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I have a cool set of plans for making baroque Voboam guitars. Lots of fancy stuff. Included was a plan for a tiny guitar in A, that I thought I could give some of the fancy stuff a little practice. I have enough pieces to do it, without buying anything; even strings. I cut my other baroque strings kinda short, and I need a new bridge, so I can use them.
The plans said for a 5 course at A 415 or a 4 course at 440. So, I'll make it like a Uke. The neck might not look quite so huge.
The little baroque is little though. 10.5" long so that's not too bad, but at 5/4.25/6" wide it's pretty narrow. It was designed for a low D though, so will the body deliver?
What is the difference in sound between a baroque guitar in A, and an 8 string Uke?
I figured out the tension using the bottom 4 courses of the strings I have, and I think it was about 80 pounds. That might work. The other way it might be more like 66/68?
Any suggestions?
It has a 440mm scale.

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For the sound, if you're on Facebook, check out my friend George who performs old, but filthy, songs on a baroque guitar tuned gCEA. https://www.facebook.com/RenaissanceUkeMan/

No to Facebook. I did just find this, which sounds absolutely extraordinary! Not on a baroque, but the sound is incredible. He doesn't play bad either. Very nice.

The Voboams seem to work with a stiff, reflective back. Maybe that can bring out highs? I haven't decided on the size completely yet. I might scale down the big one directly to work out the patterns of the inlay the same way. It will be to begin to get a feel for the inlay, and make a build on the neck. I need to get a bridge pin reamer that my daughter bought for my birthday, and it came to her house the Monday after we came over. Then I can string up the little Stauffer guitar, and see if I got any sound out of it! Should be very much a live back. I altered the plans some. I'm like that.



https://youtu.be/CXf3TjfaaEw

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The guitar in A was never really a guitar. It was pulled from a DOUBLE guitar by Voboam in the late 1600's for the likes of someone like a 17th century Jimmy Page to pound out "Battle of Evermore" when people started to get bored with polyphony.

The plan has many possibilities for decoration, I'm leaning toward something like this one. The photos are terrible thumbnails. Sorry.

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I have the veneer mostly thinned down: I cut figured mahogany that was 3/16-1/4 inch thick down in strips a mm or less thick. The entire body is spruce, with thin veneer on the back and sides. I cut them from an Englemann wedge for a viola with a hand saw. I glued up the back and belly. I read profchris saying he likes a one inch movement with pressure! Wow!

Are you serious?

The piece isn't evenly flat yet. It's about 2mm, but the center measures maybe 2.4mm. I found that one fiberglass go bar with one inch of pressure gives seven pounds of pressure. For the Stauffer I thinned it; to start; at 1/4" movement spaced at 1 8". I thinned the edges down later. This stock moves 7/16 on blocks 12" apart. Is that 2.6 Xs more flexible? Is it still .5" or two times too stiff?

Doing some math, if this is about say 2.2mm, then it will only take to 1.75 to get it twice as flimsy? Is that about right?

The plans for the baroque have two diagonal braces going outward from under the 1st and 2nd and 4th and 5th strings to the edge outside the lower block. I've had trouble keeping the bridge on my other little baroque guitar. Do you think these are there to help keep the bridge on?

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I guess I answered my question. I flattened it out, the ends and sides were mostly 2mm, but the center was 2.3-2.5 even. Putting it back on the blocks, it moved .75"! Crazy. So it seems like .2mm more would give an inch of movement.

I have noticed that there are far more tap tones, and they have more volume. When I started, and it was 2.5-3mm thick it didn't ring much. I'll probably leave it where it is, until I cut the rough outline on it.

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Ok. On to veneer! I have the Mahogany thinned down for the sides. I have them cut to the size, and I'm going to mark the edges on each side, and cut out the diamonds and triangles. I tried doing it with just random pieces, and it is a lot of trouble. Hopefully, this will work better. The WILL be a little bit big, because I'm just slicing them with an x-acto. At least they should be pretty much the right shape. There is .5mm wide black purfling between them, and a bwb purfling running down the middle. The back is about the same, but double wide with four strips. I don't remember off hand what the 3 length wise strips are.

After they are glued and thinned even; they have to be bent! I thought of using CA glue. Will that work? I think I'll ask that on the main build page too.

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Well I bent the ribs, and it wasn't a disaster, but not what I'd like either. I'll.give it another go as I found a big enough piece of the curly mahogany do make another set. I used spruce on the first set. That's what the original has. They burnt bending! I never make spruce linings, they always split on me. I found a piece of maple , and trimming.The second side down to 1 mm. I didn't lift the scraper up high enough for the next pass, and split it to pieces. Now I have a Sycamore and a maple side.

The mahogany is glued on in 4 solid pieces. I'm getting the sides down to about 1.6 mm or so. The mahogany doesn't cooperate. I have one done, and I might have the RO sander. I will put in all the diagonals going one way, and then all the diagonals the other way. No fitting fancy shapes! Been busy doing stuff. How did stuff ever get done when I worked?

I heard Bach on a Uke yesterday. Outstanding!

https://youtu.be/F3Zda6mMOaM

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I read the title of this thread Ken and thought it was about a baroquen uke that needed repair