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).

The jack connector will be built a bit further up the tumba to achieve more comfortable accessibility.

Because the tumba is rather thin and weak, I make a rounded wooden support that is glued firmly to the inside of the tumba. This way, the connection can take a bit of rough handling….

Then the two transducers are glued to the tabli on the inside. I provide a small piece of white cotton soaked in white wood glue to secure the wiring.
Once this assembly is successful, the various tumba parts are glued until the puzzle is complete. However, one small piece is missing. The hole is filled with a mixture of wood dust, plaster and wood glue.

This is followed by further finishing of the tumba with colour and the whole instrument is given another coat of finishing shellac polish.

The pardas are polished and re-tied, kuntis are cleaned and treated with chalk, new strings put on and jawari done… and there we go.

Read here an article about mounting K&K Big Twin internal external

Read here an article about mounting K&K Pure 12-String internal

First, I drilled a hole in the taardaan and then drilled through into the tumba accordingly. Then a small hole was drilled in the tabli to route the wires to the connector.

Finally, the two transducers were glued in place, the retaining wires routed through the holes and soldered to the connector, the taardaan put back in place and the strings put back on. Done!

Here is the result. Joël is very happy with it!

Sound sample: 

Play Slimbucker™ Jazz guitar pickup on AER Compact 60 amp

Specifications of the Slimbucker™ Jazz guitar pickup:

Alnico bar magnet / DC = 8K / humbucker made by Kent Armstrong.

Size :   0,95cm (.375”) thick – 6,8cm (2.68”) long – 2,8cm (1.10”) wide.

Strings made by Pyramid:

Silver plated steel Baj & Pancham .012 (0,30mm)
Silver plated steel Cikari & Taravs .009 (0,23mm)
Nickel flatwound Jora .018 (0,46mm)
Nickel flatwound Laraj .022 (0,56mm)
Nickel flatwound Kharaj .030 (0,76mm)

K&K Sound make natural-sounding acoustic amplification products and affordable pickups.

Their Pure Pickup for acoustic guitars, installed on the guitar’s bridge plate, is a very good choice for achieving a rich, natural guitar sound — even without a preamp. It’s one of the best passive pickup on the market, for the musician who wants a warm, full-range signal without worrying about cluttering up their instrument, adjusting onboard electronics, or having to remember to change the battery.

I chose the Pure 12-String: 3-head transducer for 12-string acoustic guitar. The larger pickup heads produce an extra strong bass response and pronounced midrange that sounds great in 12-string guitars. I installed it befor inside a surbahar, which sounds perfect!

The work begins by removing the tabli.
First, the celluloid decorations are removed and then the tumba is separated from the tabli.
A wooden reinforcement with a hole in it is then glued to the inside of the tumba. The jack connector is later mounted there.

Then the transducers are glued to the tabli just below where the legs of the bridge are. That is the most efficient place (according to K&K’s instructions) and it is quite convenient that there are 3 separate transducers.

Finally the jack connector is mounted and the tabli is glued back onto the tumba.
Because the original fragile decorations were damaged too much during removal, I place a new binding of celluloid plastic mother-of-pearl imitation. It fits best with the rest of the sitar’s copious decorations.

Done!

Sound samples played by Visjal Auwerx:

Play K&K transducer only

Play K&K transducer + EQ

Play K&K transducer + external mic mix

Play K&K transducer + external mic + tanpura mix

K&K transducer = Pure Pickup™ 12-String
external mic = AKG C2000B

Another very good looking but cheap and inferior sitar has been transformed into a tanpura, giving it a new life. It is an old and beautiful body with a nice and big tumba. This time I converted it into a regular 4-string female tanpura, tuned to F. The mounted string set can also reach G, but different strings are needed for higher tuning.

Sound sample: Play PA-sa-sa-SA Sitanpura in F

The scale measures 86cm & string set is
1: 0,41mm bronze string tuned to C3
2: 0,30mm steel string tuned to F3
3: 0,30mm steel string tuned to F3
4: 0,56mm bronze string tuned to F2

My friend Christine has made a beautiful cotton protective cover for this instrument. It is completely handmade and custom-made for this tanpura. Perfectly fitting and skilfully finished!

