Time to officially show off the cittern

Post Photos and Link Us to Your Guitars!
MaineGeezer
Posts: 1711
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

Time to officially show off the cittern

Post by MaineGeezer »

I guess I'll declare the cittern "done," or at least done enough to do the show-and-tell routine..

I'm quite pleased by the way it turned out.

The green triangular blocks in the case came out of a banjo case. They don't work with my banjo, but I think they will do a good job holding the cittern headstock.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
Danl8
Posts: 733
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2014 7:50 am
Location: Chadds Ford, PA

Re: Time to officially show off the cittern

Post by Danl8 »

Impressive! Have the cittern players been at it yet?
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Time to officially show off the cittern

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Wow, it turned out Great! Nice job on the case.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
tippie53
Posts: 7011
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
Location: Hegins, Pa
Contact:

Re: Time to officially show off the cittern

Post by tippie53 »

nice to see different instruments. it is pretty
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
MaineGeezer
Posts: 1711
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

Re: Time to officially show off the cittern

Post by MaineGeezer »

I'm trying to find a time when Jud Caswell can take it for a test drive. I plan to record the occasion so I can post a decent sound sample. Jud is eager to try it out, buit he is extremely busy. It will happen, eventually.

I'm getting so it doesn't feel totally alien when I try to play it, but I still can't do much with it.
Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
MaineGeezer
Posts: 1711
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

Re: Time to officially show off the cittern

Post by MaineGeezer »

Here's a sound sample, mostly demonstrating that I can't play it very well. <grin>

It does show, I hope, the sustain and the bass response.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
Kbore
Posts: 299
Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2017 3:58 pm
Location: St. Louis area

Re: Time to officially show off the cittern

Post by Kbore »

Wow! What a beautiful rich sound. Thats a beautiful instrument.
Measure Twice,

Karl B
tippie53
Posts: 7011
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
Location: Hegins, Pa
Contact:

Re: Time to officially show off the cittern

Post by tippie53 »

very nice indeed
did you make the case
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
MaineGeezer
Posts: 1711
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

Re: Time to officially show off the cittern

Post by MaineGeezer »

Yes, I built the case. It was a design-on-the-fly operation that fortunately worked out fairly well. I wouldn't recommend relying on it to protect against rough handling. The foam padding I used is only 1/4" thick and quite soft, and the top and bottom are 3/16" luan plywood. Any baggage handler could destroy it -- and the cittern -- with ease. For at-home storage and personal transporting, however, it's fine.

I used the 3/16" luan to keep the weight down. I used 1/4" lumber for the sides, for the same reason. Even so, it's still pretty heavy. I used 1/4" foam in an attempt to keep the overall size as small as I could. Even so, it's still pretty big.

One idea I had, but didn't try, was to cover it in Kevlar cloth embedded in epoxy to add strength.
Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
MaineGeezer
Posts: 1711
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

A mjuch better sound sample

Post by MaineGeezer »

Today I was able to connect with Jud Caswell long enough for him to take the cittern for a test drive. A couple of things came out of that. One, I still need to work on getting the action right. (I knew that anyway.) Two, individual notes are more distinct on Jud's cittern than on mine. It's not a big difference, but both Jud and I agreed that it was the case. Three, my cittern seems to have a partiality to a mid-bass resonant frequency. Again, it's nothing that is particularly glaring, but we speculate that it may be the cause of the lack of crispness of individual notes; the tendency to favor that mid-bass frequency tends to weaken other frequencies. Maybe.

Regarless, it still sounds pretty good. Here's a sound sample of Jud playing it. Unlike me, he knows what he's doing.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
Post Reply