The Kasha system that I find so pleasing requires a dozen tiny tone bars, each one only 3/16ths high and wide.
Whittling them out from vertical grain Sitka Spruce takes some time, but if you love to whittle as I do, and have a sharp new blade in your exacto knife, it is really a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.
Whittling them out from vertical grain Sitka Spruce takes some time, but if you love to whittle as I do, and have a sharp new blade in your exacto knife, it is really a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.
First you must cut the two sets to the proper length and mark each one where the high spot will be.
The tip of each tone bar rests over and is glued to the bridge patch. Each piece is notched on the table saw to accomplish that. Then the taper and slope are whittled. Then the tone bar is sanded smooth and ready to glue into place.
All that whittling leaves a bit of a mess on the workshop floor.
But finally they are all done and ready to glue on.
It takes a while to get to each tone bar and firmly clamp it. At this point half are glued or clamped, the others get their turn tomorrow. You simply do other tasks as the glue dries.
Like making a covey of tenor necks for this and future builds. I found some very nice Honduran Mahogany and Spanish Cedar at our local wood store. Five of these are "hog". Easier to do them all at once.