Portuguese guitar (cittern) as CBOM

[Mike Anderson]

Cavaquinho I'm familiar with, and the rack behind him has ukes, cavaquinhos, and on the top row Portuguese equivalents, but the critter Dorsey is holding in his photo in the link clearly has six strings instead of four.

Oops - my caffeine was below redline and I thought you were talking about the McGregor photo with him holding a cavaquinho. Sorry about that!

[MatthewVanitas]

Just finishing up my order from Tico Rodrigues at Porto Guitarra: getting a mid-quality locally-made guitarra with string looping tool, fitted capo, hard case, and shipping to Austin, US$725 total.

Strung in DADgad, gauges per Tico: "018w+034w / 011+022w / 015+015 / 012+012 / 011+011 / 008+008"

I've asked him the price for his most basic model plus settup and shipping just in case anyone else is curious; I'll show mine to a few DADGAD players in Austin once it arrives and I'll bet one or two will need one for themselves. The resulting tuning is basically DADgad an octave higher than on a guitar, so almost the range of a 10-string mando (CGDAE) just with Ds at both ends and octave pairings on the lowest courses. I plan to play mine with a flatpick and get some basic technique from some DADGAD guitar tutorials, make this my main string instrument for both Irish and for just general jamming and improvising.

[Mike Anderson]

Just finishing up my order from Tico Rodrigues at Porto Guitarra: getting a mid-quality locally-made guitarra with string looping tool, fitted capo, hard case, and shipping to Austin, US$725 total.

Strung in DADgad, gauges per Tico: "018w+034w / 011+022w / 015+015 / 012+012 / 011+011 / 008+008"

I've asked him the price for his most basic model plus settup and shipping just in case anyone else is curious; I'll show mine to a few DADGAD players in Austin once it arrives and I'll bet one or two will need one for themselves. The resulting tuning is basically DADgad an octave higher than on a guitar, so almost the range of a 10-string mando (CGDAE) just with Ds at both ends and octave pairings on the lowest courses. I plan to play mine with a flatpick and get some basic technique from some DADGAD guitar tutorials, make this my main string instrument for both Irish and for just general jamming and improvising.

DADGAD guitarra, what a really cool idea Matthew! I hope you'll get a chance to put some videos up, I'm going to follow this thread from now on.

[MatthewVanitas]

I'm by no means the first person to try DADGAD on these, a couple older threads on this forum mention it, but I figured it'd help to post the gauges for others; mine is a Coimbra-style (shield head, not scroll head) so should have around an 18.5" scale whereas the Lisboa are slightly shorter so would use different gauges.

It's not going to be big and bassy like some CBOMs since guitarras are lightly-built and just can't take heavy strings, but it should have more resonance than a standard CGDA mandola, and the condensed tuning means even less stretching between notes, so that'll be fun. Plus it's just something distinctive and potentially a fun way to get some DADGAD players to try out a (sort of) CBOM. Tico says one of his Portuguese colleagues was in the shop and tried mine out with this tuning and was really fascinated.

[Mike Anderson]

I'm by no means the first person to try DADGAD on these, a couple older threads on this forum mention it, but I figured it'd help to post the gauges for others; mine is a Coimbra-style (shield head, not scroll head) so should have around an 18.5" scale whereas the Lisboa are slightly shorter so would use different gauges.

It's not going to be big and bassy like some CBOMs since guitarras are lightly-built and just can't take heavy strings, but it should have more resonance than a standard CGDA mandola, and the condensed tuning means even less stretching between notes, so that'll be fun. Plus it's just something distinctive and potentially a fun way to get some DADGAD players to try out a (sort of) CBOM. Tico says one of his Portuguese colleagues was in the shop and tried mine out with this tuning and was really fascinated.

Seriously looking forward to a listen!

[ollaimh]

that's the spanish cittern, the laud. they can be wire strung or nylon strung, depending on the make but look the same--with a lot stronger build for wire strings. they can be fun. leonard cohen had a laud virtuoso accompamy him on his last tour.

[ollaimh]

that picture comes from the lisbon fado museum. i ahve been there. it's wonderful

[ollaimh]

Any idea how much that twin-soundhole bass version in the photo costs? Love it...

that twin is in the fado museum in lisbon. that's quite a valuable antique. you could get a copy made but it might be a bit pricey.

[ollaimh]

the paraedes father and son, arturo and carlos are great istrumental players of traditional portuguese music. they are on you tube and have many cds available. this is the isntrumental music which i like best. there are also the famous songs on you tube. i have a coupleofportuguese guitars.



the first is a teixeirra from between the wars, oporto made, and the latter one is a 1913 viera. the viera needs stringing as i just repositioned the tuners. these tuners are actually very practical as modern tuners would weigh a ton. i have tuned these in traditional portuguese tunning and occasionally open c or open d, theviera is almost a mandola, it's much smaller than later instruments. it's my favourite. i like the old tone but it's not popular today. now they want the big booming bass of the big bodies guitarra. i used to play these a lot when i was in toronto and hung with someprtuguese guys but not much anymore sold one(not pictured) and might trade another this month. i would be fine with one cute little viera.

[Irénée]

I have one and I am very happy with it...

But - factually - it is not a mandolin (even octave mandolin), certainely it is a kind of Cittern coming from old times... when the commercial exchanges florished between Great Britain and Portugal (during the great war of Porto against Whisky )...



May be it could be like a kind of octave mandolin, but it may be also more and more...

On mine I had added some frets in order to have 24, and modify the bridge currently in mapple topped with ebony (better for the tone).

I also changed the strings and the tuning in order to obtain a kind of Cretan Laouto with on the 3 lower triple octavied courses cCC², gGG², dDD², with normal high AA and EE same like octave, but with 13 strings...



The result is just wonderfull, and marvelous



Currently I use with fun these 2 instruments specially transformed by myself for byzantine, cretan and greek music



... the second one on this picture is an Andino Bandolin also transformed in order to play in triple courses: cCc-gGg-dDd-aAa-eEe, because in andean countries it has 12 and sometimes 14 string organised in courses of fourth... like this one under

[Seter]

That is a nice looking instrument, do you have any recordings of it online?

[Irénée]

... not for the moment... I will put here when I will have good recordings

[Irénée]

... and its scale is 44cm from bridge to nut

[ollaimh]

Nice one with the two sound holes. That would appeal to me!

that one is in the lisboa fado museum, it's an antique, and larger than most for that era. i would love to hear it played