Guitola (Calling Guitarists and Fiddlers)

[MatttheCzar]

So, I have a toy guitar thats lost its strings, and a friend of mine who plays the viola has an idea to restring it with nylon strings, and make it into a Guitar-Violin family combination.  She realized the problem is that the bow wont be able to reach all the strings unless the string setup is curved.  I bought a blank bone saddle and nut which should arrive soon, will there be enough curve to make it work if I carve it right?

Edited November 5, 2016 by MatttheCzar

[Ten Key]

1 hour ago, MatttheCzar said:

 I bought a blank bone saddle and nut which should arrive soon, will there be enough curve to make it work if I carve it right?

It looks something like this?

I can't say for certain, but I think it's going to be very challenging to get enough of a curve with that. Bear in mind that nylon strings cannot be pulled as taut as the steel strings normally found on a violin, and will flex more when you put pressure on them.

[MatttheCzar]

6 minutes ago, Ten Key said:

It looks something like this?

I can't say for certain, but I think it's going to be very challenging to get enough of a curve with that. Bear in mind that nylon strings cannot be pulled as taut as the steel strings normally found on a violin, and will flex more when you put pressure on them.

True, but I dont exect much out of it anyway.  Also keep in mind that it's a toy guitar, so the bridge will be smaller than usual and the stresses lower.

[pincushionman]

You'll need a bridge to add enough height so the body doesn't interfere with access to the string on the right side. And that would introduce separation between the string and the…fretboard, in this case (making it harder to push the strings down), so you'd need to bend the neck down to alleviate that. And that would put predsure in the middle of the top, which might crack it.

The curved saddle would help with bow access to the middle strings, but they'll also be further from the fretboard than the outside strings. And if it's a guitar (is it actually a toy guitar, or is it a ukulele?) that means there are four "middle" strings to deal with.

Edited November 6, 2016 by pincushionman