Artesano William
Cumpiano makes a
"thinline" cuatro...
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William
Cumpiano (co-founder of the Puerto Rican Cuatro Project) has been making guitars
for thirty years and Puerto Rican cuatros for twenty. He makes traditional cuatros for his
customers. He has also personally developed
several non-traditional designs that meet the specific needs of his
customers. In response to guitarists who wanted to play their guitar music on the cuatro
without having to learn the cuatro's unique fingering patterns, he
developed a "seis," or six course (12-string) cuatro that can be tuned in the
same string intervals as a guitar. In response to requests for a more lighter and more
comfortable cuatro for stage use, he developed the "thinline" cuatro--made in
every way like his traditional cuatro--except for a body depth of only two inches rather
than the traditional three. The description below applies equally to both the
"thinline" and traditional cuatros.
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1-El Tablón (the
plank) begins as a 12-inch wide by 36-inch long by two-inch think plank of high grade
Honduras Mahogany (Swietenia spp.) which is readily available in the United States and is
similar in texture and density to Puerto Rican guaraguao. |
2- A paper
template of the outline of the cuatro is drawn on the plank and the plank is trimmed so
that it can be handled for further shaping more easily.
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3- The reduced plank is taken to the
band saw with a wide blade and a 1/4-inch slice of even thickness is removed from side
opposite the outline and put aside. |
4- The thicker section is returned to the band saw, but now mounted
with a very thin blade, and the pencil outline is carefully cut out to produce a
cuatro-shaped blank. The previously-cut 1/4-inch slice is left alone for the time being. |
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5- Two instruments are being made at the same time. There are two paper templates, one for the outside outline and one for the inside outline. The inside template allows for a thickening of the sides towards the neck (where most of the bending forces from the string tension will be concentrated) and towards the bottom to reinforce the area where an electric jack will be located. |
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Here we see a close up of the template lines on the shaped plank. Note that holes are drilled through the workpiece to allow the band saw blade to make the tight turns. |
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The band saw blade enters from the centerline at the base. Then the plank is rotated to follow the template line. The two halves at the entry cut will later be glued back together, leaving an almost invisible line on the finished instrument. Note that the wood from the center of the plank can be removed as a single piece and used for other purposes, which yields a considerable economy. |
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After the entry cut at the rear is glued back together, the band saw marks on the interior and exteriors of the curved sides are removed using an oscillating spindle sander. |
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Here is the cuatro "hoop" with the sawn surfaces now sanded smooth. The one on the left has been placed on the original 1/4-inch plate of mahogany that was previously removed from the plank. The segment of the plate under the hoop will be glued to the hoop after being carefully located in its original position on the plank, thus ensuring that the grain will be continuous between the two and that the back seam will be invisible. |
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The corresponding portion of the back plate is now glued to the bottom edge of the hoop. |
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After the glue has cured and the clamps removed, a cuatro "shell" remains, with an invisible back seam and the interior surfaces absolutely clean and smooth, devoid of all the bumps and lumps of the traditional enterizo method. I call this the "modified enterizo" method. |
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Here, using a router, the excess wood of the back plate is removed, with a flush-cutting bit.. |
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The final result is a beautiful, perfect shell. |