I told you I would sleep on it. I did, and I came up with a great solution. I will not build a Kasha Baritone first. I will build a Kasha tenor of the same woods that have made some of my best and latest tenors, East Indian Rosewood bodies and Redwood soundboards. This will be a test of the Kasha design. I will play it against these proven fan braced tenors. I am excited by the challenge! If the Kasha tenor is a success then perhaps I will build the Kasha baritone as #101. I came to this decision by looking at the Eric Devine website to remind myself what his beautiful Kasha ukes look like. Reading his blog I learned that he first made a Kasha using the Hana Lima Ai plan. So I ordered the plan from Hana Lima. Should have it in a few days, I am busy selecting the wood and will begin thinning it down as I wait for the plan.
Here is the wood. Wonderful Redwood from NYC water tanks, East Indian Rosewood,
This is a walnut neck, but I might use Honduran Mahogany instead. I think I will change the peghead design on this one and use a rosewood or ebony plate with the g
inset. Probably Australian blackwood binding. not sure about the rosette at this point.
This is a walnut neck, but I might use Honduran Mahogany instead. I think I will change the peghead design on this one and use a rosewood or ebony plate with the g
inset. Probably Australian blackwood binding. not sure about the rosette at this point.
So here is the basic idea. Michael Kasha, a scientist, worked with a noted luthier, Richard Schneider, to get more vibrations from the guitar body. A basic principal is that the bass tones get thicker, heavier bracing and richer sounds, the trebles get lighter vibrations by using lighter bracing over the different sides of the instrument. With the sound hole way up in the corner there is more of the top to vibrate and make sound.
I will include a side port in my instruments as well. Ought to be a fun experience, and making all of those little tone bars will be a hoot, a whittler's delight. Even the tapered bridge is shaped that way to augment sound. Stay tuned, this may be an adventure.
I will include a side port in my instruments as well. Ought to be a fun experience, and making all of those little tone bars will be a hoot, a whittler's delight. Even the tapered bridge is shaped that way to augment sound. Stay tuned, this may be an adventure.