Gourd Fiddle - A quick look at its construction.

A few folks have asked questions about how I make these gourd instruments. I'm no expert and I make a lot of stuff up as I go but this might answer some of those questions. If you can give me any tips on a better way to do things, I'm open to ideas.
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[@JennAveryGourdArt]

Thank you for sharing this information. I am a gourd artist and a fiddler, my daughter plays guitar and banjo so I have wanted to make a gourd fiddle and a gourd banjo for a while for us to play together. Just been afraid to make a start of it and waste too many materials making mistakes.

[@morbanjo2503]

I've made plenty of mistakes along the way! Go for it!

[@-jank-willson]

you should do a video on an appalachian spike fiddle - a one- or two- string fiddle - basically one of those one-string canjos but you play with a bow

[@mccypr]

Thanks! 🎻😎

[@bearshield7138]

nice job

[@gervasegallant]

I'm curious about how it can work without sound post or bass bar. Guessing the depth of the gourd is what helps projection, but that must be all pretty much mid range. ?? It does sound pretty good on your recordings, but with a fiddle everything sounds better 10 feet away. The player hears every single scrape or squeak. What do you think?

[@morbanjo2503]

Yes indeed, the player hears every squeak. If I could stand 10 feet away from myself while playing I certainly would, lol. The next best thing is to make recordings and critique the instrument and the playing. There's really no way to affix a bass bar or sound post with a skin head. I think the looseness of the head and relative softness of the gourd's interior help to make a nice deep sound. Plus I'm tuned a step lower than standard.

[@loulamanna567]

Yeah right, simple! Lol