Dusepo
Well-known member
Here's a baroque mandolin I built:
Baroque mandolin
- Thread starter Dusepo
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bazuku
Well-known member
Another lovely build, Jo … your commitment and productivity is amazing.
greenscoe
Well-known member
Another great looking instrument.
You make so many different bowl backed instruments that I'm thinking that you must be building without the traditional solid mould/former ( info to be found on Youtube for lutes/ouds). Are you using two end blocks and bending the staves between them with perhaps just a couple of supports to ensure symmetry?
I ask the question because I know there's a lot of work in making the mould, fine for multiple builds but surely not possible for one off builds.
You make so many different bowl backed instruments that I'm thinking that you must be building without the traditional solid mould/former ( info to be found on Youtube for lutes/ouds). Are you using two end blocks and bending the staves between them with perhaps just a couple of supports to ensure symmetry?
I ask the question because I know there's a lot of work in making the mould, fine for multiple builds but surely not possible for one off builds.
OP
OP
Dusepo
Well-known member
I do use moulds. I just have many moulds! Here are just some of them hanging on my workshop wall (they don't all fit on one wall):
Amazingly beautiful..
I’m inVenice at the moment and will be visiting the muses di musica in the next couple of days - I visited a while ago and they have instruments from ye olde days including some bowl backs - some part built - rescued from old luthier workshops..
Looking forward to a re- visit now i’m Building - seeing things with a more ‘educated’ eye..
I was gobsmacked by the skills needed to create the highest quality instruments - you’re up there either best in there.
Thanks for sharing
Mike
I’m inVenice at the moment and will be visiting the muses di musica in the next couple of days - I visited a while ago and they have instruments from ye olde days including some bowl backs - some part built - rescued from old luthier workshops..
Looking forward to a re- visit now i’m Building - seeing things with a more ‘educated’ eye..
I was gobsmacked by the skills needed to create the highest quality instruments - you’re up there either best in there.
Thanks for sharing
Mike
greenscoe
Well-known member
I do use moulds. I just have many moulds! Here are just some of them hanging on my workshop wall (they don't all fit on one wall):
Jo, thanks for that clarification. I see you are using what I call skeletal rather than solid moulds. I have a German 'spoonback' guitar with a back made from 7 pieces. It looks much easier to make than a bowl back (parallel sided staves). I was thinking a very simple skeletal mould could be used to make a similar back. It's on my list for another alternate tenor uke as I find this is less susceptible to sliding off the lap than a bowl back. Have you made an instrument with this type of back?
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Dusepo
Well-known member
Yes, I have built that kind of back, here's a picture of a renaissance vihuela I built last year with that style of back:
I used a different but similar type of mould for that. The sides of the mould are thick plywood, like a lute mould, but the back of the mould is carved from mdf on top. This enables me to shape the sides to fit and get the right bend for each of the parts of the back. Hopefully that makes sense.
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Michael N.
Well-known member
Commonly called a vaulted back although I've heard them termed 'bombe' too, which I guess just means domed - as in those Louis chest of drawers.
The vaulted back was fairly common on baroque guitars with the vaulting sometimes being quite pronounced. I could never hear any real difference between them and the flat back. Of course that may have been due to my defective hearing. It's extremely rare to see it on modern plucked instruments (it has been done).
The vaulted back was fairly common on baroque guitars with the vaulting sometimes being quite pronounced. I could never hear any real difference between them and the flat back. Of course that may have been due to my defective hearing. It's extremely rare to see it on modern plucked instruments (it has been done).
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Dusepo
Well-known member
The customer playing it (though they are playing a medieval song, not a baroque one!):
greenscoe
Well-known member
Thanks for posting the sound sample Jo!
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