Brazilian Cavaquinho

[Kim Strode]

I went to my sons end of year music performance at the Wesley Anne, in High Street Northcote (Melbourne) last night. We are normally not allowed at his performances so we were chuffed to see him, sing, play guitar and perform. It was also rewarding to see him use an acoustic guitar I made for him some years ago. We also had a great time listening to many of his contemporaries perform - it is great to see young original talent expressing themselves outside the constraints of the mainstream music industry.

During the performances I heard an instrument I'd never come across before, a Brazilian Cavaquinho (what I initially thought was a Ukulele, but was told indignantly was not). This small instrument had steel strings and sounded great. I looked at it later and it looked to be made in exactly the same way as a Ukulele, although I suspect there was an extra reinforcing layer glued under the bridge which extended up to the soundhole. The body was also was tapered and became thinner at the neck, making the neck elevated in relation to the body. It also appeared to made of a timber similar to that used on a spanish style guitar. See wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavaquinho. I was told by the owner that the instrument was a Portuguese predecessor to the Ukulele.

I loved the sound and would like to have a go at building one of these instruments. Has anyone seen plans or specs that could assist me with this project. I generally need plans or specs to build as I'm not as talented as many of the experienced builders out there!

[bernm]

Your post caught my eye so I checked the GAL site because they have some 'ethnic' instrument plans - but no luck (unless the instrument goes by another name aside from all the ones listed on Wikipedia). But in thinking about this, if nobody replies with specific plans, maybe a way forward might be to look up some Brazilian or Portuguese luthiers online and contact them directly about obtaining plans? Just an idea. It's not a mainstream instrument in Australia of course, but within that community of South American / European builders things might be a bit more readily available.

Regards
Bern

[John Maddison]

Hi Kim
I build ukes and have always been fascinated by the shape of the Cavaquino; it seems to be about the same size as a Baritone uke but with different string tunings. There is a thread over on the Luthierforum and one of the members, Eben, has posted some specs plus a link to a hand-drawn sketch towards the bottom of the web page. (btw - the 'geocities' link on that site seems to be broken). PM if you want a Baritone plan to work from ... Cheers!

[DarwinStrings]

Hi Kim, I recently met a woman who's husband is from Timor Leste. He made guitars in his younger days in Timor as that is the only way they could get them so I will ask her if he has any info on them (Timor Leste is heavily Portuguese influenced) I also have a Chicago made "Tiple" which is essentially a South American instrument except when Martin and Oscar Schmidt made them they used a different string set up, the S.A. has 4 courses of three stringsand the U.S.A. one had two courses of two and two courses of three. It is about the same size as Cavaquinho or Tenor Uke, if you think it is any help I can send pics and dimensions.

Jim

[J.F. Custom]

Hi Kim.

This luthier makes them and there are a handful of photos including bracing.

The site is worth a look too as there are other interesting instruments.

http://english.vergiliolima.com/2008/07/cavaquinho.html

Hope it helps,

Jeremy.

[Steve]

You could also try this guy - he's got heaps of info on tuning, history, etc.:
http://www.jose-lucio.com/0%20Cavaquinho/Cavaquinho.htm
He's also got a fairly rudimentary set of diagrams with teeny-weeny little numbers that may be helpful?
http://www.jose-lucio.com/CavaqWeb/Cavaquinho.htm
I particularly liked the section: "A pressa é inimiga do Construtor" ..."Haste is the enemy of the Builder". Man, aint that true in all languages.
Steve

[Kim Strode]

Thank you to everyone for your information so far. I have been bookmarking these links and downloading what information I can find.

[John Maddison]

Strings by Mail stock specific D'Daddario J93 Cavaquinho Strings at USD$2.99 a set, as well as strings for a diverse range of ethnic instruments ... have dealt with SBM for uke strings in the past and they provide a very efficient service.