Guitarra

Bajo
Instrumento
de aspecto
semejante
al de la
guitarra,
aunque con
un mstil
ms largo y
una caja de
resonancia
ms grande
y profunda.
Posee el
registro
ms grave
de los
cordfonos
de la
orquesta, y
slo tiene 4
cuerdas
entorchadas
, que
posibilitan
que adopte
 How to make a
Humbucking Pickup for a
Guitar
(the hard way!)
By John Fisher

As of this writing I have not made very many guitar pickups so this adventure
of mine was a real learning experience for me. As usual I had to bug
everybody in the world with my questions.

The goal was to make a set of humbucking pickups for an es175 jazz electric
style guitar that I have just about finished. Since it isn't a heavy metal guitar
that I was shooting for I wanted some pickups that were a bit milder and
cleaner then the Super Distortion Pickups. I remember several years ago that I
owned an old es175 with original PAF Humbucking Pickups. It had a very
pleasant sound that I remember to this day. My hope was that I can a least
capture a bit of that sound with this guitar that I am working on. By the way,
PAF is a well known term meaning "Patent Applied For".That was put on
some of the first Gibson humbucking pickups before the 60's meaning that the
Gibson company applied for the patent but have not actually received it yet.
These pickups are some of the rarest and most expensive pickups on the
market today. Can pickups like that still be made today? I would think so!

All that to say I hoped to get close to that sound or at least a good sound. This
pickup is different then the other pickup that I made in my article " My First
Pickup". The magnets are different and the coils shape is slightly different as
well as the wire thickness and amount of turns. I will explain more in detail
those differences and why throughout this article.

So the goal is to make pickups that will have a fairly clean and warm sound
that is also "humbucking" to minimize unwanted noise. I had to make 2 of
them or a set, one for the bridge position and one for the neck position. The
neck pickup is made a bit different as the area near the neck has a lot more
volume from the strings and it also has a lot more bass then the bridge area. To
compensate the neck pickup was made to be a little thinner sounding. They
say you should make the neck pickup with about 15 to 20 % less windings
then the bridge pickup.

Some Basic design Factors

First of, all I am not an experienced expert on pickups. I do receive lot's of e-
mail's from people with questions. Some questions I can answer and other
questions I can't answer. Here are a few basic fundamental factors that effect
the design of a pickup.

-Every pickup has a peak frequency or a certain frequency that is

predominant. This is one factor in giving the pickup it's own sound.

-The more windings you have in the pickup the stronger the output of the
pickup to an extent.

- Although more windings will produce higher output, high frequencies

begin to suffer

- Thinner wire also has a larger loss of high frequencies then thicker wire.

- Skinny and tall coils will produce a clearer sound then short and wide
coils.
- Ceramic magnets are stronger then Alnico magnets producing higher
output and a boost in the high frequencies but in some cases have a
harsher sound.

Some Guidelines in deciding what

Humbucking Pickup is best for You
The more wire that is wound on the bobbin, the greater will be the DC
resistance when measured. Below is an idea of it's effect using #42 wire.
You will also notice that the more windings there are the greater the
power of the pickup to a certain extent.

-To produce a clear tone: 3 to 6K ohms DC resistance on both coils

together

-To produce a medium tone: 6 to 9K ohms DC resistance on both coils

together

-To produce a loud and heavy tone for high output : 9 to 14K DC
resistance on both coils together

Some specifics on my Homemade Pickup

Windings per coil - 5000 for the bridge pickup and 4500 for the neck
pickup

Wire thickness for the coils: #42

Magnet type: Bar Magnet, Alnico #5

Coils saturated in wax

My Simple Humble Winder

I used much of the same approach in making these pickups as I did with my
"First Homemade Pickup". I haven't been making a lot of pickups so if I am
going to make 1 or 2 a year, it's practical for me to do without investing in a
lot of fancy machinery and supplies. Maybe some day I will upgrade my
methods but for now I made these pickups with very crude methods using no
real special tools. I hand wound the coils with a simple manual hand drill
hooked up to a homemade counter as with my first pickup.

Here as you have seen in other articles is my winder which consists of a

mandrill and homemade digital counter. (See my article on how to use a
calculator as a counter.) You can't get too much more basic then this but
it worked. I bought the mandrill for $10 and have used it not only for
winding pickups but also for winding transformers. When getting a hand
drill for this, it is important that the shaft and chuck are not wobbly and
that there is no play in it.
 Here I simply got a piece of wood with a thick nail in the center to enter
into the chuck and screwed the bobbin to be wound to it. The trick is to
make sure everything is well centered when it turns and that it is real
straight without wobbling. As you can see I simply put screws in a board
to hold the drill to it. Quick and simple without having to build anything.
The spool of wire is on the floor siting on end directly under the bobbin to
be wound. The spool of wire on the floor does not need to move but the
wire just unravels as the pickup is wound. It is important that the spool
edges are smooth and free from any burs or rough spots that would snag
the very thin wire. Please note that most pickups from Fender and Gibson
are wound with #42 wire. There are exceptions of coarse. If you use wire
that is even 1 or 2 numbers thicker or thinner it will greatly change the
sound of the pickup and the desired number of turns on the bobbin may
or may not fit.

