I was encouraged to start custom builds and now I remembered something. I have a lute lying around. I ordered it online once and didn’t really intent to play although I expected a bit better quality than I got in the end to be honest. I was too lazy to send it back so now I have an instrument that works as cosplay utensil at best.
So let me ask you guys with more build experience if it is possible to buy gear and upgrade this into a playable instrument. I made pictures and will describe how bad it is and it is really bad.
So does this have to stay a cosplay utensil or can I build an instrument out of it? @Jamietashi since you are my main source of encouragement for build projects: what do you think? Something possible with this or will it always be garbage?
Anyone else is of course also welcome to chime in.
Looks like a decent instrument to me… but I build instruments out of junk so take my opinion with a grain of salt. lol
What’s the nut look like? Does it have decent action as is? The frets are probably movable so you can set them to any scale you want (musical scale, not scale length).
just some plywood (i think? a: unsure about the wood b: about the translation) with crudely cut holes for action. I don’t think it’s even.
In hindsight maybe the worst angle I could have chosen for the picture. Sorry.
The saddle same wood and not even glued on or anything, can move it around or remove it:
It’s impossible to tune it as it is. The tuning pegs won’t hold against a decent tension so that it would be playable.
So I thought maybe get some cheap but decent metal tuning pegs to build in there, pry out the nut and make one myself or maybe buy and cut one off from an acoustic guitar and get a decent saddle.
I think I’d also like something to attach the strings in another way. But maybe I’m too stingy about that.
The bridge is a floating bridge and isn’t supposed to be glued down (the tension of the strings hold it in place). This allows for intonation adjustment, which is especially handy if you change string gauges.
Both the nut and bridge may need the slots filed slightly deeper to keep the strings from sliding out of place, though usually it is enough to place the string where you want it then tap it lightly with a hammer which will make an indent in the wood to hold the string.
If the tuning pegs and peg holes are well matched then you probably just need some peg dope.
Cool. Thank you for the information!
Another question I didn’t bother to ask because of the plan described above and the thought of turning it into a bit of a guitar or maybe ukulele in the course of customizing it: I’ve never seen those kind of strings so I don’t know how to replace them. The are incredibly thin/low gauge. Any suggestions?
Also the initial setup confused me and you may have an idea what it’s supossed to be. The strings were close together so you had to fret them together in 2-2-3 pairs and one triplet (low to high, the highest strings as triplets). Of course I can tune it whatever but if you have a reference what it might be I would be very interested.
I’ll leave it as it is and just try to make a playable instrument out of it.
If I don’t like the result a one string bass might be an option as alternative so thanks for the suggestion.
Hey there @juli0r, seems @Korrigan got here way before me about correct identification and the specifications of the instrument. Never played it but it is definitely a part of my culture
This video here is explaining how to change the tuning pegs. The video is in Turkish but what he does is super obvious so thought it might help!
