December, 19 53 NEWNES PRACTICAL MECHANICS 109· Making 011e-stringed Fiddles Constructional Details of Two Instruments, Sometimes Known as Japanese Fiddles HE two simple ins�uments herein octagonal to 16-sided, and then to blend the it. will go right through tte rib and block, described are easily constructed, and facets -and finish off by turning the peg in but no farther. It should not be glued in, T toth have a pleasing, tone compared a tube of glasspaper formed round it. It as tl::e hole provides a view of the interior wiLli the cheap commercial fiddles of a. is, of course, important to regulate the taper of the body which may be useful at any time simi!ar type. of the peg, and the hole, so that a good in locating defects or checking the upright­ The body of the instrun:ent shown in bearing is obtained on both sides of the ness of the sound-post. Fig. I is formed of cigar-box (approxi­ peg-tox. The "" which raises the mately kin. thick), but i� is not jl!St a cigar­ string 1/I6in. off the at the and String box ; it is entirely reconstructed and re:luced head end is a slip of about xin. The bridge is cut with a fretsaw from a in length. The sides· or "rits" are care­ by !in. 'x i\in., fitted and glued into a slip of well-�easoned . In thickness the fully glued together with butt . joints, shallow cut across the neck just below bridge is a compromise between an ordinary strengthened by a triangular block of soft the peg-tox, rounded on top and very slightly violjn bridge and the shapeless chunks about iin. wide, the full height of the nicked in the centre for the string. favoured by the "Jap fiddle" manufac� ribs glue:i and rubbed into each angle. A turers, which gives it eventually an eleva­ neck- and tail-block, about ¼in. by Iin. in Tail-rest and Tail-pin tion derived from the drawings of Japanese section, with the exposed angles rounded, is The tail-rest is another slip of rosewood koto bridges in "Music and Musical Instru­ glued centrally on the. inside of the top and of about the same dimensions let -into the ments of Japan" (see Fig. 2A). bottom ribs resi::ectively, also extending their edge of the belly for half its depth where full height. Glued to the inside of the the string passes over to the tail-pin: · · it String-length belly, so as to lie exactly under one foot of should te well rounded above, but needs no The string-length (from nut to bridge) is the bridge and running nearly, but not quite, centre nick ; its object is both to prevent shown on· the drawings as 27in., the effec­ parallel to the long axis of the tody, is a the string into the belly and to ease tive string-length of a ,m::dium-sized 'cello. bass-bar, as in an orthodox violin ; and about its own diameter . tailwards of tte other foot of the bridge a sound-post (see article Sound-post in Grov�'s "Diet. of. Music ") is fitted tightly between the belly and back, and· perpendicular to them. The SCALE absence or improper fitting of thes! two 0 members is the cause of .much · of the poor tone · emitted _by both commercial and am�teur-made one-stringed fiddles, and also of the undeservedly low opinion which many people have of these instrume,nts_ generally. Both bass-bar and sound-post should be of HEAD straight-grained pine. The formet should FRONT SIDE be about I in. sl:orter than the belly, and the ELEVATION ELEVATION edge, which is glued fhereto ¼in. wide ; the OF HEAD 0 depth .is graduated from ½in. in the centre String to abol!t ¼in. at the ends, and the fre� edge M.!. k should be well rounded from side to side as well as curved from end to end. The sound-post is a wooden rod of !in, dia. ufder

