Stuart Walsh wrote: > >And Pedro didn't reply! Pedro seems to think that EGs have a very >definite barring - but I thought there was a lot of variation. Mine >only has two bars (maybe three) on the table, I think. And some have >more andare morecomplicated. > >The tuning CGceg sounds more like a waldzither? > >And there were English makers too - what about Preston for a starter? > >The trouble with the Wisser instrument in Galpin is that there are no >details about the instruments. There is another German cittern by a J. >Wisser here: > >http://www.studia-instrumentorum.de/MUSEUM/ZISTER/5048.htm > >But this is from the second half of the 18th century. It's got the deep >body but otherwise is much more like a traditional cittern. > > > > My 'Simpson' has an asymmetrically X-braced top (original, not some later addition) with tonebars added parallel to the X-brace, much like far later instruments. The back is cross braced with five bars, at intervals on only a couple of inches, which are very narrow and tall, with a knife pointed top. They are more like fins than cross struts for a jointed back. Combined with the rough-tooth planed rear interior, the curved and nonparallel table and back, these back braces prevent standing waves entirely and give the instrument and exceptional bass for its size - and no 'hot spots' in tone.
As an experiment, I had Russell Rose make me an OO size shallow bodied walnut guitar using tall back braces at 3 inch intervals - a similar number of braces, each over 1 inch tall, very narrow. This guitar when delivered (also very light in construction, which resulted in damage later on) had exactly what I expected - an awesomely full bass from a shallow, small body. I was taking the rough proportions of these fin-like English guittar braces and enlarging them to brace a regular guitar, with a similarly shallow body in ratio, and a non-parallel, curved back. Russell is now replacing the instrument (I cracked one side rib, which was barely half the thickness of most guitars) with a more solidly built and serviceable version, keeping the same frequent/close/tall/thin/sharp back braces. The new one will have a Douglas fir top, in place of Coast redwood. This is to increase brightness and attack, since the redwood is more like cedar, and though fast is naturally bassy and warm in sound. The finned back plus the redwood created a guitar like an extremely loud whisper. The Douglas fir, supposed to be the crispest and brightest and most brittle physically of all topwoods, should add a brilliant top end to this. The original guitar was also oil rubbed, while the replacement will be French polished. Again, this is to restore brilliance to a very full open bass. David To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
