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Tag Archives: Sarod

Sarod Guitar / mod II

SiTAR FAcToRY Posted on Wednesday, 5 February 2025 by AnandaTuesday, 1 April 2025

Ever fallen in love with a sarod but you couldn’t find one? Personally I love the sound of sarod very much but can’t play it. That’s pretty the same problem. Here’s a way out:

A simple solution is to convert an existing old guitar into a Sarod guitar. In other words, the best of both worlds. The idea is not new. I did it back in 2007 (read article here) but it got very quiet about that project. I don’t know why. Now there is a new attempt..:

Frederik VdB brought me his Morgan guitar on which he decided not to play anymore. One of the reasons was a solid crack in the soundboard. That had to be repaired first.

Then all the frets had to be removed and the empty slots filled with homemade wood dust paste. The surface was scraped and sanded firmly and finely. All pores were filled and it became smooth, almost like a mirror.

In place of the guitar’s E & A strings will be 2 cikari strings. These are tuned high (D4 & D5) and need a shorter scale. Therefore, by analogy with a sitar, I have integrated cikari pins on the fretboard. One at half spacing and one at 3/4th spacing. A small eye is mounted behind the pin at half distance that pulls the string down enough so that it stays well on the pin.

Because the cikari strings are always struck together, they are also shorter together. This is easy to see from the bridge. The D4 string makes a small bend. 😉

Sarod Guitar specifications & tuning chart:

Scale = 65cm

1. steel wire 0.36mm / N°5 tuned to MA (= G 3)
2. bronze wire 0.46mm / N°26 tuned to SA (= D 3)
3. bronze wire 0.75mm / N° 22 tuned to lower PA (= A 2)
4. nickel flatwound string 1,27mm / tuned to lower SA (= D 2)
5. steel wire 0.23mm / N° 0 tuned to SA (= D 4)
6. steel wire 0.21mm / N° 00 tuned to higher SA (= D 5)

Read here about another Sarod Guitar modification (2007).

Posted in lutherie, making, varia | Tagged guitar, Sarod, SitarMods | Leave a reply

Sarod Kartar Chand

SiTAR FAcToRY Posted on Monday, 7 December 2009 by AnandaTuesday, 7 August 2012

This beautiful sarod was made by late Kartar Chand in the 80’s. Pictures made by Luc De Gezelle.

His shop still exists and is now run by his brother Hari Chand. It is located in Paharganj, New Delhi.

Visit their shop here.

Posted in curiosity | Tagged HariChand, KartarChand, Sarod | Leave a reply

Sarod Guitar / modification

SiTAR FAcToRY Posted on Sunday, 16 September 2007 by AnandaMonday, 21 October 2024

Here’s the renewed fretless fingerboard.

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The first step was to pull out the frets. This precise job was securely done by my colleague Frans Ieven. Many thanks to him !!!
Then I filled up the gaps with some plain veneer.

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The new fretless surface, after sanding and some layers of danish oil, can be seen in front of Lord Buddha.
Then follows the mounting of the cikari strings.
Since the high pitched cikari string needs to be only half the overall length, a mini cikari pin is mounted on the fingerboard at the 12th fret, followed by a cikari ring slot. All are made of bone.

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The low pitch cikari pin is located at the 2nd fret position. Both cikari strings are close to each other.

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Finally, here’s this sarod-guitar’s strings & tuning chart:

1. steel wire 0.23mm / N°0 tuned to MA (= F# 3)
2. steel wire 0.28mm / N°2 tuned to SA (= C# 3)
3. bronze wire 0.37mm / N° 28 tuned to lower PA (= G# 2)
4. bronze wire 0.46mm / N° 26 tuned to lower SA (= C# 2)
5. steel wire 0.23mm / N° 0 tuned to SA (= C# 4)
6. steel wire 0.20mm / N° 00 tuned to higher SA (= C# 5)

Now I’m waiting for Nik to come and play this new instrument…

Posted in repair | Tagged guitar, Sarod, SitarMods | 7 Replies

Sarod Guitar / repair

SiTAR FAcToRY Posted on Sunday, 16 September 2007 by AnandaMonday, 21 October 2024

Some time ago Nik G. asked me to modify this Simon & Patrick guitar into a sarod…

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but first a little damage had to be repaired…

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I noticed that also the bracing became loose from the soundboard. Since I couldn’t find any long clamp, I had to do it like this :

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After that, a nice triangled puzzle started.

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The inner triangle contains the original piece of soundboard wood.

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Now the triangles fit properly and after some sanding the finishing polish is applied.

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Unfortunately, some decolouration appeared. I guess the sun needs also some job to do…?

Posted in lutherie, repair | Tagged fusion, guitar, Sarod, SitarMods | 1 Reply

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