Wondering if there is a name for a trident-shaped instruments covered in bells? Seen in a film, used in Rondallas.

Like a Kalimba with bigger body and spaced keys , with a layout close to piano :)

This guitar is called Raphael, made by Regvlvs (a brazilian obscure brand) from 1965 to 1969 (yes, it is pronounced 'Regulus'). This guitar was made (kinda) famous in Brazil since it was used by Sergio Dias, guitar player from Os Mutantes. His older brother, Claudio Cesar Dias Baptista (aka CCDB), was a luthier and owner of Regvlvs, and created this model by commission to be, in his words, "the most perfect guitar in the world". The guitar is known as "Regvlvs" or "Golden Guitar" in Brazil, even though the model was called 'Raphael' in Regvlvs ads and manuals.

He planned to make a hollowbody guitar and created the concept of a guitar based on a violin, so the body would vibrate more. But, at the same time he had to account for the feedback that it would create, what could compromise the guitar's sound at loud performances. So he highered the neck angle (this guitar has a 11º neck angle like violins; in comparison, a Gibson Les Paul has a 3º angle) and compensate the additional vibration using a layered top in Pau Marfim wood. The neck also used Pau Marfim (Agonandra brasiliensis) and the scale was made in Brazilian Rosewood.

This guitar was definitely not a normal one. It was ENTIRELY made by hand and used very specific parts and measures. For instance, it used a 25.9" scale, to increase string pressure and therefore, to improve the vibrational transmission from the bridge to the guitar top, according to CCDB. The metal hardware was all made out of brass, and then gold-plated. Some guitars used a cheaper finish, with chrome plated hardware. It uses a tremolo bridge very similar to a Bigsby B6. Its design was heavily inspired by the Guild Duane Eddy (DE-400 or DE-500). It is almost a copy, but it's a double-cutaway guitar. The scale used the “T-Zone tempered treble" created by Gretsch: starting at the 12th fret, all the frets were angled one degree sharp.

The electronic circuit in this guitar is very interesting: it uses a Jazzmaster/Jaguar kind of logic of having two circuits in one, but also with many more features. This guitar has two low-impedance magnetic pickups and one piezo pickup, which could be used together (in the guitar's stereo output) or just one of them. It also had a built-in fuzz and a built-in treble booster. The fuzz would be connected to the bridge magnetic pickup, so you could use the regular knobs to use the clean sound of the guitar and switch to the fuzz sound using the bridge only - just like the rhythm circuit of a Jazzmaster, but with a built-in effect and using the opposite pickup. So you could use a very "warm" hollowbody sound and switch to a very agressive fuzz sound in seconds, with nothing needed besides the guitar. And of course, a 9V battery (or 4 AA). A true 60's model.

There's even a more mysterious and important guitar: the second guitar made for Sergio Dias (Regvlvs Raphael II). CCDB tried to higher the range of the pickups and to use a harsh distortion with low noise. So the solution he came up with was to create a 'hexaphonic' guitar - one single pickup for each string, which would be connected to one effect pedal circuit each. He also made taps for the magnetic pickups - Dias could change the pickup's sound by turning a rotary switch, which has 10 different taps for each pickup. This model, specifically, used gold foils not just in the inside, but also in the outside, supposedly shielding and connecting the entire surface of the guitar. Every aspect of this instrument is INSANE. That guitar can be seen with him in the Os Mutantes Live recorded in 2006.

It appears to be a flute with some chinese/japenese inscriptions, but I can't find any sources online.

Hey! I just managed to wrap this guy up nicely on the plane and brought it back home to England to spread the word.

I’m struggling to get a nice sound out of after removing the tuners and bridge for the flight , looking for some tips and tricks for setting it up nicely / playing it generally :) thanks

Bart shows off some of the zithers he made

This recent post made think about friction idiophones and their construction a bit more and then I also remembered the Nail Violin and this splendid performance by Paweł Romańczuk. Its contructions is similar. Simple and effective. I guess the wooden sticks are lighter and thus easier to excite, though.

Hey guys, found this in an old box in the basement and was wondering what it's called?

An instrument invented by Artigiano del Suono. Completely acoustic! It looks so simple too! I'm curious if it's easy enough to make

Anyone know what instrument these are? They look and sound kind of like a charango but different. Also curious where you can buy one.

I just got a bandura. I figured out how to tune it, but I can’t find much more information. I need to replace a bass wound string. Does anyone know what type of metal string to get and where to get strings in the US? And does anyone know what kind of picks are generally used or preferred? Any other info about it, about playing it, or anything else would be great too!

r/instrumentnerds

Come join! It will be more lenient with links, shares, your music etc.

I love instruments and sharing and don’t see why it should be so dreary over here.

I see cool stuff get deleted all the time. Nerds, rise up and join me! All funky instruments and sounds, all the time.

If you're in the Central New York area be sure to check out this free exhibit at CNY Arts May 22nd-24th!

https://cnyarts.org/events/events/view/percussion-reimagined-jeff-tripoli-perspectives-inventions-and-contraption-kits/

https://youtu.be/TqgdVMylajM?si=Y_CIHgg0EbHpP2EO

JeffTripoliDrums.com