Making the Bobbins

First of all it is practical to just buy the bobbins for making a pickup but if you
can't find them easily and you want a learning experience, it is possible to
make them. One other advantage to making them is that you can make them a
custom shape and height if desired.

I made mine from the plastic from an old CD case and some maple hard wood
for the core. When first doing this I would cut out the shape of the bobbin out
of plastic and then drill the holes for the pole pieces but I found it is much
better to prevent splitting the plastic by drilling the holes first and then cutting
out the shape afterwards. The same idea goes for the wooden core too.

Here is a detailed diagram of one of the bobbins that I made for the
bridge pickup. It is made from the plastic of an old CD case and the core
is made of maple wood. I glued the plastic top and bottom to the wooden
core with super glue. I originally used household glue but I found that the
super glue worked better and would dry faster. Important: Please note
that the pickup bobbins for the neck pickup are almost the same as the
bridge pickup bobbins but the pole pieces are slightly closer together
compared to the bridge pickup. This is because as the strings approach
the neck they become closer together as opposed to the spacing of the
strings at the bridge. Therefore the poles pieces for the bridge pickup are
spaced 1 cm apart whereas the pole pieces for the neck pickup are spaced
9.5 mm apart. That is the only real difference in the physical shape of the
bobbins. I also wound a little less windings on the neck pickup to give it a
comparatively weaker and thinner sound then the bridge pickup.
 Here is a CD case that I used to make the tops of the bobbins. I first
drilled the pole piece holes (3/16") then later cut out the shape of the
bobbin. This worked good as it was easier not to split the cheap plastic
while drilling. I also used some of the clear plastic from the case for the
bobbins. In this particular case I didn't care so much what it looked like
as it would be covered later with the pickup covers.
I got a piece of maple to make the cores of the pickup. I shaved it down to
7mm thick and then drilled the holes for several pickups on it and then
later cut them out with a fine hacksaw.

One of the biggest problems in making the bobbins is accurately drilling

the holes which although may seem simple can be difficult to get in
perfect. A very good idea is to get a metal guide made at a machine shop
that has a drill press. One thing I tried as you can see here is I got an old
cheap single coil pickup that I didn't care about and used it as a guide to
drill the holes for the bobbin cores. I conveniently screwed it to the wood
for steady drilling. I also used this idea to accurately drill the holes in the
plastic CD case too. Ultimately a metal guide would be better.
I put a generous amount of super glue on the wood core surfaces and then
placed the plastic sides in position. I used small spring clamps the hold it
together while the glue dried. I left it to dry for about an hour. After it
was dry I sanded the edges of the plastic nice and smooth. This is
important as if there are any rough edges on the plastic then the very fine
wire can catch in the bobbin while winding. I wound 5000 turns on each
bobbin for the bridge pickup and 4500 turns on each bobbin for the neck
pickup.
 Here is on of the bobbins that I finished. It looks a little waxy because I
soaked it in hot wax to saturate it. I will explain more about that later. I
also inserted the steel pole pieces. They are 3/16" thick and can be any
steel rods or even screws. I got these out of an old cheap pickup but there
is nothing special about them.

Here is the other side of the bobbin ( also a little waxy) I used some with
clear plastic and others with the black plastic. Like I said, it didn't really
matter what they looked like as they will be hidden with the pickup
covers. After the bobbin was wound, I soldered some lead out wire as
leads to the very fine wire of the coil. I then wrapped some Teflon tape
around the coil as it is non sticky. I then wrapped some electrical tape
around it. The Teflon tape is to protect the coil from the sticky electrical
 tape. That way the coil can be opened up some day if necessary without
ripping the fine wires with the sticky tape.

Here is the end view of the pickup without the base plate and the cover.
The wooden or plastic spacer is optional. I didn't use a spacer because I
just potted everything with wax anyway.

Here is a rough drawing of the back view of the pickup. The drawing may
not be proportioned perfectly. The main issue is to try to get the magnet
 to butt against the pole piece slugs and the pole piece holder. I had to
shape the width of the pole piece holder a bit for it to touch as well as
possible to the magnet which will also hold the 2 bobbins close to each
other.

The Pole Piece Holder

The pole piece holder is a metal bar about the same thickness as the magnet
that has holes in it where the adjustable threaded pole pieces go into.
Normally they are threaded holes so that the pole pieces can be adjusted. I
didn't have the 4 dollars in my pocket when I was down town to get the pole
piece screws to buy a tap to thread the holes so I just made it so that the
screws fits snugly into the non threaded holes. This still works, and for the
pole pieces to not fall out of the pickup and to also still make it somewhat
adjustable I just put a bit of glue from a glue gun in the hole of the bobbin to
hold the pole piece in. This is not the best but it still works fine.

The pole piece holder on the top is one that I got out of an old pickup. I
used it as a guide to drill the holes in the homemade one below it. Just like
drilling the holes for the bobbins it is real helpful to have a guide for
drilling the holes. I later made the width to fit nicely against the magnet
when the pickup is put together.
Here is the back of the pickup showing how it is put together. The magnet
touches the pole piece slugs on one side and the pole piece holder on the
other side. You will notice that I have several wires coming out of the
pickup. I have 5 wires all together: 2 for each coil and 1 that is soldered to
the pickup cover for ground. I'll talk more about pickup wiring later.

