Charango
Alternate name(s)
- Folk lute
Date1970 ca.
Place MadeSouth America
Serial No.none
SignednoneMarkingsnone
DescriptionParticularly prevalent in the Andean regions of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, northern Argentina, and northern Chile.
material: yellowish, medium colored wood -pine or spruce? (top, neck, head and fingerboard); dark wood – walnut? (bridge); armadillo carapace (back); metal strings; machine tuning pegs with white plastic grips
top: one-piece, slab-sawn pine or spruce; two braces on underside of table, one
above the soundhole and one below the soundhole; nine, small wooden blocks mounted along edge of table to armadillo carapace
soundhole: circular soundhole with concentric rings of inlay, alternating dark brown-green-dark brown
back: one-piece, armadillo carapace with head and ears attached; the species chaetophractus nationi, native to the Andean high-altitude grasslands, specifically located in Bolivia and northern Chile; secured to top with wooden blocks and paste made of sawdust and adhesive, specifically along uneven edges of carapace
neck: two-piece, pine or spruce neck with grafted joint below the nut, to allow the proper angle for the headstock
head: pine or spruce, stained dark brown on front of headstock; uneven carving of slots in headstock
fingerboard: pine or spruce, stained dark brown; lower end matches curvature of soundhole inlay
frets: twelve metal frets
nut: pine or spruce, unfinished
tuning machines: two, five-pegged units secured to headstock with three metal nails each, though holes are pre-punched for four; white plastic tuner knobs
bridge: walnut bridge mounted to table; narrow slits cut into bottom of bridge for each of the ten strings
Dimensionstotal instrument length: 610 mm (24 in)
fingerboard length: 228 mm (8.9 in)
vibrating string length: 340 mm (13.4 in)
nut to body: 190 mm (7.5 in)
fingerboard width at nut: 42 mm (1.7 inches)
fingerboard width at body: 53 mm (2.1 inches)
width of upper bout: 123 mm (4.8 inches)
width of lower bout: 156 mm (6.1 inches)
width of waist: 106 mm (4.2 inches)
Credit LineGift of Julio Voirin, 1986
Object number04035
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