Day 6: The Layout

Now that all of the parts have arrived, I can begin the process of laying out the instrument. Because I'm not working from a plan, this one will be like no other (I hope that's a good thing). As you can see in the photo below, I've laid out the various parts to closely match the measurements I took from Darrel Wallen's loaner, as well as some of the literature that includes Mr. Strobel's excellent books on the violin family.

I ordered the tuning peg wax and strings and have asked Darrel if he has a peg hole reamer - seems like a waste of money to purchase one for $35 when this will be my one and only electric cello. By Monday, I will have cut and sanded the body and neck and drilled the holes for the pre-amp and the endpin. Hey, I can always take up any slack with the width and depth extensions, right? Right...?

Why do I hear crickets?

Until next time...

Day 5: More Parts Have Arrived

I was pleased to see that two packages arrived yesterday with parts for the instrument. The first contained a maple 4/4 neck that I will be tacking onto the body and the second contained the tailpiece, microtuners, tuning pegs, end pin, a non-usable, yet instructive, pre-amp and a couple of pieces that look like extensions designed to hold space to mimic an acoustic body.

The only parts left to acquire are wax material for the tuning pegs and a set of strings. I'll be ordering those up this Friday.

The next build steps will include designing the full length of the instrument, including where and how I'm going to mount the neck. I will also need to figure out extensions for the upper depth and lower width of the body - you'll see what I mean by that in the coming few days.

April 9th is just around the corner.

Until next time...

Day 4: Measurements and Photos

I took some detailed photos of the loaner instrument last night, as well as some measurements at points critical to my completion of the instrument. While I have several measurements available via the Interwebs and Mr. Strobel's excellent books, I still have a few questions about where and how to place extensions to mimic the true depth of an acoustic cello. You'll see what I mean in a couple of days. For now, please enjoy this photographic diversion:

Of course, I took many more photos than these, I just wanted to share a few with you.

The next steps are to carefully measure out the body and start cutting and shaping it for placement of the various parts. I was able to order up the neck, tuning pegs, tailpiece, microtuners, end pin and a nice, little end pin stand. All will arrive within the next couple of weeks. It looks like this is actually going to happen before his birthday!

Until next time...