Please note that I didn't include a wooden spacer on the opposite side of
the pole piece holder where the other non threaded slugs are. I am going
to just pot the whole pickup with wax inside the pickup cover anyway and
 the extra space is nice to have for the lead out wire to fit in. Normally I
would use thinner wire to have coming out of the pickup but I didn't have
any at the moment so I used this wire which is kind of thick.

Saturating the coils

Before I get any further on this I would like to mention that I saturated the
bobbins right after they were wound. This is to help insure that the pickup will
not be microphonic. A microphonic pickup in most cases is where some of the
windings are loose and they vibrate or move when using the guitar. This
makes the pickup act like a microphone to where vibrations are acoustically
picked up causing the pickup to squeal when the amp is turned up loud. It can
be so bad that you can talk in the pickup and hear your voice come out of the
amp. This effect is undesirable and can in most cases be cured by saturating
the coils with wax. Homemade pickups that are wound in a crude manner like
the ones I made benefit greatly from saturating them in wax as they are less
then perfect when hand wound. I just used normal candle wax. Some people
mix in a bit of bees wax as it is less brittle then candle wax but you can only
put in a small percentage. (About 20 %) as it takes a higher temperature the
melt it. I just used candle wax alone.

Because the bobbins are made of cheap plastic you cannot heat the wax more
then 70 degrees centigrade or the bobbins will begin to warp and melt. The
most practical way to do the saturation is to put some candle wax in a can or
small pot and float it in water that is in a bigger pot and heat it on the stove.
Monitor the temperature with a thermometer to make sure that it doesn't go
over 70 degrees centigrade. The fact that the can is floating in a water bath
helps to keep the temperature more at a moderate level because at one point
you can turn off the heat and it will remain the same temperature for some
time. The wound bobbins are submerged in the wax for about 20 minutes or
so. I hang them inside the wax with some stiff wire so that they don't touch the
side of the can. You will see bubbles come to the surface as the coils are being
saturated. When done, take them out and wipe off the excess wax with a paper
towel and let them cool. There are other sophisticated methods to do this but
even this simple method will help greatly. After I put the pickups in my guitar
I turned up the amp full and had no microphonics from the pickups
whatsoever.

Potting the Pickups

After the pickup was assembled in the pickup cover, I then potted it by filling
the pickup with hot wax. Some people use epoxy resin for this but using wax
will enable you to take the pickup apart if ever the need arises.
 Here is the pickup full of hot wax. It is important when doing this to
cover the pole piece holes on the front of the pickup cover with masking
tape so that the hot wax won't just run out the holes when the pickup is
filled. It is also important to remember not to heat the wax hotter then 70
degrees centigrade. Some important reasons for doing this are: the
pickups will be more protected, it will further reduce the chances of any
microphonics because it will prevent the pickup cover itself from being
microphonic. It also holds everything together without the need of any
screws or spacers.

How to make a
Humbucking Pickup for a
Guitar
(the hard way!)
(Part II)
By John Fisher
 The Base Plate
The back plate is used to support the pickup and mount it to the plastic ring
which also has the adjusting screws and springs that are used to adjust the
height of the pickup. It is also used to shield the inside of the pickups from
noise.

Here is a diagram with some detailed dimensions of the base plate The
base plate needs to be made from some metal that is not sensitive to
magnets like brass. I got some stuff downtown that was part brass and
part tin (I think) that was really cheap. You can use aluminum but then
you won't be able to solder to it. It is normal to have 4 small screw holes
in the base plate for small screws that will screw into the bobbin. I didn't
do that because I just held everything together with the wax. If you were
to make a pickup not using a metal cover on the front then the screws
would be necessary.
Here you can see that I drew out the pattern on the brass plate. Normally
it is best to use a finer pen or scribe the shape but I just wanted to be able
to illustrate the idea better.

Here it is cut out. I was able to use just ordinary tin snips for the job then
I filed the edges.
 Here it is bent to shape. I just used a pair of pliers to do this. You will
notice that I made some small holes for where the pickup adjusting
screws will go. The ideal is to tap the hole with the correct thread but I
just made it so that the screw fits tight in the hole. Another option is to
solder a nut to the plate.

This is the side of the plate that will go into the pickup.
 Here is the base plate inserted into the pickup. It is not shown but the
plate is then soldered at several points to the pickup cover. This needs to
be done with a fairly strong soldering iron. (At least 60 watts).

Magnet Orientation
The question will arise: " which way does the magnet go?". After asking many
of these questions myself, Jeff and others over at Ampage, helped me a lot
with these questions. Generally speaking the south pole of the Magnet should
face the adjustable poles.

I got lots of anwers to my questions over at Ampage. Got to firebottle .com

and then to Ampage and there will be a form on making pickups. They also
have some hard to find materials that they offer for sale for making pickups

Here is how the magnets are oriented on the guitar. If you were to get 2
identical pickups for a guitar you simply turn one around in relation to
 each other. The only real difference in the neck pickup and the bridge
pickups is that the bridge pickup ( in this case) has 5000 turns per coil
and the neck pickup has 4500 per coil and the pole pieces are slightly
closer together on the neck pickup.

