Official Luthiers Forum!

I built this for a guy in '98. He plays it every day.
It came into the shop for a little fret work
The strings go from a .130 to a .009-tuned in fourths starting at low d.
The pick up is custom made by Kent Armstrong.

Nice, looks like quite a handful!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

looks like the string damper thing Jim Hall uses

Yes,
It is a string damper.
The customer supplied it and the bridge top piece,which has adjustable Delrin saddles.

Still looks great Brad. I'd be very interested to hear it if you have a clip.

Well colour me impressed! You must have done a little head scratching when he asked you to build it. Jazz player?

Danny

Hi Darell,
Sorry I don't have any sound clips and I sure can't play the darn thing!-I have enough trouble with a regular guitar!

Hi Danny,
Yes there was some serious head scratching going on at the time.

Yes, he is a "Jazz" player

That is neat. I can't imagine playing nine strings, I play eight regularly and it is a bit of a reach. It looks like you are only using one truss rod. Whatever you did was a success since it is still around.

Yes, it has a standard type single rod-
It is tuned pretty low so there is less tension on it than a "regular" guitar tuned up to pitch.

Educate me, please. Does this string dampener completely deaden open strings, or is some sort of partial dampening device?

wow. Did you sell this to King Kong?

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

It partially dampens the string. It is adjustable for downward pressure so it can be varied

Actually the owner is not a "big" guy.

Wow, very cool! I really like the tailpiece. Did you make it from scratch? I assume it is reinforced somehow..?

Brad
Does he play it like a Chapman Stick? Or just like it were a regular 6 string fretboard?
Thanks.....
Charlie

Brad, I like your adjustability of the string pads on the saddle.
It would probably be a nightmare trying to make a one piece compensated saddle for all nine strings.
I modeled a wooden saddle a few years back that had six tiny dovetails machined side by side for adjustable string pads.
Each string pad has a snug fit mating dovetail for intonation.
Seems like there is a need for the player who likes individual adjustability but prefers all wood rather than an adjustable metal saddle.
Nelson

edited: grammar issue

Yes, I made it from scratch-it is my standard design on steroids.
No, It is not reinforced, just 1/2" thick Gaboon ebony with a nickel silver(white brass) metal attachment piece.

Hi Charlie,
He plays it like a regular git-he is not a"tapper" although it could be played like that since the action is very low.

Hi Nelson,
Since he presented me with the bridge at the beginning of the project,I never really had to think about making a saddle like that.

Your solution sounds like a good one.

As you can see because of the gauge of the strings there is about a full inch of compensation from the treble side to the bass side.

I am not really crazy about the way it looks but THAT is what the customer wanted.

ROFL.