Making Instruments

[Bebop3]

Hi!

Any luthiers out there or anyone knowledgeable about making instruments?

I'm working on a story and need to know if it's possible to make stringed instruments from reclaimed wood.

Thanks!

 

[Bramblethorn]

Violins made from post-tsunami driftwood (pine and maple).

Violins have also been made of glass and even stone.

Obviously the material will affect the tone, but as long as it's reasonably hard, strong, and shapeable, it should be possible to make something like a violin out of it.

With electric violins/cellos/etc. material and shape have less effect on tone, since you don't need a resonating chamber to make the sound, and you can get very creative with material and design:
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/17/a8/8a/17a88a7dfc82ef19e88f608749dbeb98--wacken-open-air-chris-delia.jpg

(not a luthier, but my first story here was about a cellist, so I did some reading)

 

[Hypoxia]

Creating instruments from discarded materials is an old tradition. Aged and weathered woods may be especially prized -- some luthiers specialize in carving old barn wood or driftwood, like the best 'ukes. For a gruesome effect, an ominous carpenter recycles gallows posts and hanging trees -- maybe to make damned violins for ambitious fools.

CV: Trust me. I've built mountain dulcimers, cigar-box guitars, and pie-tin banjos. Even the dulcimers used some recycled wood.

 

[Bebop3]

Thank you!

 

[Pocketshaver]

it used to be a common thing back in the day of WOOD cigar boxes to use them for both making ship models and something called CIGAR BOX BANJOS for the kiddies to play on.

for an actual instrument, the TYPE of wood is what matters. then the quality of the wood, then the thickness.

 

[Hypoxia]

it used to be a common thing back in the day of WOOD cigar boxes to use them for both making ship models and something called CIGAR BOX BANJOS for the kiddies to play on.

Join the cigar-box guitar community! Be a maker! It's not difficult, nor costly.

for an actual instrument, the TYPE of wood is what matters. then the quality of the wood, then the thickness.

A few other factors intrude. Bracing. Finish. Shape of body and soundhole(s). Neck and string materials. Electrification -- that's a whole 'nother subject itself. And resonators...

 

[jehoram]

I remember reading that one theory about Stradivarius is that he used reclaimed wood for his violins. The wood had been floated down a river but sank before it got to where it was supposed to go (for building fortifications, I think). When the wood was recovered and dried out, it resulted in better tone.

 

[Pocketshaver]

I remember reading that one theory about Stradivarius is that he used reclaimed wood for his violins. The wood had been floated down a river but sank before it got to where it was supposed to go (for building fortifications, I think). When the wood was recovered and dried out, it resulted in better tone.

HE also seems to have used non traditional joining methods, and different ratios when making joints.

 

[Hypoxia]

Jerry Garcia played a custom built guitar named 'Lightning Bolt' which was made from the recycled rosewood of a bed from an Asian opium den. Before that, I built a guitar of fragrant wood from crates of Nepalese incense shipped to San Francisco. It sucked. Before that, my infant daughter peed on Jerry Garcia. But that's another story.

 

[Hypoxia]

I remember reading that one theory about Stradivarius is that he used reclaimed wood for his violins. The wood had been floated down a river but sank before it got to where it was supposed to go (for building fortifications, I think). When the wood was recovered and dried out, it resulted in better tone.

Last I read, Strads were of wood grown during a Little Ice Age, with close and dense grain. But I also read that top concert pros can't distinguish a Strad from a good modern fiddle. And that great Joshua Bell played a Strad on a subway for 45 minutes and only made US$38. Go figure.

I'll admit to craving something like a viola d'amore, which has frets and guitar tuning, and sympathetic strings resonating inside. I've built hollow fretboards in mountain dulcimers; fitting sympathetic strings in there ain't no big thang. I just need to make space in the workshop and get at it: 'ukulele d'amore, right.

 

[AnnieLit]

Interesting place for this question!
I was trying to guess what kind of "Instruments" you had in mind, because I do have quite a few homemade ...lets say "implements" used in the bedroom, but turns out your question had nothing to do with sex

I think I should start a thread on this. Just don't know where. "How to"? "Fetish & Sexuality Central"? "BDSM"?

 

[Vix_Giovanni]

Last I read, Strads were of wood grown during a Little Ice Age, with close and dense grain. But I also read that top concert pros can't distinguish a Strad from a good modern fiddle. And that great Joshua Bell played a Strad on a subway for 45 minutes and only made US$38. Go figure.

I'll admit to craving something like a viola d'amore, which has frets and guitar tuning, and sympathetic strings resonating inside. I've built hollow fretboards in mountain dulcimers; fitting sympathetic strings in there ain't no big thang. I just need to make space in the workshop and get at it: 'ukulele d'amore, right.

A ‘ukulele d’amore’!! I’d want to hear that sound. Playing Purcell fantasias and Dido’s Lament... *swoons*

Interesting notes on the Bell experiment (and a reminder about the errors in internet anonymity) from WP journalist.

 

[Hypoxia]

A ‘ukulele d’amore’!! I’d want to hear that sound. Playing Purcell fantasias and Dido’s Lament... *swoons*

Actually that's 'ukulele d'amore, pronounced OOH-koo-LAY-lay da-MOH-ray, with a glottal stop up front. I'd be playing Bach, blues, Beatles, and bossa nova on it. I've dreamt of a mandola d'amore -- then I'd wail on surf and Celtic music. And a little swing.

I told in another thread how to build hollow necks for sympathetic strings for d'amore axes. No big thang, as long as the string count is reasonable.

Interesting notes on the Bell experiment (and a reminder about the errors in internet anonymity) from WP journalist.

I've been a busker with guitar. Bell made more than I ever did. But he rehearsed.

 

[Hypoxia]

I just found this old thang: Make your own 'bagpipes' with a garbage bag and recorders. (Spoiler alert: It won't sound like a real set of bagpipes.)