Charango time!

[J.F. Custom]

Hi all.

Thought I'd post this out of my interest in luthierie more broadly.

Just had a Charango come into my possession for a short period. A friend of mine owns and plays it, however has elected not to take it overseas on travel, so he left it in my hands instead. Foolish man! It's already been photographed and beaten all over with a rubber ball mallet!

Seriously though, I've never had the opportunity to look at one of these close up. This is no factory made Charango either (should such a thing exist), but a nice custom made instrument from Argentina, by a known Charango luthier, that does not, it ought be mentioned, use Armadillo shells.

I thought while it was in my possession, I'd take records of everything about it for the broader benefit of all - especially those whom may take on such a project. So I'll start with the photos and a tapped spectrum analysis. Of course, no reference points for comparison on the latter... Unless Markus has taken any?

The back is carved from one solid piece of timber, as you can see. A rebate has been routed for the neck to glue in to - the "heel" is part of the body blank. Not sure what thickness that back has been carved down to, as I don't possess one of those fancy ball digital thickness gauge doobewhackers.

And here is the label, poorly stitched together from two images as my camera could not get all the label in one shot, through the soundhole.

It has a nice low action and is very easy to play, though there is noticeable bridge rotation going on - deliberate? Not sure. There is certainly a notable belly now. In any case, with no reference point, it sounds great to my ears - particularly when my friend plays it rather than me!

Here is the spectrum I got -

I'll endeavour to take more measurements as time allows. If possible, I might even draw up a plan for it if anyone is interested in that. If there are any specifics anyone wants, let me know.

As far as I know, Markus crosses these most frequently and has been the sole source of info provided to the forum on Charangos that I am aware of - including a plan, with thanks!

In fact, referring back, this instrument has a very similar build style to this one Markus shared here -

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3043

and here -

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=5270

Enjoy!

Jeremy.

[charangohabsburg]

That's a very nice charango you have as a guest, Jeremy!

It's already been [...] beaten all over with a rubber ball mallet!

That's not how you mistreat a charango. The correct way is to put it in a not padded sleeve, hang it on its strap over one shoulder, pick up luggage or a bag from the floor so that the charango inevitably will hit the same. Most South American charango players will confirm that this sounds more complicated than it is, and the bowl will always break the same way!

So I'll start with the photos and a tapped spectrum analysis. Of course, no reference points for comparison on the latter... Unless Markus has taken any?

Yes I have some, somewhere in the jungle of my computer's hard disk.

Not sure what thickness that back has been carved down to, as I don't possess one of those fancy ball digital thickness gauge doobewhackers.

You just need two rare earth magnets (about 8 mm diameter, 3 mm thick will be fine) and a spring scale that goes up to about 0.5 kg (or tweak a cheap spring scale as I did once I was in Peru). All you have to do then is measuring some reference thicknesses, transfer the values to a graph paper, connect the points with a smooth curve, and you are ready to go.

It has a nice low action and is very easy to play, though there is noticeable bridge rotation going on - deliberate? Not sure. There is certainly a notable belly now.

Generally charango builders just hope it will be fine, and if it won't be fine they hope the owner will not be too picky.

I'll endeavour to take more measurements as time allows. If possible, I might even draw up a plan for it if anyone is interested in that. If there are any specifics anyone wants, let me know.

Of course a plan would be great, but that's a lot of work. However, I am interested in the general measurements including neck widths and thickness, and also the outline of the soundboard, side view and view from the rear (photos shot from a distance along the 3 axis would do it). Some time back I have seen and quickly played two or three charangos from Sebastian Arias and Virginia Raimundo, but I never had one of their charangos on my bench. Having one of those in my sketch collection would be great.

[kiwigeo]

Markus...there's saliva all over your keyboard!!

[kiwigeo]

Peak at about 260Hz would be main top frequency. But no Helmholtz peak????

[charangohabsburg]

Peak at about 260Hz would be main top frequency. But no Helmholtz peak????

That looks like the air resonance.

These are the spectrograms with opened and closed soundhole for this armadillo charango from which I made a plan:

[charangohabsburg]

Markus...there's saliva all over your keyboard!!

Not really a problem!