Handmade Guembri Bass

Description

Here is a Guembri I made recently. I made this to do some pieces on a recording project. This was made with respect to the tradition except for some modifications to the resonator assembly. The body is made of Cedar,Maple and Mahogany staves with ash end pieces. These were laminated with 3 layers of premium red wood laminate. The neck is white oak milled in the 1800s. Very strong with dust beetle trails in the surface which really adds to the aesthetic. This was finished with 4 coats of Teak oil.as was the rest of the instrument .
The neck goes through the front end and is then supported in the first third of the body length by an ash support that lays just below the surface of the skin, this allows for the skin to resonate deeper with much more enhanced bass. very much like an upright bass but with the texture of the Wound camel skin strings. This creates a much larger Bass presence and percussive quality instead of the resonator being divided on each side of the neck that it's muted by- with a neck that goes the full length of the body. I aslo brought the string height down lower than the traditionally higher bridges, to improve playability.
The last third of the instrument has another brace that holds a zither pin box that the string ends are tied to.