CUATRO.

[christian]

This is an old Cuatro instrument from Venezuela, which my friend brought about 20 years ago in a local market. Although crudely made, It has the most amazing tone. My mission is to uncover and replicate its magic, but with my own signature aesthetic. The depth of this instrument is more like a guitar at 97mm!!
Should be a fun build.

Cheers,

Christian.

[colburge]

Nice.

How big is the instrument, looks like Tenor Uke size?

Col

[christian]

Hi Col,

It is similar to a Baritone I guess at 350mm long, 255mm Lower bout. The sides are really deep at 97mm and the scale length is 21.5"

Cheers,

Christian.

[charangohabsburg]

The depth of this instrument is more like a guitar at 97mm!!

Yes, Cuatros are quite fat fellows.

Interesting how the maker made the 14th fret coincide with the body's upper bout boundary!

[Allen]

Is that not normal Markus?

Oh shit, I see what you mean now.......

[christian]

Yeah Markus that 14th fret placement is a cracker, actually I'm not sure any of the frets intervals are where they should be because it is bloody impossible to tune. Still, like I said it sounds awesome.

A few design requirements from the customer are that the neck needs to be easily taken off for easy international transport but with no visual impact on the design.
A slotted headstock, offest kauri leaf soundhole, A frame cored bracing, piezo disc pickup.
Materials, Kauri top, Rimu back and sides, Kauri neck Puriri fretboard and bridge.
The proportions are mud, so I'll refine that a little. If the customer wants 14 frets to the body I'll make the body longer because of where the bridge will fall, 12 frets would make more sense to me.

Cheers,

Christian.

[charangohabsburg]

That sounds like a very interesting project, Christian.

actually I'm not sure any of the frets intervals are where they should be because it is bloody impossible to tune. Still, like I said it sounds awesome.

That is quite common with many older plucked instruments of South America: they sound wonderful, but the only fret in tune is fret zero. Fortunately, things have gotten much better over the last 10-15 years.

The proportions are mud, so I'll refine that a little. If the customer wants 14 frets to the body I'll make the body longer because of where the bridge will fall, 12 frets would make more sense to me.

I have seen both, 12th and 14th -fret Cuatros. But I also have seen 13th and 15th fret Cuatros, and about everything in between! But I think the 14-fret version is the most common one. The body shape in the pictures above don't look very typical to me, so if your customer does not have an issue with not sticking with the outlines of the Cuatro above, I in your place would choose a more common shape. Maybe you already have seen the Cuatro plan by A. Torres, published by the GAL, here. It would probably be a good starting point, even if only for figuring out some reasonable proportions for your project. It looks like a very typical Cuatro to me.

[kiwigeo]

Is that not normal Markus?

Oh shit, I see what you mean now.......

Its a new compensation system....?

[charangohabsburg]

Is that not normal Markus?

Oh shit, I see what you mean now.......

Its a new compensation system....?

Of course it compensated something. Knowledge, skill...

[christian]

Hi Markus,

Thanks for the link I'll definetely be checking out the Torres plan.
Glad to know the shape is not normal, I'm probably going to end up seriously bastardizing the traditional cuatro
but I just want it to sound and look good.

Cheers,

Christian.

That sounds like a very interesting project, Christian.

actually I'm not sure any of the frets intervals are where they should be because it is bloody impossible to tune. Still, like I said it sounds awesome.

That is quite common with many older plucked instruments of South America: they sound wonderful, but the only fret in tune is fret zero. Fortunately, things have gotten much better over the last 10-15 years.

The proportions are mud, so I'll refine that a little. If the customer wants 14 frets to the body I'll make the body longer because of where the bridge will fall, 12 frets would make more sense to me.

I have seen both, 12th and 14th -fret Cuatros. But I also have seen 13th and 15th fret Cuatros, and about everything in between! But I think the 14-fret version is the most common one. The body shape in the pictures above don't look very typical to me, so if your customer does not have an issue with not sticking with the outlines of the Cuatro above, I in your place would choose a more common shape. Maybe you already have seen the Cuatro plan by A. Torres, published by the GAL, here. It would probably be a good starting point, even if only for figuring out some reasonable proportions for your project. It looks like a very typical Cuatro to me.

[christian]

Hi,

So I made a start last week on this cuatro, now called the Cuatro Kauri.
I essentially down sized one of my guitar shapes until I got the dimensions close to the original.
I went with a 21" scale body neck join is the 14th fret.
The neck body join is essentially a keyhole style set up. The neck has two corresponding screws which are tighten or loosened to adjust the fit, it works really well!

Cheers,


Christian

[lauburu]

Beautifully proportioned, Christian, very elegant indeed.
The neck joint looks too simple to be true.
How do you lock the neck in place so it can't accidentally be tapped loose (or gradually work its way loose)?
Miguel

[christian]

Hi Miguel,

Thanks for the kind words. The neck can't really come loose as it locks down into the key. It is a firm fit but not so tight that you can't lightly tap it to remove the neck.

Cheers,

Christian

[charangohabsburg]

Looks nice Christian. Just be careful it never falls in the hands of a Venezuelan cuatro player or the upper bout part of the top will be scratched off within minutes!

I'm looking forward to hear from you how it sounds compared to the original you posted first.

[christian]

Thanks Markus,

Well the owner isn't Venezuelan, but hes a very strum happy Italian, so a bit of clear acetate might be in order .
Cheers,

Christian.

[christian]

Well the Cuatro is all finished, nothing like the original of course.
certainly sounds good. I'm gonna hunt down some aquila baritone red series strings for it.
The proud new owner is gigging with it this Sunday.

Cheers,

Christian.

[Allen]

I used some Aquilla Red's for Baritone on my last commission.

Be aware that those reds seem to have an extremely short life span as compared to any other strings I've used. I noticed the intonation started to go out of whack by a lot (15 - 20 cents) in a week. Kept checking and thinking I might have stuffed something up. Swapped the strings to a fresh set, and everything was spot on again. Shipped it out with those strings on it and a spare in the case so the client had a fresh set too.

[Bruce McC]

Congratulations Christian, you can make a wooden box look sexy!!

[christian]

Thanks for the kind words Bruce!!

Cheers for the heads up on the Aquila reds Allen.
That is a huge move in intonation!! I just built a tenor and used them but didn't notice anything like that!!! I must check in with the owner.
They certainly sound great and have amazing feel!!

Cheers,

Christian