New project; Sporkcello 1

BigMonka

This is going to be epic.

Flink_Poyd

I had a Google for silent cello, by God they look like some sort of weapon! 

usedtobe

You never cease to amaze...! 

Sporky

Flink_Poyd said:

I had a Google for silent cello, by God they look like some sort of weapon! 

Some of them are a bit weird looking - I went for the most conventional one. I think.

http://data.yamaha.jp/sdb/local/products/images/8430/12001/8430_12001_1.jpg

Sporky

So... I've drawn up the basic geometry in Rhino3D, or, rather, I tried to, but it doesn't quite connect up.

Next step, therefore, is to take some measurements from my cello instead.

Also I've been looking into costs - this is going to be around £400 in timber, tuners and a tailpiece. Strings will add another £200 or so. Yikes etc.

BigMonka

Cello strings are £200 a set?!?! wowsers.

Sporky

You can get cheap sets for about £80 if you don't mind sounding a bit crap.

DartmoorHedgehog

BigMonka said:

Cello strings are £200 a set?!?! wowsers.

Sporky said:

You can get cheap sets for about £80 if you don't mind sounding a bit crap.

I was quite shocked by the price of violin strings when my daughter started playing - £30+ for a decent set, half the length of guitar strings and you only get four of them!  On the plus side they do seem to last for ages so in the long run I don't reckon they end up costing more than guitar strings for the same playing time.  Cello and double bass strings are just silly money though.

eSully

Love the design in the opening post, best of luck with the build!

Andyjr1515

I'm absolutely going to be following this!  

I have had an electric one on the drawing board for years - even got a neck for it - but just been too busy....but an ACOUSTIC one.  Now that's mastery.

Sporky

Well, I've made electric guitars, and I've made wooden boxes. This is just a combination of the two, right?

Not a lot of progress yet - the CAD just looks like a game of pick-up-stix.

boogieman

Well I hope it's going to be sprayed a fetching shade of sparkly blue, otherwise I'll feel cheated. 

Jalapeno

Subscribed.  Best of British and all that !  (I'd probably start with an archtop violin/mandolin or something smaller !)

Sporky

Then I'm afraid you'd best prepare yourself for disappointment. It will have a very thin and probably clear finish on it. The trendy thing in the 17th century was to mix some rosin with some varnish (which I assume was made mostly of pig's wee) to add a bit of red to the shade, but my plan at the moment is brushed acrylic.

Sporky

Jalapeno said:

Subscribed.  Best of British and all that !  (I'd probably start with an archtop violin/mandolin or something smaller !)

I thought that initially, but smaller isn't necessarily easier. If anything a violin is going to be fiddlier to make.

I reckon this'll be a doddle. They managed it before electrickery even existed, after all.

Jalapeno

Those decades of apprenticeship they had to endure are all on YouTube too

Sporky

Exactly.

Experience is no substitute for broadband and a complete lack of regard for tradition.

Sesh

What were the chances of a violin being fiddlier?

Sporky

No pun intended, honest. But I see what I did there.

Gagaryn

Sporky said:

Exactly.

Experience is no substitute for broadband and a complete lack of regard for tradition.

Learning from youtube is surely now traditional? ;-)