your model is closer to the Lisbon version of the Portuguese guitar, being wider at the top, but maybe i got it wrong. Being from Lisbon, maybe you already know this, but shape-wise players tend to say that Lisbon is like an apple and Coimbra like a pear. Here is a pic from one of Fernando Meireles Coimbra´s guitarra: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater - in my opinion he is the best maker in Portugal. I can also check with my teacher for plans, here is his FB page: https://www.facebook.com/orlando.trindade.1

Eric: I´m afraid i don´t know that maker, he seems to be from the Azores and immigrated to the US when he was young. Maybe that´s why he´s not mentioned in the most thorough list of portuguese builders: http://www.guitarraportuguesa.org/index ... &Itemid=93 .
Anyway, the guitar you´v ebeen restoring seems to be a Fado Guitar, which here we call Viola, and descends directly from the older double order Viola (which in Spain goes by the more famous name of Vihuela or Vihuela da mano). It has conventional ladder bracing and uses metal (nickel?) strings. Again, some pic from my teacher: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =720%2C960 , https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =960%2C720 , https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =677%2C960. Pretty wide lower bout.


best,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Hi Miguel,

Thanks for your comments. These pics are from the actual 3D model I'm doing in a professional CAD program.

If you could get your hands on some plans, it would be great! I could do my model, and then share the detail drawings if you wish.

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CNC is a tool, not cheating

I love the sound of these and would love to be able to find a good set of drawings somewhere.

Would it be a violation of religiophilosophical principles to put a guitar/bouzouki/cittern-style headstock and tuners on it?

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Daniel: i´ll see what i can do regarding plans, but it will have to be after christmas - times are too busy

Jim: Just do it, if not for anything else for the fun of upsetting the folks around here: they´re usually pretty conservative. On the other hand, it´s a good way of tuning the double order metal strings and gives the guitar a nice balance.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

@ Miguel: Thanks a lot! Then, if you can get some plans I'll do a set of drawings from my 3D models and we can compare both to be sure all is accurate.

In the meantime, here's another day of design:

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CNC is a tool, not cheating