Making 011E-Stringed Fiddles
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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 wood (approxi peg-tox. The "nut" which raises the mately kin. thick), but i� is not jl!St a cigar string 1/I6in. off the fingerboard at the Bridge and String box ; it is entirely reconstructed and re:luced head end is a slip of rosewood 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 oak. In thickness the fully glued together with butt . joints, shallow groove 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 pine 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 cutting 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 mahogany (a keyhole saw 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 chisel ; 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 file, 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 ebony, 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 square 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 "varnish,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 French polish each lightly rubbed down and the bass -barwith fine glasspaper or pumice -powder.