How to tell which is the North Pole and

which is the South Pole of a Magnet

Jeff told me that you can know which is the north pole and which is the
south pole of a magnet by simply getting a compass at Wall Mart for
about 4 dollars. Well mine cost me about $1.80. You will notice that the
north and south poles of a bar magnet for a pickup don't go from end to
end but from side to side.

Wiring the Pickup

There are many ways to wire up pickups which will create a wide variety of
results. This is a subject all in itself but for the pickups I made here I wired
them in the most common manner which is the 2 coils of each pickup in
series. I will save all the hot rod wiring for my next guitar which will be a
solid body rock and roll guitar.( I think)
 Here is the most common wiring for a humbucking pickup. The series
wiring makes the pickup powerful. The wire that is ground will also be
connected to the case or pickup cover which is shielded. Note that you can
use either of the 2 outer wires as either hot or ground. The only difference
is that it will change the phase of the pickup depending on what wire is
used for ground or hot. If you are using 2 pickups on a guitar you usually
want them both to be in phase with each other. If they are not in phase
with each other, you will get an unusually thin snarling sound without
much bass when the 2 pickups are on together. If this happens the 2
pickups are out of phase and you need to simply reverse the 2 outer wires
of one of the pickups to correct the problem. Some people will even install
a switch to have this option of out of phase pickups as an effect.

Some Different Pickup Wiring

Configurations
 Example "A" is probably the most common way to wire up a
humbucking pickup. It's wired in series so that the 2 coils with 5000 turns
each (in my case) add up to 10,000 turns each which I got a DC resistance
of about 8K. This gives a fairly powerful pickup.

Example "B" is wired in parallel which gives a clearer tone and is a little
brighter but with a weaker signal. (Not as good for rock and roll). Please
note that if the 2 coils are in parallel and each coil has a DC resistance of
4 K then the DC resistance of the pickup in series will be only 2K. This is
why the signal will be weaker and the weaker signal is the trade off of
having a clearer tone.

Example "C" is where you make a tap between the 2 coils and when
connected like that you have a single coil pickup. Not a totally authentic
strat sound but it gets a lot closer to it. It is no longer humbucking.
 Example "D" has 5 wires that come out of the pickup.(4 connections for
the 2 coils and a 5th one which is connected to the base plate or pickup
cover as ground. Having the 5 wires coming out of the pickup gives you
the option of any configuration desired. In any of these examples
illustrated you may want to have switches to change the different
configurations to give a large variety of sounds. It is even possible to have
a multi switch setup on each pickup giving you even more sounds using
the 2 pickups. You can even have a switch to make the 2 pickups in series
with each other and so forth, so there is lots that you can do. Instead of
drilling a bunch of holes in your guitar there are pull out switches
available that mount where the normal knobs of the guitar go only that
the knobs can be pulled in and out for different switch settings. It all
depends on what you want out of your guitar and what your preferences
are. I once had my guitar wired like this with dozens of options but after
using my guitar for a couple of years there was only a few settings that I
ever really used and many that I never used but the extra options were
still nice to have for that one song that needed it.

The Finished Result

I was very pleased with the sound of these pickups. The balance between
the neck and bridge pickup was just about right. Of coarse these pickups
will sound a little different in a solid body guitar as this electric arch top
that I built has a sound of it's own and the body really plays a big part in
the sound.

Click here for a little sample of how it sounds

I recorded it on my homemade Fender Super Reverb
style clone at low volume. It's nothing fancy but it is
just to let you know how it sounds clean. I have the
switch with both pickups on at the same time.
 Evaluacin del Mstil y Ajuste
El alma del mstil (tambin llamada varilla tensora) refuerza el mstil frente a la tensin
de las cuerdas en las guitarras elctricas y acsticas de cuerdas de acero. El ajuste del
alma es tan sencillo como aflojar o apretar una tuerca. Sabiendo cuando esta ajustada

correctamente es el truco.

Las causas ms comunes del porque esta evaluacin se debe realizar son: cambio en la
calibracin de las cuerdas, trasteo de cuerdas (el molesto cascabeleo de las cueras) de
uno u otro lado diapasn, la "accin" es demasiado alta (cuerdas muy separadas del
diapasn), algunas notas no estan tocandose claras o el instrumento tiene problemas de
entonacin a pesar de una perfecta calibracin en el puente. Con una comprensin de las
bases del ajuste de la varilla, evaluacin de la accin, relieve y rectitud del diapasn
estars en el camino de conseguir que tu instrumento se ejecute de la mejor forma.

Viendo y ajustando en la posicin de tocar

Lo primero que hay que hacer en la evaluacin del mstil es una profunda ojeada. Pega
tu nariz al extremo del clavijero y usa todos los bordes rectos que puedas encontrar a lo
largo del mstil. Podrs ver rectitud, curvas, arco arriba o arco bajo. El arco elevado
empuja al diapasn hacia las cuerdas (al frente) mientras que el arco bajo tira el
diapasn hacia las cuerdas (atrs). Revisa ambas direcciones (arriba y abajo), hasta que

puedas diferenciarlas.

