I've been playing guitar for nearly 30 years, but this is my first attempt at building anything. I'm using a 19" scale neck from a first act acoustic that I found in the garbage, and attempting a six string 3 course instrument kind of like a trichordo bouzouki or baglama, hopefully tuned Dd aa dd, but I still have a ton of questions and a ton of work, but like they say, I don't even know what I don't know yet. I must say however that I have been bitten, and learned a lot of what not to do so far. Hopefully this project comes to fruition, and is the first of many.
I look forward to picking your brains, but please go easy on me!
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19" is pretty short IMO, but I dont say that to discourage- It will be interesting to see and hear.
Keep us posted with your progress and results!
Thanks Mark!
Yeah, 19" is really short for a bouzouki, not so much for a baglama, but I realize I'm building neither. Basically my idea was to spend nothing on this project, which so far has been mostly successful. I've spent about 1.25$ on hinges and probably a few more bucks on band-aids.
I know I should focus on finishing one thing at a time, but I have already started scavenging parts for my next project using a neck from an old Yamaha SE that I have always loved. I figured this was a good way to get my feet wet. I have no idea what it will sound like, I figure it is about the same scale as a baritone uke, so if my idea of 3 courses is a complete disaster, I can always try 4 strings with a conventional DGBE tuning....
Who am I kidding? I'd be happy if I can tune it to anything!
Don't overlook the possibility of tuning in fifths, as you would find in a Mandolin/Mandola, etc.
Works great for shorter scales!