You Can't Get Lost - Day 20 (March 18, 2022)

 Yesterday, Loraine sent me a text with an attachment for an exhibit at the Musical Instrument Museum here in Phoenix.  We went there five years ago and saw a special exhibit on inlay work on guitars and banjos.  It was fascinating.  People have spent years doing inlays on some instruments.  And then the rest of the museum is wonderful, with exhibits of instruments from cultures and countries around the world.  

The attachment Loraine sent of the current exhibit was "Treasures: Legendary Musical Instruments".  It was about  usually old, rare and one-of-a-kind instruments and more modern instruments by unique builders.  I said yes within 30 seconds of receiving the text.  

Today, we went.  We got there at 1:00 sharp and walked into the exhibit.  My guess there were 50 or so instruments in three rooms.  The first instrument you walked into when you entered the exhibit space was a baroque guitar, the second oldest one in the world.  To give you an idea of how intense I was about this guitar, I took 25 pictures, and didn't get one of the whole instrument, all 25 were details.  

  This is a panorama view stitched from two photos.  Why would I take 25 pictures of this instrument?  Because I said I wanted to build one after I retired.  I've met the time requirement, now it up to doing it.  Notice that there are five courses or pairs of strings.  The frets are made from gut and can be moved up and down the neck for different temperaments.  

I won't show you all 138 pictures I took at the museum, but suffice it to say, I loved it.  I spent two hours in the special exhibit and ran through the rest of the museum and hit high spots that I remembered from 5 years ago.  I'll show a couple.  

Violin construction details, thin ribs of figured maple

Interior cross bracing of a Martin D-28 Dreadnaught Guitar

Isak Nilssen Botnen ( 1669 - 1759 ) is considered the first developer of the modern Harding fiddle.  He is my 6th Great Grandfather.  I have dad's Hardanger Fiddle.  Dad was one of the original members of the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America.   

Spanish psaltery, mid 1700s.  It is both plucked and/or hammered.  The instrument is actually held in the beautifully painted case.

 

An original C.F. Martin guitar, made in 1836.  A little different than the dreadnaught bracing above.

A Torben from Ukraine, 1740.

You can see that my primary interest is in strung instruments.  I joined the Lute Society of America in 1971 and am a life member.  I was also a member of the Hardanger Society for a few years.  I made a Langeleik for a World Music class that Erik and I took in 2004.  Pete and I made a banjo when I was in 8th grade and I made a fretless banjo five years ago.  I think you can understand my interest in the Music Instrument Museum.  Bob bought me a copy of the exhibit catalog.  It has the added benefit of giving dimensions of the instruments.   

We had a great Chinese dinner that evening.  Great Day!