How to make Small Guitars, Ukeleles, and Your Own Crazy Instruments
This is about the art and science of making small guitars, ukes, and other stringed instruments... acoustics, wood-bending, gluing, clamping, & more. Things like Helmholtz resonance, how to hear wood & what wood is good, where to get things, how to bend wood, what tools you need, how to make some of your own tools and set up a workspace, different ways to fret a guitar, different kinds of bridges, where to put a sound hole. Plus some music... bring your ears, hands, and brain, and a small guitar if you have one, and all the cool ideas you have for new types of stringed instruments. Here's what Sage's small guitars look like.
details
- when: sunday, april 17th, 2011, from 3:15 pm - 4:45 pm
- to attend: Please see the info page for more information on attending any of the workshops at the 2011 Boston Skillshare.
- facilitated by: Sage & Chris
lesson plan
I will bring a few small guitars as examples of the play between acoustics and the wood and how it's made. I will bring some tools like a heat bending pipe and scrapers, and some wood and tuners and fret wire and other things, so that people can see all the parts and get an idea in their visual brain.
We'll also bend wood! We will bring thin pieces of wood so that everyone who wants can bend on the heat pipe.
We'll talk about:
(10 minutes) Why small guitars & ukes are excellent, for bicycling, hiking, city life, country life, meeting people, having fun. Why I (sage) started to make them personally. Maybe why Chris did too.
(20 minutes) Some things about acoustics and how a big guitar makes its sounds, and how these can be adapted for small guitars.
(20 minutes) Some things about how to make a guitar... a traditional one, compared to a small one make. Maybe how a traditional uke compares to a cigar box uke.
(20 minutes) Demonstration of heat bending, and some hands-on for people who want to try it.
(rest of the time) Spontaneous talking and questions and musical fun...
facilitator experience
Sage has made six small guitars & learned a ton about acoustics and design. He invented a new kind of bridge that is really sweet and filed a provisional patent so no big company can lock up the idea to keep it open for all. He started a seventh guitar in March and it's gonna be good.
Chris plays music and makes ukes. He's coming to talk about ukes and be allaroundgood.
intended audience
Everyone.