La mayora de los mstiles son ajustables por apretar o aflojar la tuerca de una varilla.
Esta tuerca puede estar localizada en el principio del clavijero, las Les Paul ocultan la
tuerca con una tapa mientras que las ltimas Stratocaster la tienen semi-descubierta, o
del otro lado ocultado en un hueco dentro del cuerpo, en las Strato viejas y reeditadas, al
final del diapasn. Algunas guitarras acsticas se ajustan accediendo a la varilla por la
boca de la caja de resonancia. Encuentra la tuerca en tu guitarra y elige la herramienta
correcta para poder girarla; usualmente es una llave tipo Allen.

Apretando (vueltas en sentido de las agujas del reloj) endereza un arco elevado y quita
el relieve. Aflojando (sentido contrario) permite un arco bajo del mstil que se separa
de las cuerdas para tirar de ellas en forma recta.

En una superficie que este cubierta con papel o tela con en fin de no lastimar el acabado
de la guitarra, fjala en su costado en la posicin en que la tocas (ejecutas). Ponla a
contraluz para la prueba de la regla. Fija la regla en el diapasn entre las cuerdas tercera
y cuarta. Colcala desde el 1er. al 17mo. traste, cubriendo la mayora del diapasn.
Sostn la regla con una mano y, mientras se va ajustando la varilla con la otra, mira la
luz bajo la regla.

Si la regla "oscila" en el diapasn debido al arco bajo, afloja la tuerca (anti-horario),

mirando que el diapasn venga en contacto con la regla. Si las cuerdas estn tirando del
mstil hacia arriba en una curva leve, aprieta lentamente la tuerca (sentido horario) hasta
que la regla descanse completamente en todos los trastes. Si ahora aflojas, la curva o el
arco volver al diapasn. Este arco leve y controlado es el "relieve" . Recuerda como se
ve el relieve. Cuando aprietas una tuerca, primero es mejor aflojarla totalmente, luego
apretar lentamente hasta que comienza a asir y a sentirse cmodo sin ejercer ninguna
presin verdadera. Desde este punto, un cuarto de media vuelta habitualmente endereza
un mstil contra el tirn de las cuerdas. Sera raro tener que darle una vuelta completa.
Un rechinido te dir que ests en el lmite, debers parar all.

El apretar demasiado puede botar la tuerca o la rosca de la varilla o ambas!. No es mala

idea limpiar y lubricar la rosca de la varilla y las de la tuerca antes de compensar el
ajuste, sobre todo si este lleva un tiempo considerable de no realizarse.

Entendiendo el Relieve
El relieve es a menudo la clave para una baja altura de las cuerdas, pocos zumbidos, y a
una accin cmoda. Si pulsas una cuerda, especialmente una al aire, el movimiento ms
grande ocurre en el centro de la longitud de la cuerda. Aflojando la varilla, el diapasn
gana relieve, permitiendo un mayor espacio para la porcin que vibra de la cuerda entre
el traste tensado y el puente. El relieve tambin puede eliminar el trasteo de las cuerdas
al aire en los primeros trastes, donde las cuerdas estn ms bajas. Las diferentes
cantidades de relieve son necesarias dependiendo del estilo del ejecutante y del calibre
de cuerdas preferido, longitud de escala, y la altura de la accin. Experimenta con el
ajuste del relieve dentro y fuera del mstil y asegurarse de tocar la guitarra en cada etapa
para ver el efecto.

Cuenta con tener que elevar o bajar la altura de la cejuela del puente (selleta) despus
del ajuste del mstil. De hecho, un profesional podra ajustar el mstil y la altura de las
cuerdas simultneamente.
Todas las guitarras no necesitan relieve . De hecho, siempre intento conseguir
primero una guitarra para tocarla con un mstil perfectamente recto, y agrego solamente
el suficiente relieve para eliminar el trasteo. Los mstiles rectos tienen baja y rpida
accin - mstiles con relieve tocan un poco tiesos y ms pesados hacia el centro del
mstil. Los mstiles con demasiado relieve y accin baja pueden zumbar en los registros
altos. Es importante entender cmo el relieve se relaciona primero con el diapasn en su
totalidad y en segundo lugar con la parte superior del diapasn.

El relieve es medido insertando una galga entre la parte superior del traste y la parte
inferior de la regla en el punto ms bajo del relieve. Este se encuentra aproximadamente
en la mitad del mstil - no del diapasn - entre la tuerca y donde esta el ensamble del
mstil con el cuerpo (normalmente entre el 7mo. y 8vo. traste). Las especificaciones de
fbrica para el relieve se enumeran a otra parte en esta seccin, pero en general el
relieve medir como sigue: de .004" a .012".

Lo mejor para checar el relieve es con una regla de 18" - o una que alcance al menos al
15vo. o 17mo. traste. Si no tienes una regla suficientemente larga. Cualquiera de las
cuerdas la puedes usar como regla excelente cuando est presionada entre dos trastes
(en este caso el 1 y 17). Este mtodo es tambin utilizado para fijar la altura de las
cuerdas. Con el capo puedes eliminar la altura de la cejilla y con una mano apretar las
cuerdas y con la otra medir el relieve y ajustar la varilla.

