The charango is similar to a lute in size, but shaped like a guitar.
The charango is a ten-string, South American lute. The instrument was originally made from armadillo shells, but modern charangos are fashioned from a piece of wood. The body has a hollow, figure "8" shape, with a neck that runs vertically from the center of the top of the body. The charango body is hollow, this is where the sound resonates. You can build your own charango from a single log of wood. Building your own is a cheap way to get a custom instrument.
Instructions
1. Saw the log in half so that you have two pieces with a curved back.
2. Draw a template of the instrument on a piece of paper. The neck should be approximately ten inches long and two inches wide, with an extra four inches for the headstock. The top half of the figure "8" should have be approximately twelve inches tall and six inches wide. The bottom half of the figure "8" should be nine inches tall and six inches wide.
3. Trace the template onto the flat side of the log. Cut out the charango shape with a jig saw.
4. Sand in a circular motion.
Mark out a half-inch wide edge around the body. Use a router to hollow out the body so that the sides incline at a slight gradient. Aim for a bowl shape. Wrap a piece of 8-grit sandpaper around a block of wood and buff the interior until smooth.
5. Draw the body template onto a flat piece of timber. Cut out a top-board with a jig saw. Cut out a sound hole in the center, level with the middle of the "8" shape.
6. Cut two pieces of timber one inch wide and six inches long. Screw one across the center of the charango body and one half way between the start of the neck and the center. This are the struts that will support the top-board.
7. Cut a piece of timber exactly the same height and width as the neck, one third of an inch thick. This is the fret board.
8. Glue the top-board onto the body and clamp in a bench vise overnight to set.
9. Mark seventeen fret grooves on the fret board. Mark fret one an inch below the start of the headstock. The gap between subsequent frets decreases equally so that fret seventeen is a third of an inch from fret sixteen. Use a slotting file to create fret grooves.
10. Tap the edges of the frets in first, then tap the center to level the fret.
Tap in the frets with a ball peen hammer. File the edges down with a metal file. Glue the fret board onto the neck, and clamp this assembly in a vice overnight to set.
11. Plot the tuning peg holes on the headstock at the top of the neck, five on each side equally spaced. Measure the peg barrel. Drill a hole large enough for each peg barrel. Screw in the tuning pegs.
12. Modify the guitar saddle. The saddle will have six pre-drilled holes for guitar strings. Fill the string holes with wood filler. Use a 1/8-inch drill bit to drill ten new holes on the saddle. Glue on the saddle, in the center two inches from the bottom of the body.
13. Fit the strings.
Tags: fret board, inches wide, body hollow, center level, charango body, figure should