The Colombian Tiple

2005
AL#82 p.34   BRB7 p.341            
Luis Alberto Paredes Rodriguez                                                                                           

▪ Tracking the evolution of Spanish-based South American instruments can be complicated. Fortunately luthiers don’t have to care about it since we live in the present, or at least many of us try to. The Colombian tiple is a four course, 12-string instrument a bit smaller than a classical guitar, and not like the Martin tiple at all. The heart of this article is the 2 page version of GAL plan #51. The text dabbles with instrument history and offers a string gauge chart as well as a family tree of the tiple, bandola, and guitar. The most intriguing text involves the author’s method in compensating the nut when different gauges of strings are used in the same course. With 1 photo.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.