Estudia la ilustracin para entender cmo un mstil "perfecto" luce en lo recto y en el

relieve. El relieve debe desaparecer gradualmente mientras que la regla se desliza ms
lejos del mstil. Podrs ver una curva que desaparece gradualmente mientras que la
regla se desliza ms lejos del mstil. Nunca debe de haber una curva o una subida en el
extremo, esta bien si la ultima porcin cae levemente lejos de la regla. Siempre que el
registro superior del diapasn (llamado "lengua", o extensin del diapasn) se levante
en vez de ser plano o de caer lejos, tienes un sntoma llamado "levantamiento de
lengua" .

El relieve realmente necesita ser medido primero con la regla larga para considerar todo
diapasn, y luego comprobado con minuciosidad con una ms corta para ver el rea del
registro alto desde el 7mo., 8vo., o el 9no. traste. Si esta rea muestra un hueco donde
debe leerse plano, despus no podras medir el verdadero relieve de todo el diapasn
debido a este "segundo relieve". Muchos mstiles tienen este problema y las nicas
soluciones son las de hacer un trabajo de reparacin y no de ajuste, que luego veremos

como se realiza.

Este problema es fcil de aislar usando una regla muescada, para caber en los trastes,
permitiendo que se lea el diapasn en vez de los trastes (que se pueden desgastar en una
rea y no en otra, o asentando mal, y no dar una imagen verdadera de lo plano del
diapasn).

Despus de ajustar un poco de relieve en tu mstil, reclina una regla normal en el

diapasn y resblala un traste hacia el cuerpo. El borde de la regla debe caer de traste a
traste en su movimiento, indicando que cada traste es levemente ms alto que el que est
en el siguiente. Tanto deslizas la regla, debe salir el caer y nivelarse entre el 7mo y
10mo traste, y sigue siendo plana el resto del camino. Como se dijo, esta bien cuando
los trastes desde el 15vo. caen levemente lejos de la regla. Esta "cada" asegura notas
limpias en el registro superior.

Nota: Al intentar para ver el rea plana con una regla demasiado larga, puedes
encontrar que se corre dentro de las pastillas y/o del puente antes de que puedas
deslizarla sobre el rea en que deseas estar. Otra razn para necesitar reglas de diversas
longitudes.

Comentarios Finales:

Aunque en principio puede resultar bastante sencillo, en la prctica los resultados

pueden ser muy complejos. Los diversos tipos de varillas, junto con las diferentes
calidades y tipos de madera empleados, producen resultados variables. Incluso los
mstiles de dos instrumentos aparentemente idnticos pueden producir resultados
diferentes tras un ajuste similar.

Si detectas que algo no anda bien o tienes dudas durante el ajuste, busca a una persona
entrenada y paga el costo del ajuste. Y pregntale si puedes mirar. Una mano entrenada
sabe inmediatamente si el alma del mstil est funcionando o no correctamente.

Debes de tomar en cuenta que algunas guitarras pueden ajustarse por ambos lados del
clavijero (o sea una tuerca de cada lado) u otras que podran tener doble alma y su ajuste
es ms complejo.

Te aconsejo antes de ajustar la varilla de tu guitarra que la examines detenidamente y

des tu diagnostico y has eso mismo con otras guitarras (de tus amigos, de la tienda, etc.)
para que vayas entrenando tus ojos y tus manos y decide cual sera el procedimiento a
realizar.

Direccin para regla y trastes

http://pacoweb.net/Diapa/diapason358.htm
Historia

El charango se fabrica de madera dura o semidura y estable a los cambios

climticos. En general los luthieres utilizan las maderas que tienen a mano. En
Argentina utilizan el algarrobo, la jacarand, el cedro, el palosanto, .... En
bolivia el naranjillo, la jacarand..... Yo en Espaa (Asturias) utilizo las que
tengo a mano que se adaptan a las caractersticas de dureza y estabilidad. He
construdo charangos excavados de Abedul, Arce, Castao, Cerezo, Fresno, Roble
(este proceda de un tronco de un viejo hrreo de ms de 100 aos de
antigedad, y aunque un poco pesado por ser una madera muy densa, de
momento es mi mejor charango en cuanto a su sonoridad). El Nogal tambin es
una madera excelente porque se talla muy bien. Todos llevan por supuesto pino
abeto de tapa armnica, que es la parte ms importante de un instrumento de
cuerdas. La madera para el diapasn de un charango de cierta calidad es el
bano, la jacarand y el palo santo de india. Ver el enlace sobre maderas

No todos los charangos se hacen excavados, ya que en Per en los departamentos

de Cusco, Puno y Ayacucho utilizan el mtodo del molde, como el sistema
empleado para hacer una guitarra, en realidad este charango es como una
guitarra en miniatura, con finas lminas de maderas, jacarand y otras
excelentes maderas. El tiro de un charango de este tipo ronda los 370-380 mm y
el de una guitarra 650 mm. Don Justo Baca Sotomayor de Cusco (Per) utiliza
tambin preciosas maderas nativas de la Selva de Maldonado llamadas
chachacoma, caoba, ciprs con las que consigue construir unos estupendos
charangos, guitarras y mandolinas.

Bolivia y Per se han venido atribuyendo desde hace muchos aos, la invencin
del charango, sin embargo, parece no estar claro su origen. A continuacin un
enlace de un estudio hecho por Federico Tarazona donde trata el polmico tema
del origen del charango que ha levantado tantas ampollas.

