We're a crazy lot here aren't we. who'd have thought of making a guitar out of a box of cigars?
people with not a lot of cash, basically XD
and that describes my situation perfectly. i'm not bitter, its just a fact of being a student with an obsession with making instruments.
I've been making a load of instruments, and my next one is a cello. I have been looking through the depths of youtube for blues and bluegrass cello and double bass and figured if i made a cello, i could just play bass lines on it a little higher up the register.
I've found a bunch of AWESOME (absolutely amazing, can't stress this enough) spec sheets for the violin family, from tinnie-weenie violin right up to 4/4 double bass, so i'm pretty sorted for standard specs. My design isn't following the same design, its going to be a 'stick' cello, with no body as such, so i can store it more easily in my cupboard i live in at uni. but the sheets are great for strings, fretboards etc. the hard stuff. (if you fancy them, please i beg you, email me on st.ginger@hotmail.com and i will shoot them straight back.)
My actual question (god, took a while to get there, sorry) is this: what kind of tunders do you think i could use on a cello? traditionally they use wooden friction pegs, but i have dealt with them in a violin build and they a balls-ache like no other. so i'm thinking bass guitar pegs. but the problem is they're expensive, and i want to get 5 if i can, so i can load an extra low f under the regular low c, for more bass.
do you reckon normal guitar tuners would do it? would they be strong enough, and would the strings fit? I haven't had a chance to go look at an actual in the flesh cello, so i don't have a feel for the actual strings yet, but its on my to do list.
i'll put up any more questions i have when they arise, and hopefully get up the photos of my Violele (5 string ukulele made from a violin body) that i finished ages ago and forgot to share.
also, if there are any people on here, from the south of england, with old, broken, damaged instruments or parts, please consider donating them to a worthy cause. i don't like making 'normal' instrument, even by our CBNation standards, and premade parts are so good to cannibalize. a bit cheeky i know, but if you don't ask...
thanks for any responses. any input about big string instruments, even if its not on topic, would be great. thanks a lot. love to y'all
Jake
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thats a good idea, i'll look at the flea markets for old broken basses.
hopefully the deeper low f will give me that drive, but we'll see. the problem is again, as with the tuners, going to be getting the 5th string. i've seen somewhere that a heavy guage flat wound A from an electric bass will do the F on a cello.
Its going to be just the spine of the instrument, with only the fingerboard really. this is the general design i'm going for, extra minimal: (sorry for the crappy quality, its late here. once i draw up the blueprints properly, i'll post a better one.)
I might add some cheeks later, just for aesthetics, but this is the simplest, most cost and energy efficient way i can see to do it, considering i have no powertools, and only a very blunt saw.
the lack of any kind of resonating chamber means that hopefully it will be very quiet so i can practice at uni, but unfortunately it means it will be very quiet, so i can't hear the bass. I want to put a piezo in the bridge, but i'll cross that one when i get there. (no pun intended. its almost 5am, what am i doing here!!!)
Don't know how much you have to spend but Gitty has Bass tuners listed for $5.99 each.
https://www.cbgitty.com/cubecart/tuners/machine-heads/1pc-chrome-ba...
I've had a look at the different things Gitty stock, but i'm in the uk and don't want to import if i can help it. look after the environment and all that. But that is a great price for singles, so if i can't get them here, thats definately a good choice. thanks for the link
I know what you mean, enjoy "recycling" as much as possible, that's the fun of these things. I have bought stuff from Gitty for some of my builds, tuners and such and been impressed with the service, prices and quality of the parts I've gotten. Being retired and living on a rather decreased income I try and look for the best deals before I buy any stuff that I can't scrounge.
I thats a great idea. i might use it for another build, but i specifically want this guy to be almost silent when its not amped up. I'm going back to university, and bowed instruments are notoriously hard to learn at first. I tried learning violin and at first it sounded like a cat being run over by a lawnmower XD
So i want it quiet to protect my housemates. just the vibration of the strings should be enough for me to hear my self. I like the idea of using 2 resonating chambers above and below. I have a thing for multiple boxes in my projects, so we'll see where it leads me :)
I'm looking into a stick piezo to go under the bridge, but i don't have a lot of real estate in the body strut for a preamp. Any one know if it'd be ok to just solder the piezo to a jack and have at it that way?
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