The Neck I Tl:e nee); 1s sawn out of· a· piece of ¾in. M.I. M2. I (a keyhole was used for the I' curved part of the "shoulder " and as much I Fig. 1. - (Right) of the straight part as is necessary). The \ 8iJSS back of . the neck is nicely rounded, and the• Front, rear and side b"r front, which forms tte fingerboard, made elevations, showing Y truly flat-any convexity in the len_gth is constntctional details 18ridge of a one-stringed.fiddle. particularly to be avoided, as it may cause I jarring of the string in certain s:oppings. Dimensions may be -�----v--- The peg-box is formed like a small violin taken by reference to ,- the scale. 1Sound peg-box (see dotted line on side elevation : post­ of head, Fig. 1), being cut out with a ; the checks are left' !in. wide at the front II arid rather thicker towards the back. The Fig. 2.-(Abo-v�) The bridge (A) is cut from / B.Jck widened part · of the head is formed by well-seasoned oak and I glueing on two shaped slips of the same the sound holes (B and wood as the neck and finishing· them off C)· are cut. u:ith a flush at the front, back and top. The peg­ fretsaw. FRONT ELEVATION hole may be bored before the peg-box is (TO REDlJCED SCALE) REAR ELEVATION OF SIDE ELEVATION cut, at first no larger than the smaller end 8ODY(8ACK REMOVED) OF L'JDY of the peg. The hole can be tapered with a large rat-tail , carefully revolved the angle through which the siring· li:is ·to As the fingering of a one-stringed fiddle is counter-clockwise in the hole ; but proper bend at this point. The tail-pin, like the necessarily related to that of a 'cello we violin peg-borers can be obtained. A home­ peg, might be turned : but in our "M.1" think the latter might appropriately supply made peg of rosewood or , something (Monolin No. 1) it was made by shaping the standard. The string with which the like that shown in the drawing, will look the end of a stick of rosewood ¾ in. in instrument is mounted is that which seems to much. more in harmony with the rest of the diameter with file and penknife into the form be consistently adopted for the J ap fiddles instrument than an ordinary violin peg. If of a miniature shouldered knob (see .Fig. I) of commerce, namely a "banjo third steel," you have a lathe, the forming of the shaft with a shaft about ¼in. in diameter, to be tuned to Middle C. To the violinist or 'cellist is, of 1=ourse, a simple matter, but where titted tightly into . a hole bored through the the use of wire strings on a bowed instru­ only one peg is concemea it will not be . a bottom rib of the fiddle and the tail-block. ment may appear barbarous, but we have very laborious process to shape it with a When the pin has been satisfactorily shaped, proved that, with a properly designed body file from to octll�onal _and from the shaft is cut off about !in. long Sf>" that and bridge, the tone produced by their aid

Documented and curated by Shane Speal, December 2019. www.PoorMansGuitar.com 110 NEWNES PRACTICAL MECHANICS December, 1953 can be as pure and soft as anything thatsection roughly quarter -elliptical, about fin.sound -holefarthest from the bass -bar by canbegotoutofcatgut ; andtheirby Qin. (see Fig.t).If the wood availablemeans of a pin stuck in one end, and pare superiority to gut in durability and indiffer-allows it, the shoulder of the neck may wellone or both ends untilitwilljust stand encetomoistureisobvious. The banjofinish flush with the body at the back, asverticallyinsidethe body,withoutany strings have a loop ready made at one end,in the " M,2 " instrument ;in" M.1" itforcing. Itmust now beslidintothe which can be slipped over the tail -pin ;adoes not extend so far, though the strengthen-position described in an earlier paragraph, very smallholeisboredinthepegtoing blocks do ; the space between their endseither by means of a piece of bent wire, or receive the other end. isfilledinwitha kind of packing -piece.a string tied round it with two long ends, The extension of the fingerboard over theone issuing from each sound -hole. Assembly body should be about Qin. thick, and reach When the ribs have beenput together,to withinsin,of the bridge, sothat theVarnishing itisbest,before glueing onthe back, tostring may be stopped to s of its open length You can now put a string on and get some arrange the fitting of the neck.The face of(3f in.), and thus give the instrument a com-idea of the tone of the instrument. Ifit pass of three octaves. isfairly good,itwill be better when the Theback,a n dbody is varnished.Take the string off, give then the belly,can all surfaces a final glass -papering and slightly now be glued on, andround all arrises, then apply to the body and crampedwithhead only at least two coats of good quality weights; no nails or SCALE " dark oak ",witharub down 0* pins should be usedbetween.A preliminary sizing with a solu- anywhere. Before the tionofgambogeinmethylatedspirit