CB Fiddle Fingerboard

It takes a bit of work to get the radius right. Rasping and sanding for about an hour.
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  • I'll probly get a reamer eventually. I've one for a regular fiddle, but they never end. There's the cello peg reamer, the endpin reamer, and the peg shaver for each size peg. Each $40. I'm going to use a dowel without a taper on my two string. I'll just carve the tail gut slot into it. I'm using an old cello tailpiece i got in a lot of tails off ebay. It's a beauty. I'll make my own odd bridge. I'll looking for some bass guit. tuners i got a year ago. They might work. I've got two beautiful vintage cello tuners, but they are too big for my peg box. Cello pegs are too big too. I'll come up with something soon. The strings are calling. "Stretch me....."

  • Cool Dave. I looked at some Ebay cello fingerboards and noticed that a lot of them have that flat side. I think I'll just go for it and make one!  I've seen some cellos with geared tuners like on an upright bass. I think bass guitar tuners might be a viable alternative. Of course if you've got several cellos planned $40 is not too bad of an investment.

  • Ya i'm resisting a $40 cello peg reamer. I sanded down a fretboard blank in black walnut today. It came out nice. It's two tone, as the wood has a cream and a dark brown stripe. Mine is kind of flat at the wide end. It just has to work for two strings, so i think it'll do. Photos posted soon today.

  • Thanks for the info Dave. Before I got my Chinese peg reamer I was using one I made from 1/2 of a scissor that I ground down to approximate the peg taper. The reamer works a lot better!
  • Just fiddling around Jim. Tony,s cello sure has the sound of the real deal. His Chineae fingerboard has a flat part of the radius for the bass string. The rest are the same curve as a fiddle. They are very thick and sturdy and stick out about half their length over the top. I got my bowed diddley all glued and clamped today. It,s coming good but there will be hold ups as I don,t have a big peg reamer. I,m looking to China for that one.
  • Ha! For fiddles sake indeed! I've seen 2 string bowed instruments with no radius but after about a dozen of these I feel OK about making the arch. I'm procrastinating on a Cello since I"m not sure if the radius is similar or more pronounced. I need to buy or borrow a cheap one to use as a guide. I love that deep Cello sound and I'm determined to make one eventually. Thanks Dave.

  • Thanks for the details. I might use rosewood as I have some thick blanks to choose from. Mine is just a two string bowed diddley. I could prolly get away with a flat board with two strings but I,ll round it off for Fiddles sake.
  • Thanks Dave. This one is rosewood with some ebony stain. I've used the Chinese ones before but they're usually narrower at the nut than I like so that's one thing that made me want to make my own. Maple works well it just gets dark line marks from string residue.

  • Thanks Richey.

  • Very fine work there Jim

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