Picked up some stringed instruments while down in Southern Ontario

Bohdan · Mar 2, 2020

Have a craving to learn to play more stringed instruments in my elder years.
Picked up this Kobza - a Ukrainian stringed instrument made by a gentleman in Whitby Ontario. Primarily so my wife can use as well as this one is lighter than her 65 string Bandura

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So on our way back to Toronto, I stopped into the Twelve Fret and picked up a Renaissance Lute for my musical gratification

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Palouse · Mar 2, 2020

Nice. Wish we had sound on the Café. Oh, wait—video!

Bohdan · Mar 2, 2020

Palouse said:
Nice. Wish we had sound on the Café. Oh, wait—video!

No...it's wait...practice first.

andreasb · Mar 6, 2020

That's real net, I wonder what they sound like as well. I also have a number of string instruments, the most unusual one is a Bolivian Charrango

Bohdan · Mar 6, 2020

andreasb said:
That's real net, I wonder what they sound like as well. I also have a number of string instruments, the most unusual one is a Bolivian Charrango

The Bandura sounds like a cross between a harp and a zither..A friend of ours has a Charrango as well.

Bart · Mar 7, 2020

Beautifully crafted instruments, Bohdan.
The lute is about my favourite instrument. To listen to, that is

Allan · Mar 7, 2020

They probably sound as good as they look. That last one looks a bit like an onion though.

Palouse · Mar 7, 2020

Allan said:
They probably sound as good as they look. That last one looks a bit like an onion though.

More like a gourd to me, which makes sense, since the originals were probably made from dried/hollowed gourds.

pictureted · Mar 7, 2020

Wonderful - I love the details on the lute - the sound hole and the back of the tuners are beautiful. I agree, you really can't have too many musical instruments (I keep trying to convince my wife of that, btw).

Bohdan · Mar 7, 2020

Bart said:
Beautifully crafted instruments, Bohdan.
The lute is about my favourite instrument. To listen to, that is

I love the sound of luted music. my challenger will be to try to emulate the sound, pleasant enough that it doesn't scare away the wildlife around the house..

Allan said:
They probably sound as good as they look. That last one looks a bit like an onion though.

The first instrument: the kobza/bandura is a pleasant surprise. Handcrafted by and elderly gentleman in Southern Ontario - I was at first hesitant about purchasing this instrument, but as I tuned it in the last couple of days I soon learned to love the harp like. sound,- more intense with a good volume output.

Palouse said:
More like a gourd to me, which makes sense, since the originals were probably made from dried/hollowed gourds.

you may be right.

pictureted said:
Wonderful - I love the details on the lute - the sound hole and the back of the tuners are beautiful. I agree, you really can't have too many musical instruments (I keep trying to convince my wife of that, btw).

LOL...we have two banduras; a merlin; two acoustic guitars, 3 electric guitars; a bodhran; a number of ethic village flutes; and of course an accordion..
Here's a photo of our other Bandura: 65 strings and much heavier at 12 pounds than the new 22 string purchase

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pictureted · Mar 7, 2020

Bohdan said:
I love the sound of luted music. my challenger will be to try to emulate the sound, pleasant enough that it doesn't scare away the wildlife around the house..

The first instrument: the kobza/bandura is a pleasant surprise. Handcrafted by and elderly gentleman in Southern Ontario - I was at first hesitant about purchasing this instrument, but as I tuned it in the last couple of days I soon learned to love the harp like. sound,- more intense with a good volume output.

you may be right.

LOL...we have two banduras; a merlin; two acoustic guitars, 3 electric guitars; a bodhran; a number of ethic village flutes; and of course an accordion..
Here's a photo of our other Bandura: 65 strings and much heavier at 12 pounds than the new 22 string purchase
View attachment 1656699

Wow, at 22 pounds that's a load.

Other than a set of bongos and maracas, I have a few basses (Gibson (SG & EB-2), Fender Mustang, Ken Smith Burner 5 String, Rob Allen MB-2 Fretless, Sadowsky NYC and a Taylor Mini, a few acoustic guitars (all Taylor, 12 fret and 14 fret steel and 12 fret nylon) and a few electric (Fender Strat and Tele and a Gibson SG) plus an old nylon string loaner. Hardly more than a dozen and I passed up a perfect used Alembic 4 string bass I could have had for a bargain, although the divorce would have been really expensive.

Bohdan · Mar 7, 2020

pictureted said:
Wow, at 22 pounds that's a load.

Other than a set of bongos and maracas, I have a few basses (Gibson (SG & EB-2), Fender Mustang, Ken Smith Burner 5 String, Rob Allen MB-2 Fretless, Sadowsky NYC and a Taylor Mini, a few acoustic guitars (all Taylor, 12 fret and 14 fret steel and 12 fret nylon) and a few electric (Fender Strat and Tele and a Gibson SG) plus an old nylon string loaner. Hardly more than a dozen and I passed up a perfect used Alembic 4 string bass I could have had for a bargain, although the divorce would have been really expensive.

My eldest son contributes to the instrument inventory...has a few bases and a number of other 6 string guitars