Info about Vihuela Chambure

[Feiga Siedler]

Good morning to all the members and thank you for letting me join the group.

I am from Guatemala, actually  I am a violin maker, I just finished a Vihuela chambure with the back fluted. I just had a diagram  with no measurements.

¿Does any one can give me some info or advise, I do not have the hight of the bridge or the nut,  I have made it, but now that I put the gut strings I have a buzz in the   3rd fret.  I think the bridge is low, so I made  it higher, but it would be good to have the right hight from the nut to the diapason ( fingerboard) the hight of the strings at the end of  the diapason and the hight of the bridge. If any one can help me I would appreciate it. Thank you in advance and have a wonderful day to all of you.

Feiga Siedler

[Michael Schreiner]

Hi Feiga, I was in the Paris museum when Carlos Gonzalez was finishing his drawing of the Chambure vihuela. It lay open on the bench next to mine. It was a marvellous and fascinating experience. Shortly after I built three copies. At first sight the vihuela looks difficult to build but I found it to be one of the most enjoyable building experiences of my career. To answer your question from yesterday, the original bridge is 9mm high while the string slots vary from 3.5mm to 4.0mm. I used 5mm so the strings sit 6mm above the belly. The original nut is 2mm above the fingerboard. I use 1.5mm at at the first fret for everything I build. I posted a photo. Hopes this helps.

[Michel Uhlmann]

Dear Michael,

Do you by chance know where one could aquire the drawing?

best regards

michel

[Feiga Siedler]

Good morning Michael how are you doing.

Enclosed please find the drawings from C. Gonzalez book.  Those are the ones that I used.  My scanner is broken and I just pictured them; but if you need them, I would scann them later, so you can scale them.  

[Feiga Siedler]

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[Feiga Siedler]

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[Feiga Siedler]

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[Michel Uhlmann]

Hello Feiga, I'm doing well

tx a lot

Please tell me the references of the book of Carlos Gonzales, and I will buy it. But I must say that I did not find anything.

Here my private mail:

[e-mail]

[Jelma van Amersfoort]

Dear Michael, the best course of action is probably to ask Carlos Gonzalez, who is a member on this forum. 

J.

[Carlos Gonzalez]

Hola,
El puente de la vihuela Chambure tiene 9 mm de alto y la cejilla 2mm por encima del diapason.
El plano y el estudio técnico se puede comprar en el Musée de la Musique de Paris.

Pienso que si tiene un buzz al tocar es que el ángulo del mástil con la tapa no es correcto, o la planeidad del diapason no es la correcta, o bien la tapa se hunde por la presión de las cuerdas.

Hay dos publicaciones disponibles en los que se encuentra un estudio sobre este instrumento y sobre las vihuelas históricas:
Estudios sobre la vihuela, editado por la Sociedad de la Vihuela
Aux origines de la guitare: La vihuela de mano. Editado por el Musee de la Musique de Paris.

Hello,
The Chambure vihuela bridge is 9mm high and the nut 2mm above the diapason.
The plan and technical study can be bought at the Musée de la Musique de Paris.

I think that if you have a buzz when you play it is that the angle of the neck with the soundboardn't the rigth one  , or the flatness of the diapason is not correct, or the soundboard sinks by the pressure of the strings.

There are two available publications in which is a study on this instrument and on the historical vihuelas:
Estudios sobre la Vihuela, edited by the Sociedad de la Vihuela
Aux origines de la guitare: La vihuela de mano. Edited by the Musee de la Musique de Paris.

[Michel Uhlmann]

Dear Carlos and Feiga
Txfor all the infos
For information; Paris does actually NOT sell any blueprint, due to a change of politic about selling. No decision token yet, and this can last years - I am French, I know, smile.
The book of Carlos, estudios para la vihuela is no more awailable on sociedad de la vihuela. I found one to buy at Los Angeles classical guitars.
Is there a possibility to buy the technical plan directly from you, Carlos, or does the book be sufficient for drawing one by myself?

Tx for consideration. Have a nice we

[Carlos Gonzalez]

I did not know that the plans of the Chambure were no longer for sale, so that the information is spread attached to this scan.
I will also scan the article on La Chambure that appears in Estudios sobre la Vihuela

[Martyn Hodgson]

A general query to the forum: has this instrument ever been scientifically dated?  By this I mean by objective evidence such as expert dendrochronolgy or similar scientific dating procedures?  I understand that there's very limited provenance for the instrument and so does not enable much of a trail back to earlier times.  

MH