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Hi Folks,

A friend of mine brought over a 12 string, mandolin shaped instrument. It has had its frets taken out previously to be played fretless. I'm going to put in new frets.

However, closer inspection of the neck reveals that it is twisted. I put two pieces of straight wood as winding sticks and estimate that the twist between the nut and the board next to the sound hole (12") is about 2 degrees.

There is also a great deal of relief in the neck, approximately 1/8" in the middle of the board. I reckon I can get this out by heating the fingerboard with an iron then clamping against a straight board, or using a shim to over bend it so it relaxes into an approximately straight plane.

Any ideas about the twist?

Also what is this instrument? The bridge looks like a classical guitar bridge, it has a tie block with string holes.

However, there has also been a tailpiece attached to the back. My friend has this item at home.


Thanks for any advice or insight,


Stefan

I can't help much with what instrument it might be , but I would consider reshaping the top of the fingerboard to remove the twist and excess relief before I refretted.
jack

I was going to say Bandurria, but it's not. The neck is too long - too many frets before the body join. I'm thinking it is that Brazilian instrument whose name I can't remember ??

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

A Spanish Laud.

You might be able to get the bow and twist out with heat. Looks too severe to sand out unless you remove the fretboard.

I cannot visualize a two degree twist, as far as how much space there is between the strings and the board. Some expert classical guitar builders actually fabricate relief in the fingerboard to provide more bass relief without raising the saddle. This relief can look like a twisted neck. I have heard stories of good repairmen who are not aware of this, so they inappropriately proceed to plane Ramirez necks flat to get this relief out. To go further, some builders can put in an "S" shaped relief that can really confuse a builder or repairman who is not familiar with the principle.

+1 on Spanish Laud . The Peurto rican equivalent is 10 string .

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I would say Portuguese Fado guitar. At least that's what they told me. A guy in my guitar building class built one of those last year.

Wouldnt surprise me if its built in several lands and called somthing entirly diffrent !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

No, laud is right. I was thrown off by the soundhole. A lot of lauds have sort-of f holes.

It's definitely not a Portuguese Guitarra.

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu