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chapter 18 sitarmaking MELODIC INSTRUMENTS
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490 posts coyootie 490 posts
coyootie
i'm doing an opaque shellac based varnish for the tumbas, like a burnt sienna or other earh pigment, and a golden/reddish/amber for the wood parts. i'll probably just use a nat'l shellac color,ther's a few typical that may work.
french polish/shellac is wonderful stuff and completely non toxic if you do it with good substances (NO denatured alcohol- i use everclear which is ridiculously expensive).
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coyootie 490 posts
coyootie
fitting a bracket for the upper tumba. Again hats off to Pandit Sitarfixer for his fine innovation of a 3 pointed bracket- I've made this one a bit smaller than his.also working away on large tumba leaves- boy i wish i did these in 20 minutes each! because of the very convex arch of the tumba i had to spend a lot more time gouging out the underside to get a decent fit.it will be way easier to fit leaves on the up-tumba.
finding a threaded pipe and nut for this tumba was easy,thankfully.i used a very small one to minimize weight. any place i could make pieces as small as possible anywhere on this axe i have done so,such as pegs and the gullu.
a light, sizable nat'l gourd u pper tumba makes a very obvious and dramatic difference in volume, you bet.this one is about 10" diam and about 6 1/2" to the wooden top plate.it's a nice rounder rather than flattened shape which obviously gives a little more resonating airspace. i turned the ring out of pine.
I have used 2 elements made by someone else-the nut which had a funny sorta wolfie/tiger at the end( if anyone has ever figured out that weird beastie face usually seen, do tell us what it is! seems to be vestigial of the Soutern veena yali/monster) and the bone pips on the ends of pegs. I just liked the wolfie,it's very charming, so i decided to use it.making the bone pips to custom design would have been a nice extra touch but i also liked simple plain round ones- i think these were made in China for the violin trade.
the volume and the tone of this sitar is already excellent and will be way nicer after i djovari everything properly.
see pics at "sitar making chap 11" at the end.
http://www.wobblier.myphotoalbum.com
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element-82 317 posts
element-82
wow that beastie is really starting to take shape. I like the joint where the upper tomba is attached, very slick.

Pb
Surbahar Dude (formerly Sitar Dude)
http://sitarplayer.net
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Drew 214 posts
Drew
what shade/color are you going to go with for the finale?
< >..

Always have 1 eye open
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