Posted on July 1, 2022May 28, 2025 by Dale Phillips Some Traditional Vietnamese Instruments Some Traditional Vietnamese Instruments by Andy DePaule Originally published in American Lutherie #74, 2003 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 Most of the traditional Vietnamese instruments are like other instruments found all over Asia. For instance, the dan tran is like a Japanese koto but has sixteen steel strings and is smaller. The dan ty ba is similar to the Chinese pipa. The dan nguyet, or moon lute, looks a bit like a banjo, but has a wood top and sounds like a nylon string guitar. They bend the strings between the high frets. And the dan tam thap luc is their version of a hammered dulcimer. But the dan bau, my favorite instrument, is unique to Vietnam. Its one steel string is tuned slack and runs from the small bridge at the lower portion of the face to a bell-shaped piece of rosewood (hollow and turned on a lathe) attached to a “whammy bar” made from black buffalo horn. It is played by palming the harmonic points of the string while picking, then bending up or down to achieve desired notes, as well as to get special effects. The best players also use the whammy bar to raise or lower the note to another pitch prior to picking the string. The resulting music is much like the sound of our pedal steel guitar, my favorite American instrument. In the past, the dan bau was an acoustic instrument, but now it is available with an electric pickup, a simple spool over a magnet that has been wound with fine copper wire. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on September 22, 2021May 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Building the Tar Building the Tar by Nasser Shirazi Originally published in American Lutherie #10, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 The Tar (meaning “string” or “chord” in Farsi) is a classical Iranian stringed instrument which has two body cavities and is played by plucking the strings. The two sound chambers are covered with two separate skin membranes. The instrument’s six strings are tuned in pairs and are played with a brass plectrum inserted in a lump of beeswax. The tar is an integral part of classical Iranian music ensembles, along with the kamanché, setar, ney, santour, tomback, and oud. The soundbox is extensively made of mulberry wood, although other woods such as maple, walnut, and apricot have also been used. Use a well-seasoned wood with no knots, checks, or other wood defects known to luthiers. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on August 12, 2021May 22, 2025 by Dale Phillips An Ingenious Epinette An Ingenious Epinette by John Bromka Originally published in American Lutherie #31, 1992 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 While attending a festival of bourdon (drone) instruments in Lissberg, Germany in May of 1991, I saw and heard this ingenious épinette des Vosges, made by Gilles Pequinot, a native of the Vosges region of France. He was interested in hearing about the GAL and very happy to share his design with fellow luthiers through American Lutherie. The traditional soundbox for the épinette is found on this example in the slender, tapered, rectangular box that constitutes the middle portion or upper deck. Gilles has added a fancier and much bigger secondary soundbox underneath the ancestral original soundbox, as seems to be the custom now for the new breed of more cosmopolitan épinette players. It’s rather like what we Americans are doing with hollowed fingerboards on mountain dulcimers, only more so. As you might imagine, the sound of this épinette is hereby amplified to a rich, silvery ringing presence. And it even held its own while Gille’s wife led us through a workshop of dancing bourrées. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on August 12, 2021May 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Shortening Schaller Shafts Shortening Schaller Shafts by David Golber Originally published in American Lutherie #33, 1993 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 I’ve been making a Yugoslav folk instrument called prim. It’s something like a small mandolin; the scale is 15 1/4". For tuning machines, I’ve been using Schaller M6 minis, but I’ve been modifying them to solve some problems: the peghead is only 3/8" thick, and the threaded bushings that come with the Schallers don’t tighten down this far; the instrument tends to be too heavy at the head; and I have trouble getting enough string angle over the nut. The photos show what I’ve done to the Schallers. The threaded bushings have been shortened; the metal knobs have been replaced by the proverbial Handsome Pearlescent Plastic; and the shafts have been cut down short and reshaped. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on August 11, 2021May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips The Travielo The Travielo by Ernest Nussbaum Originally published in American Lutherie #5, 1986 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Cellists who want to travel with their instruments have a problem: on air trips they must purchase a seat for the cello or take the risk of having it damaged if checked into the baggage compartment, and in most cars it won’t fit into the trunk and thus takes up at least one passenger seat. In other words, it’s too big. For professional cellists traveling to a playing engagement, the purchase of a plane seat is a necessity which at least constitutes a deductible business expense. For symphony musicians on tour there is no problem at all because orchestras have provision for safe shipping of the larger instruments. But for the cellist who would like to practice during a vacation trip or play chamber music with friends at the other end, the expense and bother of taking the cello along often result in its getting left behind. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