Nut belly is fixed it must,is desirable.The neck is not varnished, but 'Through Peg box of course, have theits surface is hardened by several applications sound -holes cut in itof each lightly rubbed down and the bass -barwith fine glasspaper or pumice -powder. The attached. The out-varnish on the belly should be scraped away FRONT _ SIDE lineoftheformerjust where the feet of the bridge stand. ELEVATION ELEVATION can be enlarged from OF HE 0 OF HEAD the illustrationinThe Second Model Fig.2(approx. half Wishing to make a second monolin for full size) and cut outourselves, we debated the possibility of giving withafretsaw;orthe body the attractive convex outline of Shoulder theterminal eyesthe. Japanese may be bored with a kokyuandsamisen. We remembered the various decorative usesto bit andtherestwhich the constructor had formerly put the carvedout with a . wood of a Canadian cheese -tub, and " M.2 " Whenthe (seeFig.3)was theresult. The rough edges ofthe blockstringy needs alot of preparing to and belly (left inten-get afairexterior surface for varnishing, tionally ashade large)have but the result pays for the labour.The b e e nmitreingisdone bytrial, and thejoints trimmed quite flushdepend mainly ontheblocks-fitted and withtheribs, thegluedin while theribs tail -rest and tail -pin aresecured with string. The back and bellyare ofBin. fitted, and the bridgefretwood-the former " satin walnut " and made, the sound -postthe latter " silver pine " ; inserted. the neck being may be of dark walnut, the colour effectisvery Lower it through the good.The head has side additions for its full length, and the peg -box could therefore Fig. 3.-Front, rearwell be cut right through the head in the andsideelevations,Orientalfashien with centre -bitand key- givingconstructionalhole saw.The different form of sound -hole FRONT ELEVATION detailsofa one - (Fig. 2) seems to be demanded by the curves (TO REDUCED SCALE) REAR ELEVATION OF SIDE ELEVATIONstringed fiddle of alter -of the body.The tone is less brilliant than BODY (BACK REMOVED) OF BODY native design. that of M.r, but is very pleasing. the shoulder which joins on the body must bequitesquare transversely,andshould make an angle of about 86 deg. with the ofthefingerboard. Lay theribs on the bench, with the belly on top, then A Socket Spanner prop up -the neck in contact with the body so that it stands as nearly as possible asit will when fixed. Lay astraight -edge on Dodge th fingerboard, overhanging the body, and see how high it stands off the belly at theA Handy Method of Threading Awkward Studs latter's centre (where the 'bridge will come); the distance should be just over fin.Adjust By S.C. HUMPHREY the neck up or down until you get this right, Mr. Humphrey's then mark clearly on the neck where the methodofusinga top edge of the rib comes.Take away the QUITE often, it is found, when thread- socket spanner to hold inga,studfittedinan awkward belly,centre the neck totheaxis of the adie inawkward body very carefully, then holding or - place that the " arms "of thedie - places. ing it in the correct position, make two smallholder will foul surrounding objects, and if a holes, on the centre line, throughverticaldie -holder and tommy bar are not the top block and ribintothe neck (seeavailable the job seems impossible without drawings), deep enough to take the two tin.removingthestud. By usingasocket orain.round -headed screws whichwill spanner to hold the die,as shown in the secure the body and neck together.Takingsketch, this problem can be overcome. these temporarily apart, enlarge the holes in I have used this combination on cylinder - the body so that the screws can be pushedhead studs, stub axle steering -arm bolts, and through them right up to the head, slightlyshackle pins where the thread had become grease the screws, bring the parts together,damaged.In operation, a tight fitting split and turn the screws home.Itisdesirablecotterisinserted betweentheslot inthe both for strength and appearance to fit anddie and one corner in the socket to prevent glue into the angles between the neck and itrotating.The ratchetspanner willbe the body (after the back and belly are on)foundusefulwhereextensionbarand blocks of the same wood as the neck,' intommy bar are not suitable.