Read also Sitanpura, the Sitar Tanpura mod

The scale measures 106cm and the string set is:
1: 0,56mm bronze string tuned to G#2
2: 0,46mm steel string tuned to C#3
3: 0,46mm steel string tuned to C#3
4: 0,46mm steel string tuned to C#3
5: 0,76mm brass string tuned to C#2

Long live recycling! 😉 Listen… :

Sound sample: Play PA-sa-sa-sa-SA Surtanpura

Good news for the thousands of “tourist”-grade cheap and crappy sitars, bought in India by trusting tourists eager for buying a “real” sitar as a souvenir. For many of them there is life after years of exile to the attic: the sitanpura is born!

I turned this old innocent banished beauty into a real full-fledged 5-string tanpura. And, it is also very flexible because it can be quickly converted into a regular 4-string tanpura. You only have to remove 1 string and put the remaining ones into another slot. You’re done…

Only one skill remains: jawari. Making the ghodi, installing it on the tabli, adjusting the angle and “doing jawari”. But also this can be learned by doing… with patience and persistance…

Sound sample: Play PA-ni-sa-sa-SA Sitanpura

The string set is
1: 0,56mm bronze string tuned to G#2
2: 0,41mm bronze string tuned to C3
3: 0,41mm bronze string tuned to C#3
4: 0,41mm bronze string tuned to C#3
5: 0,76mm brass wound string tuned to C#2

Frédéric t’Serstevens is a young and talented sitarist and disciple of Shubhendra Rao and Kushal Das. Since in the beginning he was a dedicated (bass) guitarplayer, he came up with this rather common idea to convert a sitar into a guitar. But now in a suitable and really original way: why not make the accompanying strings, jora, laraj & kharaj, entirely playable on the full neck area?
On traditional sitars, it is common that these strings only can be played (without meend) up to the 4th, 5th, … 7th parda. From then onwards, very frequently, intonation problems occur due to a continuously and significantly increasing strings action. This means that the distance between the string and the frets (pardas) increases too much, and thus the played notes become higher… until unplayable.

The solution is very simple: reduce the strings action by changing the shape of the pardas.

original shape (Rikhi Ram)

hybrid shape (Sitar Factory)

With this kind of new hybrid pardas, mounted on a raised parda lane, the action on the strings is higly reduced. And as such coming very close to a near perfect intonation, comparable to a guitar:

Now even chords can be played perfectly on this instrument… making it the extreme sitar for guitarists, or,… reverse ?? Or just: the ultimate hybrid sitar… 🙂

For more details, please read (on this site): The modification of an acoustic travel sitar into an electric hybrid guitar-sitar.

Specifications   Materials   Drawings   The modification process

This instrument has been made on demand
The original idea comes from Frédéric t’Serstevens (March 2016)
Design & drawings by Klaas Janssens @ Sitar Factory (April 2016)
Completion by Klaas Janssens @ Sitar Factory (June 2016)

Specifications

Dimensions: 1060mm x 300mm x 130mm (L x W x H)
Neck width: 89mm
Scale: 831mm
Strings action: String configuration: custom sitar (Baj, Jora, Laraj & Kharaj), tuned as guitar
Pardas: 24 custom hybrid shaped
Taravs: 11 traditional with wooden kuntis
No cikaris installed

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Materials

Body: teak wood
Parts: white fiber & metal
Pardas: Nickel Silver wire 5,0mm diameter
Machine heads: M6 Mini / Schaller
Pickup: Neck & Bridge single coil Telecaster™ guitar pickup / Seymour Duncan
Strings: Silver plated steel N°3 (0,30mm) & N°0 (0,23mm) / Pyramid
Nickel flatwound Jora N°26 (0,46mm) / Pyramid
Nickel flatwound Laraj N°24 (0,56mm) / Pyramid
Nickel flatwound Kharaj N°22 (0,76mm) / Pyramid

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Drawings

1 Parda lane raised

2 Parda custom shaped

original shape (Rikhi Ram)

hybrid shape (Sitar Factory)

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The modification process

1 The original body, removing the original pardas

2 Fitting a raised parda lane, made out of maple & celluloïd

3 Creating a new shaped parda: the hybrid parda

1 = Hybrid parda   2 = Rikhi Ram parda   3 = Traditional parda

4 Mounting a full set (24 pcs) of hybrid pardas

5 Fitting compact electronics control & pickups

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