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Sunday, March 16, 2014

Finally

 I finally finished off the lute today. I decided that the previous bridge issues were down to a bad glue joint, so I took extra care this time!

The sound is nice at the proper pitch but the strings are still stretching so it won't stay in tune for long at the moment. I'll wait a bit before making a soundfile.

I have learnt a few things with this project. It has been a bit of a battle with this instrument, especially with the tricky yew wood ribs and the troublesome bridge, and I don't think I'll be making any more lutes.  However, I really like the style of the peg box, and making my own pegs, and also working with such a light instrument, so I may have a go at a renaissance guitar sometime.

Saturday, March 08, 2014

Bang again!

The bridge has parted company from the belly again!

I had re-glued it with Araldite, and I thought this would be sufficient. Everything else is finished on the lute (frets all done, including the ebony ones of the body), so I strung it up again and tuned it to pitch. It was OK for a few minutes and then there was an ominous creaking followed by the familiar 'bang'. This time part of the bridge (the scroll at the end) did break, but this is a simple fix.

Maybe my glue joint wasn't good enough, or maybe the tension (i.e. my choice of strings) is too great. I am going with the first option, and so I will try again with Araldite - unless anyone out there has any better suggestions! .