back in the shop

Now that the pandalon has had enough time drying outdoors, after the application of its polyurethane finish, I have moved it back to "the shop" (i.e., my apartment).  I've been letting it sit, mostly, to get its humidity acclimated to Seattle indoor winter humidity -- which is lower than outdoors, but not that low, unless you have forced-air heat which we don't.

One little task I did, was to mark the positions of the soundboard nails; I marked with Sharpie, then made starter holes (not all the way through) by tapping a nail.  The holes are spaced a little closer than every 2 inches, around the perimeter.  Also, I will place "decorative" (but informative) nails to mark the locations, underneath, of the soundboard ribs and the main diagonal brace.  This will help in analysing effects of the ribs on the sound, and will also help other interested people understand how it's constructed, internally.

In the photo, I have laid brass nails flat in the "decorative" positions, showing where they will go once the soundboard is glued down.  I'll undertake this next big step, once I return from travel in a week.

Can you see the nails?  A diagonal line between the sound holes marks the main diagonal brace (the portion which is not carved away and thus contacts the soundboard).  Then a longer diagonal at about right angles to the first, just to the upper right of the sound holes: this is the longest of the three ribs.  Then if you look really closely, you might be able to make out the lines of the two shorter ribs, back towards the tail of the instrument (but probably it helps to know ahead of time where to look).  These two ribs pass "under the bridge", although in fact they pass in between bridge blocks, not right under any block.  Still, ribs under the bridge is a dicey proposition, not seen much on the "later" instruments (i.e., 18th century) which are more or less accepted as the pinnacle of tone design nowadays.  But I've got my reasons!  Tapping around on the soundboard, it is easy to find where the ribs are, they have a definite effect of diminishing the responsiveness, especially the bass of course.  But, the sound doesn't go dead completely, far from it; and a tone which accentuates the treble is my aim.  So, we'll just have to see (and hear)...