I initially strung it up with strings 4, 5, and 6 from a set of guitar strings, so it was interesting to listen to... a kind of "bass" guitar. All my earlier ones were using strings 1,2,3, and maybe 4 from a set of guitar strings, so it had a unique sound. But, my playing style is such that I don't pick up my fretting fingers cleanly, so you can hear a slide sound when fretting these wire wound strings. So, I decided to restring it to strings 2, 3, and 4 which is how it is currently strung and it sounds pretty good. I also had to modify the tail piece as the string end pieces were cutting into the tail piece making the instrument go out of tune all the time. I cut down a cheap fork to reinforce the tail block. May need to do this with my square box guitar as well. I also enlarged the sound holes a bit. It's neat to tap on the back of the sound box and feel wind coming through the sound holes.
Any resemblance to a balalaika is coincidental. I built it as a triangular box guitar with a thru-box neck, except, the neck terminates before piercing the transom (the side with the tail piece attached). The fact that it is a 3-stringer is due to my background with diatonically fretted stick dulcimers like the McNally Strumstick. Balalaikas have a neck that attaches like most real world guitars so no space in the sound box is wasted holding the neck. Additionally the bottom is somewhat rounded on a balalaika. A balalaika is also strung and tuned differently. Maybe my next triangular box will emulate a balalaika better. I'd like to see a real one first.
Comments
I initially strung it up with strings 4, 5, and 6 from a set of guitar strings, so it was interesting to listen to... a kind of "bass" guitar. All my earlier ones were using strings 1,2,3, and maybe 4 from a set of guitar strings, so it had a unique sound. But, my playing style is such that I don't pick up my fretting fingers cleanly, so you can hear a slide sound when fretting these wire wound strings. So, I decided to restring it to strings 2, 3, and 4 which is how it is currently strung and it sounds pretty good. I also had to modify the tail piece as the string end pieces were cutting into the tail piece making the instrument go out of tune all the time. I cut down a cheap fork to reinforce the tail block. May need to do this with my square box guitar as well. I also enlarged the sound holes a bit. It's neat to tap on the back of the sound box and feel wind coming through the sound holes.
-Rand.
Thanks, Brickdust.
Any resemblance to a balalaika is coincidental. I built it as a triangular box guitar with a thru-box neck, except, the neck terminates before piercing the transom (the side with the tail piece attached). The fact that it is a 3-stringer is due to my background with diatonically fretted stick dulcimers like the McNally Strumstick. Balalaikas have a neck that attaches like most real world guitars so no space in the sound box is wasted holding the neck. Additionally the bottom is somewhat rounded on a balalaika. A balalaika is also strung and tuned differently. Maybe my next triangular box will emulate a balalaika better. I'd like to see a real one first.
-Rand.