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Now that's small! 2mm is definitely on the thick side then. I'd probably go down toward 1.5mm (that's less than half as stiff as 2mm, according to cube rule of stiffness) with no fan braces. But I'd guess that the vast majority out there do have fan braces. And do be careful, because when you're getting down that thin, plane shavings start to look pretty thick in comparison That is, assuming you're thinning by hand plane. But sanding scratches from a machine would look pretty deep too.

Keep in mind that I know nothing about charangos other than looking at pictures. I'm just making stuff up based on experience with other instruments.

According to the history I've read the armadillo charangos didn't show up until the fifties and earlier instruments were always carved from a log like they normally are today. I think the armadillo thing is kind of a novelty. I've read over and over that they are inferior compared to the solid wood ones.

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That brings me a little relief then, I got the rosette put in and ended up sanding it thinner than I intended around the soundhole, which ended up about 1.5mm at the lowest point. Now I guess I'll just try to match the rest of it to that. I'm not using a hand plane, I tried but got nothing but tearout so I've been sanding it down with an orbital sander. Like you said, all the pictures I've seen of bracing on charangos showed five fan braces plus two going across at the soundhole and two at the bottom of the lower bout, more or less perpendicular to the fans. There's a vid on youtube of some charango luthiers and they mention a top thickness of 1.5 to 1.7mm.

My rosette didn't turn out quite as id hoped. My wife thinks it looks fine, but I somehow sanded through the rosette in a couple small spots. I'll post some pictures of it tomorrow. Thanks for all the advice. I hope this turns out to be a decent little charango.

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They do pretty much suck.

I thought they might have been some ancient folk instrument or something.

They stink, too.

If they only popped up in the fifties and weren't at that point some kind of folk heritage revival, the romance is gone.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Here's my rosette, with some sanded through spots. Nothing I can do about it now except call it artistic unless I want to make a new top altogether. It's as thin as it can be around the rosette, I'd end up destroying it if I tried to re-do it. My wife likes it, so it's okay with me.


DSC_0001 (2) by markpotato, on Flickr


DSC_0002 (2) by markpotato, on Flickr

At least the top is pretty. Today I get to do some fan bracing and will probably go ahead and glue it to the body. Wish me luck!

P.S. Any tips on tuning the assembly? I've read a little about tuning it to a chord using notes that you won't normally play on the instrument. I don't think I can measure notes right now though, unless a guitar tuner would do the trick. Should I worry about tap tuning this thing?

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Getting there.


DSC_0001 (3) by markpotato, on Flickr


DSC_0002 (3) by markpotato, on Flickr


DSC_0003 (2) by markpotato, on Flickr


DSC_0005 by markpotato, on Flickr

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Did the binding today and glued the fretboard on. So excited I forgot to take pictures. Looks like a charango though!

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Man it's looking great!

I'm back on the armadillo thing though, something about it. How hard would it be to carve armadillo shell patterns?

If I made one that's what I'd do, or get Padma or Chris Paulick to carve it.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

I absolutely love instruments like this... I can't wait to see how it turns out

Thanks guys. No, I'm not gonna carve an armadillo. I'm not good at carving, except for necks. I've seen some nice armadillo carvings though.

Binding and fretboard:


DSC_0001resize by markpotato, on Flickr


DSC_0002resize by markpotato, on Flickr


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DSC_0004resize by markpotato, on Flickr


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The fretboard is a little tall, I hope bridge height won't be an issue. I also hope it sounds good and is audible. I know nothing about tap tuning except that the assembly right now has a nice bell like sound that I'm hoping is a good sign.

Anybody want to show me your setup for bridge locating? I was gonna float the bridge on there with a makeshift tailpiece to find the right spot. I'd like to see how others have done it.

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So I glued the bridge on and strung it up to full tension and everything seemed to be okay, except that the bridge was pulling up slightly toward the tail end in a few spots. It did not pop off, I even strummed it pretty hard to see if it would, but I decided it would be a good idea to take it off and re-glue it anyway. Well, I did that twice, waiting to see what the second run holds for it but the first retry didn't look very good. There's just these two little spots that are above the bracing that had small gaps underneath the bridge. The first time I used a clamping caul under the bridge with slots cut for the bracing, the second time I just had a block of wood on top of the bridge and wrapped it with a tire tube and this last time I did a little bit of both. I'm hoping for this try to hold up to the test. At this point I don't care if there's gaps as long as it adheres well and feels like it's gonna stay on with plenty of hard strumming.

Wish me luck.

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Good luck!

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Thanks! I took the clamps off and it looks about as good as I'm gonna get it. Still has those two minor gaps but I know the clamping pressure was good around them. So with luck, it will stand up to the force of music. Pictures and maybe a video tomorrow.

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Well the bridge stays on. Pretty much done here, just putting a few coats of finish on it.




DSC_0002 by markpotato, on Flickr


DSC_0003 by markpotato, on Flickr


DSC_0004 by markpotato, on Flickr


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Very cool!

NEEDS MORE STRINGS!!

Kidding of course - that thing is so cool and it sounds amazing. Great job!!

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Thank You and Best To All

Thanks!

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Post a longer video maybe?

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Old growth, shmold growth!

I may do this. The short video was because I am not a skilled charango player yet. I know a few more chords though. Can't do that fancy fingerpicking though, maybe in the future.

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That video just made my day! Thanks for sharing the build with us, Mark. That is a lovely instrument!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Thanks Alex! Maybe the thread will help someone else build a little instrument.

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That sounds awesome!

So I have some issues. It appears the bridge is too tall. The top is completely warping and there's a crack just behind the bridge. I haven't taken a picture of it yet but it looks pretty bad. Bridge is glued on very well but it looks like it's trying to take the top with it.

So here's what I think I did wrong: Fretboard is much too thick and so the bridge had to be higher than it should be in order play notes. Against advice on keeping the bridge saddle height under 8mm from the top, I have it in the neighborhood of 10mm. When I get a picture of it, you can tell the saddle looks disproportionately high. I thought adding glue space by making the bridge wider would do the trick, but that just held it on, now it's destroying the top.

The bridge is still on and it still plays and sounds good, but it looks like it's been sitting in a hot car for a week. So I could either leave it until the top explodes or I can remove the fretboard, sand it thinner, make a new top and keep the saddle much lower.

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to do the latter if I want to keep this instrument alive.

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I'd take it apart before it blows up in case it decides to take part of the bowl or fretboard along with it.

The only time I've ever seen Charangos is when the bridge is ripped off the top. I'd always attrivbuted it to the cheapness of the instrument build, as the ones I've seen looked more like they were made for tourist souvenirs rather than serious instruments.

Maybe they just have too many strings?

Anyways, I'm sure you'll figure it out and make it work.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

From what I've heard it has the same tension of a classical guitar but on a tiny instrument with a much smaller bridge. That's probably why they sound so cool though. Really need to tone down that bridge angle.

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