Antique Find

SuzukHammer

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Found in a Bangkok antique store. It looks functional. I'll put some strings on it and give it a whirl. It could be just a decor piece. I don't know or..... it may give me clues on a scale used out here.

It looks to be the 2 string cousin of the uke. pegged at 2 different string lengths for each string. I have a variety of used strings I can try to put on

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The other piece I found it with has a "cat back" on the coconut husk . Very interesting. Good workmanship

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Are the fret suppose to be that high? O_O :p

Well, I put a sting on it and they were supported at the nut and saddle. 2 frets seem to be too high but there still is clearance and one fret is missing.

Again, I don't know if this was meant to be functional or a piece of wall art; but the body is hollowed out and once strings are attached, it will show some clearance and that seems to suggest its functional
 
Those look neat!

Any idea what they are?
 
Actually I do not know what the "high fret" piece is. I was hoping someone would know. Its a nice piece.

oh wait, the cat back is a standard Thai instrument; however, this is the best workmanship on that Thai instrument that I have seen anywhere. They put a wood face on the coconut that I'll have to snap a picture of. It is cracked in a straight line so maybe it isn't really cracked; but the wood is very intentional. I'm sure if I took that to a local music shop, I'm sure they'd want it.

I found another instrument that the owner said was a madagascar instrument. Something with strings like a harp on the outside of a wood tube.

Oh and the reason I am posting these pics is because I am hunting for elusive ukuleles in antique shops here and in my travels.
 
Wood on the front of the cat back. No sign of glue anywhere. Its not a crack because its too straight.

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Some Indonesian items found while uke hunting.

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If you scroll farther down the Atlas of Plucked Instruments page there are some Indonesian instruments pictured. None of them look like an exact match for yours, but a couple are close.
 
Aloha SuzukHammer,
Those are unique finds, the first one looks like it could be strung as a uke since there are 4 tuning pegs, looks like missing the third fret.
Unusal high frets, which means it could be kind loud high pitched instrument.....it looks real heavy too...Man you've got severe UAS..he he !!
Have Fun!!! MM Stan..
 
I like the cak on that page. The body being carved from one piece, as opposed to having a top/bottom/side assembly, is intrigueing.

I axctually did buy the cak and cuk pair while in Jakarta. Ill post a pic

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Darkwater, Thanks so much for that great link. It answers a lot of my questions. Had you bought some of those before?
 
That is amazing. Cool find. And the ling darkwater provided. I will spend hours on that website.

erniej
 
Aloha SuzukHammer,
Those are unique finds, the first one looks like it could be strung as a uke since there are 4 tuning pegs, looks like missing the third fret.
Unusal high frets, which means it could be kind loud high pitched instrument.....it looks real heavy too...Man you've got severe UAS..he he !!
Have Fun!!! MM Stan..

Prior to getting that link from Darkwater, I had no idea about some of the stuff I was seeing for sale. Some of it seemed unplayable and they are as described in that link. The most I've spent is $45 each on the cak and cuk and the others I typically get for $10-20 and trust me, I don't buy all of the ugly stuff put in front of me. There is some ugly stuff that people want to sell. haha.

That link gives some tuning as well. awesome.

These instruments came with thin steel wire and I thought that none of these instruments could last that long if that is the case. bicycle break wire as the strings? Hey, you gotta use what items you have.
 
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From a museum picture:

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Look at how the frets were arranged. wildly in differrent directions. Each picture though will let me see if I can get mine to playable condition.
 
Yeah, that Atlas of Stringed Instruments page is a fretted instrument junky's dream. I don't have any of the SE Asian stuff, but I've acquired a lot of other off the wall instruments over the years.
 
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