The Sellas Model Guitar
This model of baroque guitar is based on an instrument made by Metteo Sellas in Venice. The head of the original instrument has a label plate in which the year 1638 is given, presumably as the year of production. It is a large instrument with a string length of 69cm. The deep, vaulted back provides a large air chamber that result in a full, bright and projective tone. This is a great instrument for continuo or solo work.
Our version of the Sellas guitar has five double courses, (the first course is most commonly strung with a single string these days). There is a choice of wood for the back: pear with rosewood spacers, rosewood with pear spacers or figured maple with ebony spacers and the neck and head are mahogany. The front is a AAA Engelmann spruce that is at least twelve years old with a three layer wooden inset rose with a decorative purling around the sound hole. The fingerboard and head plate are ebony along with ebony edge binding around the front. You have a choice of either ebony, rosewood or boxwood for the pegs as well as an option for mechanical Pegheads, if you would like to use those. The strings that come standard on the instrument are synthetic, being made of nylon and fluorocarbon and there is an option for a set of gut strings.
Guitar specifications:
String length 69cm (27 1/8")
Overall length 39" (99cm)
Body length 18 1/2" (47cm)
Neck length 12 1/2" (31.75cm)
Body width, lower bouts 10" (25.5cm)
Body width, waist 6 7/8" (17.5cm)
Body width, upper bouts 8" (20.3cm)
Body depth, deepest part of arch 4" (10.3cm)
Guitar Features:
Back and sides: Wood of choice with contrasting rib-separators
AAA Englemann spruce front
Layered, wedding-cake rose
Decorative purfling around rose
Neck: mahogany
Head: mahogany with ebony face plate
Ebony fingerboard, with points
Pegs: rosewood, boxwood or ebony
End button: rosewood, boxwood or ebony
Bone nut
Synthetic or gut strings
Pear bridge with ebony top plate
Ebony bridge decorations
Ebony front edge half binding
An optional custom made Kingham case is available
Baroque guitars may be tuned one of several ways, using a mixture of fundamental and octave strings, depending on the repertoire played. The standard tuning that comes with the instrument is:
e-1 - unison pitches
b-2 - unison pitches
a-3 - unison pitches
d-4 - fundamental and octave pitches
a-5 - high octave unisons