I'm kind of in "analysis paralysis" mode for my next build, and am going around and around trying to decide what to build next. I have some large billets of mystery wood that a friend gave me, that have been air drying for a good 10 years now, and I've been thinking of putting them to use for some carved-body acoustic instruments. By "carved body", I mean instruments whose bodies (sometimes along with their necks) were traditionally carved out of a single billet of wood, rather than made using bent staves or sides. (though many of them are currently made by bending staves or sides...)
Right now, I'd like to make:
- A tzouras (a 3/4 scale bouzouki-like instrument, with a 600mm scale length and a smaller body than a bouzouki)
- A baglamas
and a Puerto Rican cuatro.
I have a couple of questions, and was wondering if anyone here might have some experience.
1) How thick should the back and sides of a carved-body instrument be? I've played a Puerto Rican cuatro that was made the traditional way, and it was pretty heavy, so I'm assuming that they don't take it down to 1/8" or less... But how thick?
2) I've only ever seen a tzouras on YouTube, and can't find plans anywhere. Does anyone know where there might be some? I know how long the scale length is, and I know the body looks much smaller than a bouzouki body, but it's hard to guage the actual size by just looking at YouTube (Sometimes the pictures have nothing else to use for context, and other times there are guys holding them, but I have no idea how big the guys are...). Otherwise, I guess I'll just guess...
3) As I said, I have "mystery wood" billets. It might be basswood, might be something similar. Traditionally, the baglamas and tzouras were carved out of mulberry, and the cuatro was carved from laurel. I'm certain that what I have is neither of those. How much difference would the wood make? I've made a "cigar box baglamas", and it sounds pretty good, but not as loud as I'd like. Whatever I make will have a "real" top (not just the cigar box top), so I assume it would be better...
Does anyone know how a tzouras or the baglamas tops should be braced? (I was going to just generalize from the bouzouki, but these things have really small bodies, so that might not be appropriate...)
Thanks, and sorry for all the flaky questions!