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Proyecto constructivo.
Consistir en construir un charango de concierto un poco atpico. Los charangos
normales tienen un tiro que oscila entre 37-38 cms. pero este charango que voy a
construir tendr un tiro de 41 cm. e ir afinado en Fa#.

La forma de este charango la copi de un charango de un amigo mo Moiss

Arnaiz, extraordinario guitarrista y charanguista Asturiano que fue construdo por
nuestro comn amigo, el luthier francs Christian Deloraine. Puedo afirmar que
es el charango que ms me ha impresionado por su sonido.

Lo que cambiar respecto al original es la caja armnica que ser de madera de

castao, el diseo de la boca, el varetaje interno y el diseo de la pala del
charango y una manera diferente de enfocar la construccin del mstil.

El diapasn y la pala sern de bano con una incrustacin de ncar en esta

ltima, representando un escarabajo (antiguo dios Geper de los antiguos y
excepcionales Egipcios).

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Planos y plantillas
!!! En construccin
Plano del varetaje interior.
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La tapa armnica
La tapa armnica estar formada por dos tipos de madera: la parte superior
construda de madera dura y la inferior de Pino Abeto Alemn.

La Tapa armnica de Pino Abeto Alemn, puede ser tambin de Abeto Engelmann
(Amrica del Norte), Picea de Sitka o Cedro Canadiense. Se traza con la plantilla
la forma y se comienza a cepillar para dejarlo aproximadamente a 2 mm. Cuando
se llega a estos lmites se continuar con lijas para dejarla reducida a unos 1,5 -
1,7 mm (esta accin se har en la etapa final cuando la tapa est ya pegada a la
caja y con los perfiles ya encolados). Estas medidas son aproximadas ya que cada
tipo de madera precisa un determinado grosor. La experiencia del luthier
desempea en este punto un aspecto importante teniendo que evaluar la
flexibilidad de la madera, su dureza, su sonoridad, etc.
 El pino abeto se cepilla muy bien a
favor de la veta al ser una madera blanda. Hay que resaltar que para un buen
cepillado la cuchilla del cepillo debe estar perfectamente afilada.

Aqu tenemos las dos chapelas; la

de arriba de bano que la utilizaremos en la pala del charango y la de abajo de
caviuna nos servir para el golpeador. (Estas dos chapas se venden en las casas
especializadas suministradoras de madera para las palas de las guitarras).
La madera utilizada para el golpeador es de una chapa de Caviuna (Dalbergia
Nigra). Al ser una madera dura se cepilla mejor en diagonal. Habr que dejarla a
unos 2 mm. de grosor. En el acabado final quedara con el mismo grosor que el
pino.

La unin entre el golpeador y el

pino se har como sigue: 1) Con cola rebajada se encola el pino sobre el
golpeador. El solapamiento de las dos tablillas ser de 12-15 mm. 2)Despus de 2-
3 horas, se hace en una cartulina una plantilla con el dibujo de la unin y se traza
con lpiz la lnea de corte. 3). Con una sierra de marquetera de las ms finas, se
realiza el corte con mucho cuidado como se ve en la foto. 4) Con una plancha
vieja caliento la madera a eliminar, de modo que la cola se ablande y con una
esptula pequea o un formn quito los restos.
A continuacin procede hacer la boca o bocas del charango. Esto va en el gusto
del luthier. Puede hacerse una boca central u otra opcin como la que yo adopt
consistente en dos figuras de Quirquincho o Mulita (Armadillo). Suelo utilizar este
motivo porque este animal, ha contribudo mucho en el desarrollo de este
instrumento. Afortunadamente hoy en da, est protegida esta especie. Pego dos
trozos de contrachapado de 0,6 mm. de grosor en el lugar donde irn las bocas
con el fin de reforzar esta zona muy delicada y frgil. Estas chapelas van pegadas
obviamente en la zona inferior del golpeador, la que no se va a ver.

He pegado las plantillas de la boca

en su lugar correspondiente y se procede con la sierra de marquetera a eliminar
la zona que aparece en la imagen de color blanco.
 Trabajar en el golpeador como se
muestra en la foto.

Este es el momento de la unin

entre el golpeador y el pino configurando la tapa armnica. Como se observa en
la foto despus de poner un papel debajo para que no se pegue al tablero, hago
la unin con cola y presiono con 4 cuitas en los extremos para que la unin sea
firme. Lo dejo 12 horas secar en una zona seca y con una humedad de
aproximada entre 50-60 %.
 Despus de verificar el perfecto
encolado, procedo a un lijado de la tapa dejndola en unos 2 mm. de grosor. El
paso siguiente consiste en encolar las varetas de abanico segn el plano. Para
ello preparo en madera sobrante de pino abeto 7 listoncillos de 2 mm x 4 mm.
(La veta de estas varetas debern ser perpendiculares a la tapa) y en mi jaula de
encolados como se ve en la imagen voy pegando las varetas (antes he dibujado a
lpiz su ubicacin). En el momento de pegar, quito los restos de cola. Yo utizo
una pequea brocha humedicida en agua; con un trapo voy secando la brocha
para que no aporte demasiada agua; cuando no quedan restos de cola con una
pistola de aire o un secador de pelo, aplico aire caliente para eliminar la
humedad aportada con la brocha.

