Posted on July 7, 2024July 9, 2024 by Dale Phillips

Questions: Charango Plans

Questions: Charango Plans

by C.F. Casey

Originally published in American Lutherie #104, 2010

Gerald Mercer from Angels Camp, California asks:

I am looking for plans for a South American charango. These are often 10-string, 5-course instruments and made using the shells of armadillos.

C.F. Casey from Winnipeg Beach, Canada answers:

The website below will get you going on building a charango. The title calls it a ronroco, but it’s the same thing. They even use the two terms interchangeably in the site.

http://jlfeijooi.en.eresmas.com/Construccion_de_un_ronroco.htm

Here we’re dealing with a charango that’s carved out of solid wood, rather than using an armadillo shell for the bowl. Most charangos I’ve seen lately have been the carved variety, and the last few times I’ve visited my friendly neighborhood wood-pusher, they’ve been fresh out of armadillos. The site is in Spanish, but Google’s translation is no more horrible than such things usually are. In any case, the sketches have the main dimensions, which is the most important thing. ◆

Posted on July 7, 2024July 9, 2024 by Dale Phillips

Questions: Gluing in India

Questions: Gluing in India

by Dale Zimmerman

Originally published in American Lutherie #103, 2010

George Mathai from Kerala, India asks:

My friend is a luthier based in the southern state of India, Kerala. For gluing the various parts and braces for his guitars and violins he uses Franklin Titebond glue and Behlen ground hide glue. However, in one of his custom-made flamenco guitars, a rattling sound brought the guitar back to the shop. One of the right fan braces had come off a bit and this was causing the rattling. For that guitar he had used the hide glue to glue the braces on. Kerala is well within the humid equatorial tropics and perhaps the humidity affected the gluing. What is the best glue that can be used to withstand high humidity?

Dale Zimmerman from Franklin International in Columbus, Ohio responds:

Hide glues such as our ready-to-use Titebond Liquid Hide Glue and most hot-pot hide glues are, and remain, quite sensitive to moisture. That affinity for moisture means that they tend to absorb water when exposed to high humidity or damp conditions, and that increase in moisture causes them to swell and weaken. Bonds that are not subject to stress may show little effect, as the glue loses that moisture and regains its strength as it returns to its original dry state. Where the bond is under stress, however, that stress is likely to cause some opening of the joint while the glue is softened. Ultimately then, the amount of change in a bond over time will be influenced by the concentration and duration of the moisture to which it is exposed and the stress, both inherent in the bond and that created as the wood involved changes in dimension in response to those changes in moisture content.

That means that hide glues are generally considered a poor choice for bonds that are likely to be exposed to particularly humid conditions, especially those that are expected to be under meaningful stress. For such situations, yellow glues, which show little effect from dampness or elevated humidity are a decidedly better choice. ◆

Posted on July 7, 2024July 9, 2024 by Dale Phillips

Questions: Martin Style 5-18

Questions: Martin Style 5-18

by R.J. Klimpert

Originally published in American Lutherie #103, 2010

Larry Crozier from the Internet asks:

A customer wants a Martin-style 5-18 guitar built. I was wondering if GAL Plan #8 for the Martin 1-18 is the same or close enough. If not, could you recommend somewhere to get a 5-18 plan?

R.J. Klimpert of Barrington, Rhode Island responds:

The chief reason that the 1-18 pattern won’t work to build a 5-18 is that the Martin 5-18 is a “terz” guitar, meaning that the neck and scale length are considerably shorter than that of a regular Martin, allowing for the higher-than-standard tuning that terz guitars are known for. The 1-18’s body, while narrow and seemingly similar in size to a 5-18, is too long to allow for a terz short-scale neck. The 5-18 is actually closer to a Martin Style 51 baritone uke in body size and scale. In fact, Martin reportedly reused an old terz guitar pattern when they started producing the 10-string tiple in the late ’teens. As for finding a pattern that would work for building a 5-18, it might be possible to reduce the dimensions of a 000-18 — all except the width of the neck — to approximate the correct size and shape. Or conversely, scale UP the dimensions of a Martin tiple (GAL Plan #37), since the 5-18 terz guitar lies somewhere between the two. ◆

Posted on July 7, 2024October 1, 2024 by Dale Phillips

Questions: Lacey Act Amendment

Questions: Lacey act amendment

by Ric Larson, Chuck Erikson, Anne Middleton, and Michael Greenfield

Originally published in American Lutherie #103, 2010

Lucy from the Internet asks:

The Lacey Act amendment that went into effect in 2008 may have great impact on makers, wood merchants, instrument dealers, and the general public. What is it and how will it affect my ability to get the raw materials I need to build musical instruments? What will it mean for importing finished instruments to sell in my store? And what consequences will it have for the supply of wood I have accumulated over the years? I am planning on requiring all wood suppliers I deal with in the future to be able to indicate botanical names and country of origin for every piece of wood I buy. Are they prepared to do this?

Ric Larson from Vikwood in Sheboygan, Wisconsin replies:

We have been requiring all our wood suppliers to comply with the Lacey Act for the past year in anticipation of the actual effective date (April 1, 2010). In addition we have asked them to go back and send us copies of all their nation’s government permits for harvesting, cutting, and exporting the various species they sent us during the past two years. Fortunately we have only the most scrupulous and honest suppliers so this was an easy, albeit time-consuming, job. I am by no means any kind of expert regarding the Lacey Act and struggle to find answers. We don’t know how to account for the inventory that dates back in some cases almost twenty years for some of the slower-moving species. It would seem to make sense that this inventory would not be affected by the law since it predated the effective date, but we don’t really know.

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Posted on July 7, 2024October 1, 2024 by Dale Phillips

Questions: J-45 Body

Questions: J-45 Body

by Joe Veillette

Originally published in American Lutherie #102, 2010

David Brooks from Tucson, Arizona asks:

I want to build a 12-string guitar based on a J-45 body or similar. What changes to the 6-string version of the J-45 do I need to make to handle the additional tension?

Joe Veillette from Woodstock, New York responds:

In my experience there are two ways to go. If your idea of a 12-string is what most people are used to (25"–25 5/8" scale), I feel that all you have to do is add about 10% to the cross-sectional dimensions of what you’d use for normal 6-string top bracing. The top thickness as well as the back and sides can remain unchanged. This “normal” 12-string should be tuned down a step to D (many old Guilds came that way), or strung with extra-light strings due to the high tension of the octave strings which otherwise tend to be harder to play, more finicky in terms of intonation, and can often deform the top. Of course this isn’t always the case, but it’s close. In my opinion, both detuning and the use of really light strings are unfortunate compromises. But some people prefer the lower tuning and there’s nothing wrong with it if that’s what you like.