Travel Mandolin

Travel Mandolin

Voici 2 modèles de mandolines de voyage, ou mandolines “pochettes”, taille adaptée aux bagages à main en avion ! Tout en bois massif, l’une est équipée de 4 cordes nylon pour une sonorité se rapprochant du n’goni africain, l’autre de 8 cordes acier. Accord GDAE, longueur vibrante de la mandoline.

Cittern bass

Cittern bass

Cistre 10 cordes, accord F#BEAD. Table en épicéa, fond et éclisses en noyer, touche en alisier, micro magnétique + electret.

Mandolin alto

Mandolin alto

Accord GDAE, compatible avec accordage alto CGDA. Table en épicéa, fond et éclisses en noyer, manche en érable, touche en palissandre, chevalet en ébène. Voir aussi le modèle de mandoline.

Medieval cittern

Medieval soprano cittern

The fingerboard is made of spruce, the back and neck are made of maple, lime-tree monoxyle, the fingerboard, the tailpiece and the bridge are made of chequer-tree. There’s an active Piezo mic, and mandolin tuning machines.
Dernier modèle (mai 2020) : 5×2 cordes (acier), accord CGDAE et les accords ouverts qui s’y rattachent.

Medieval mandola

Medieval mandola

On the picture below you can see a model made of spruce, the back and the sides are made of curly chequer-tree, with Pegheds tuning pegs.

Sazouk bass

Sazouk bass

Entre le saz et le bouzouki, version basse…

Octave bouzouki électroacoustique GDAE à cordes octavées : 4 cordes de basse associées à 4 cordes de guitare pour un effet d’octaveur “au naturel” simplement en jouant sur le toucher des cordes, une épaisseur de caisse délibérément exagérée pour atteindre les infrabasses, ce sazouk basse est le dernier instrument de la famille des bouzoukis de l’atelier, encore appelé bouzouki basse octavé ou mandobasse acoustique ! Table en épicéa (1er modèle) ou en noyer ondé (2ème modèle), fond et éclisses en sorbier, manche en pommier, micro magnétique + electret avec mélangeur.

Mandobass

Mandobass (bouzoukibass)

Première vidéo ci-dessous : nouvelle présentation de la famille mandoline mandole bouzouki cistre sazouk, 7 modèles 2019 de l’atelier…

The mandobass, or octave bouzouki : there are 2 octaves on the neck of this bass guitar that is played like a bouzouki, you will find a few explanations about it in the video… There might be an acoustic model of this instrument in the future if I got requests for it!

GDAE or GDAD tuning, steel strings. Last model : the body is made of walnut, the soundboard is made of apricot tree, the bolt-on neck is made of maple, the fingerboard is made of chequer-tree. There’s an active Piezo mic (volume and tune settings), die cast tuning machines.

Here are the explanations given in the video:

The tuning is in GDAE, so you can play it like a bouzouki, but an octave below. What’s also interesting with this instrument is that you can have 2 scales at the end of the neck which is good as there is quite a fine range between the lowest string and the highest one (G and E) which allows to make chords, it’s not really like a bass, neither is it really like a bouzouki. The instrument becomes a mandocello when being played with a capo, the equivalent of a cello that is plucked. And then the 12th fret becomes the equivalent of a bouzouki. I made this instrument so that it could get guitar strings because you have to get quite a thin gauge for the last string, so I made the instrument according to the longest possible length of a guitar, that is to say I must have about a 820 mm scale. The instrument can be made in alto version (CGDA which gives a highest pitch). There is an active piezo mic with volume and tune. I made a body that is hollower to get the most acoustic sound possible as well. It’s a soundboard, it’s hollow inside, the bridge is just pinched, the piezo mic is within the sounboard, which allows to make different harmonic settings for all the possible chords or strings.

Sazouk

Sazouk

The name I gave to this instrument is a combination of saz (from Turkey), and bouzouki (originated in Greece and later in Ireland in the 70’s).

Première vidéo ci-dessous : nouvelle présentation de la famille mandoline mandole bouzouki cistre sazouk, 7 modèles 2019 de l’atelier…

I wanted to give this bouzouki kind of a more 12-string dimension so I made a longer scale length (760 mm), that’s also why I made this shape. With this instrument I tried to give a bigger and fuller sound than the sound you get with an Irish bouzouki.
The sazouk has a big sound power, it allows all the bouzouki chords. There’s also a 10-string one. It is ideal for acoustic rhythm.

Electro bouzouki

Electro acoustic bouzouki

Première vidéo ci-dessous : nouvelle présentation de la famille mandoline mandole bouzouki cistre sazouk, 7 modèles !

Tuning in GDAE, scale length 650 mm. See the picture below. This is a model with a soundboard made of spruce, the neck is made of maple, there’s an EMG magnetic mic, volume and tune control, piezo mic under the bridge, 2 outputs.

 

Ci-dessous, 2 modèles table en noyer, hauteur de cordes réglable.

Bouzouki

Bouzouki

Première vidéo ci-dessous : nouvelle présentation de la famille mandoline mandole bouzouki cistre sazouk, 7 modèles 2019 !

See pictures below… Here’s a blue bouzouki, with a soundboard made of spruce, back and sides made of curly maple, with a Fishman Affinity microphone, and an Irish bouzouki all made of walnut wood without mic. The length scale is 650 mm (closer to guitar). 3th model: soundboard made of spruce, back and sides made of olive ash wood, neck made of maple. 4th model: soundboard made of spruce, back and sides made of curly maple.