Luthier

Alto Rebec on Printables

This is a 3D printable rebec I designed and printed earlier this year. It features a changeable soundplate with a complicated support structure on the underside, which I intended to mimic the acoustic properties of wood. The final version has a carbon fiber reinforced soundplate, which is not shown in the photo. You can find two sound samples on the linked printables page.

After half a year I could make a few long-term observations:

1. The sound quality improved significantly. A very noticeable wolf tone on the A string disappeared completely. Apparently the carbon fiber filament settled under string pressure - similar to wood

2. Several non-CF parts warped. The bowl is now 2mm wider and the fingerboard a bit crooked, which affects playability. This could maybe have been avoided if I glued the soundplate to the bowl instead of having it be held by string pressure alone, because it would have supported the bowl and not pressed against the underside of the fingerboard.

3. The carbon fiber soundplate didn't warp at all. I'll make the next printed Instrument entirely out of CF to avoid warping.

The mensur is identical to that of a violin, as is fingerboard, bridge curvature, and general instrument size. Currently it's stringed with 1/2 viola strings, tuned C-G-D-A. Body and neck are carved from a single block of maple. No soundpost, only a bass bar. After varnishing, I'll attach a standard violin chinrest and Wittner integrated shoulder rest, so it can be played like a regular violin.

I need mother of pearl 75mm by 30mm 1.8mm how can I find distrabuters selling this size?

Prices are all over the place and I'm totally lost.

This is a build from several years back. The body is chambered walnut sandwiched between Brazilian rosewood that was not useable for an acoustic guitar. I made the pickup rings, switch mount, and truss rod cover from copper and silver dust. It's not all polished up because I have played daily for almost five years.

In an attempt to keep activity going, here's what I'm working with for build two - black limba with a claro walnut topper. I have high hopes in particular for this walnut grain when it all gets finished.

In case any other luthiers end up finding their way here, I would love to hear experiences about working with black limba. So far I'm getting a lot more chipping and splitting than my first build, which was maple and sapele.

Welcome! I am looking to re-grow my absolute favorite community here on Lemmy - to kick it off, I'm sharing my first build that I finished in April.

It was a dream come true to finally be able to build up a workshop and try my hands at this. It took 4 months of weekends and the occasional lunch breaks, and I had so much fun, I can't wait to get going on #2 and dive deep into this craft and all it's secrets.

I could just post pics on one of the 'guitars' communities, I'm hoping this community can become a forum for people who really want to discuss the techniques and the process, not just the final product. Please comment or post if you'd like to see the same thing!