Aqu va la foto de la solera para la tapa armnica con un radio de 3500 mm.
 A medida que voy pegando las
varetas o cuando estn todas pegadas, con un formn muy bien afilado, trabajo
cada una de las baretas rebajando los extremos y dejndolas perfiladas como se
aprecia en el dibujo.
Este es el resultado de la tapa terminada por su cara superior; deber tener un
ligero abombamiento en la zona del puente que es lo que se pretende al utilizar
la solera de la tapa. Es conveniente dejar la tapa prensada en el molde hasta
tanto se pegue a la caja armnica; si no se hace as, la madera tiende a
recuperar su estado primitivo. Con este abombamiento, copiado de los
constructores de guitarras clsicas, se pretende conseguir un mejor sonido, y
contrarrestar la fuerza del fuente hacia abajo por causa de la tensin de las
cuerdas.

En su parte interna la tapa lleva una barra armnica (10 mm x 15 mm) en la unin
entre la tapa y el golpeador, con el fin de reforzar dicha unin y el resto de la
tapa. Este listoncillo puede ser de cedro, caoba o incluso pino. Y llevar la
curvatura que tiene en esa zona la solera de la tapa. (Ver plantillas de la solera)

Aspecto que va adquiriendo el futuro charango.

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La caja armnica

Partiendo de un tronco cortado a la mitad, trazamos con nuestra plantilla la

forma del futuro charango.

Herramientas utilizadas en la excavacin. Gubias rectas de media caa y de

cuchara.
Para empezar despus de trazar con la media plantilla la forma del charango,
taladramos con una broca de 16-18 mm a 1 cm. del contorno sealado una serie
de orificios. Los taladros se harn inclinados y no verticales salvo en el centro. La
profundidad aproximada 7-8 cms.

Una vez hecha de forma aproximada la excavacin, se corta en ngulo de 14 la

cabeza o pala del charango. En mi caso trabajo con madera verde con mucho
contenido en agua. En lugares con calor o en verano la madera seca demasiado
rpido y puede agrietarse. Un mtodo aprendido de un madreero asturiano
consiste en sumergir el madera dentro de la viruta que se ha ido extrayendo para
que seque lentamente. Lo ideal sera trabajar con maderas secas y estabilizadas.
La madera al secar tiende a contraerse y a perder su base plana. Al cabo de un
ao que puede llevar el secado (mejor 2 aos), se cepillla en una cepilladora
profesional para que tanto la caja como el mango queden totalmente planos.

Aspecto que va tomando la forma del charango.

Con las plantillas del interior se verifica la curvatura interna para intentar que un
lado sea simtrico del otro.
 Herramientas utilizadas en el
trabajo externo.

Una vez hecha la excavacin, se procede a trabajar el exterior, intentanto dar la

forma de un kirkincho o mulita (Armadillo). Las herramientas utilizadas son la
gubia grande de media caa para desbastar de forma burda y luego proseguir con
la escofina y el bastrn.
Trabajando con el bastrn.
Al cabo de unos meses ya podemos ir trabajando la pala, haciendo los taladros
para la instalacin futura del clavijero. A estas alturas ya no hay riezgo de
rajaduras y podemos colgarlo con una cuerda como un jamn para que siga
secando lentamente. El lugar deber estar ventilado, pero que no le de el sol.

En una pequea pesa de cocina que sea capaz de indicarnos su peso en gramos,
vamos pesando cada semana, debiendo ir el charango disminuyendo en humedad
y por consiguiente en peso. El momento en que despus de varias tomas del peso
no cambie, damos por concludo que la caja no va a secar ms y procedemos al
montaje del instrumento con el pegado de la tapa, etc. Este consejo me lo ha
dado mi buen amigo Markus Schmid de Suiza, estudioso del charango en todas sus
facetas. Markus qued prendado del sonido del charango mientras deambulaba
por esas cordilleras andinas buscando y retando las alturas, su primera pasin. Es
posible que ahora su primera pasin sea el charango y la escalada la segunda.

Yo he copiado de uno de los charango del constructor Boliviano Gamboa de hacer

un par de canales para comunicar la caja con el mstil. Una vez montado ms
adelante el diapasn, hago un par de agujeros a la altura del traste 12 en el
mstil (uno por cada lado).

Los canales estn hecho con un formn de 6

mm. de ancho.
 Utilizo un pequeo serrucho de costilla para
hacer los cortes con mayor exactitud.

Con el fin de pulir el interior del charango cuando est seco, estas fresas
esfricas hechas de madera torneada y lijas de distinto grosor, me las recomend
el excelente luthier peruano Julio Jihuallanca. No existen en el mercados tiles
para esta labor, asi que tenemos que construirlas.
Este es otro til indispensable que hay que fabricar para poder medir el grosor de
las paredes del charando que debern ser de 5 a 8 mm. de grosor. Cuanto ms
finas las paredes ms lijero y mejor sonido.

Aspecto que va tomando el charango. Ya ha perdido bastante su humedad a pesar

que se tal en el menguante de enero de 2008. Hace ahora un ao.