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Terry Docherty website notes:
“I have been fond of arch-top
instruments ever since I became aware of their particular sound and
I especially like the sound of cedar-topped instruments. I
researched a lot of makers on the internet and then decided to place
an order with Terry for a 5 course cittern.
I collected my new instrument
from Terry in October 2012 and can confirm that it had been built
perfectly to my requirements in every respect. It has an
incomparable sound which is both loud and subtle at the same time
and can be described as warm, clear and distinctive. Bass and treble
tones are well balanced and the strong sustain lets the tones ring
for a long time.
I am very happy with my choice
which proves Terry to be a maker of fine and high quality stringed
instruments. I can also recommend his guitars too, which I had the
pleasure to play during my visit."
Klaus Stehr - Luneburg,
Germany
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Before I moved my workshop to
Newcastle, Richard Ridley commissioned me to make for him, a
guitar-bodied bouzouki or "Guzouki". With 16 frets to the neck/body
joint + the Venetian cutaway, the whole fingerboard is easily
accessible which is precisely what Richard asked for. The nut width,
fingerboard taper and neck profile were also made very much to
Richard's exacting specifications though the overall shape, size and
decoration were largely left to me. The result I think produced an
attractive instrument of "jumbo" proportions with a very deep
sound-box and a very big sound with which Richard is very happy. The
inclusion of a Fishman Matrix Infinity transducer with through
sound-hole controls, has given him the instrument he especially
wanted for his band work |
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Doc Rossi reviews the new Archtop Cittern
Today I had the pleasure of playing a new Terry Docherty archtop
cittern. The instrument has a beautifully straight-grained sitka
spruce top, about 6mm thick in the middle, tapering down to about
3mm. The back and sides are of rosewood, the neck maple. The bridge
is ebony with a bone saddle set into it; the tailpiece is brass and
accepts ball-end strings.
This is Terry's first archtop and he's done a splendid job. The
woodworking is of the highest quality with nice attention to
detail. The sound is well-balanced and strong - the trebles ring
out and the bass is full, but I was especially struck by how
balanced the sound is. The tone has a very pleasant nasal quality,
rich in overtones, with a long sustain. I've never been a fan of
archtop citterns, so this instrument was a very pleasant surprise
and has helped me to understand why so many players prefer them.
The string length is just short of 60cm - longer than I'm used to
for a 5-course instrument, but still quite comfortable for melody
playing while still being long enough to give full chordal support
to a soloist or band. Terry had it tuned E B E B E, which I changed
to E B F# B E - just one semitone lower than my usual tuning. The
set up was very good - a little higher and higher tension than I'm
used to, but the action was very good for being non-personalized.
The fingerboard is flat, and given that I'm used to (and prefer) a
curved fingerboard, I found the instrument quite comfortable and
natural to play.
Each player has his or her preferences - I, for example, like a
thin, narrow neck, and a curved fingerboard, all of which Terry
would gladly do. My only general suggestion was to try some
different bridges. The bridge as it is now is about half an inch
thick, and being of ebony, absorbs a lot of sound - or at least I
think it does; I could be wrong. My feeling was that the instrument
had even more to offer that a thinner and/or less dense bridge might
help bring out.
Doc Rossi
www.cittern.ning.com |
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These are
recent additions to my range of instruments and the instruments
shown here are the proto-types which will no doubt now become
subject to the same evolutionary process which all my other
instruments have undergone over the years.
The cittern has a very long history and covers huge variations on a
theme but the modern cittern along with the so-called “Irish
Bouzouki” are the product of the perpetual evolutionary process of
traditional folk music in Britain and Ireland and pioneered by such
luminaries as Stefan Sobell. The modern cittern with its much longer
scale lengths is effectively, an octave mandolin which, with its
typical 5 courses of pairs in unison, produces an incredibly rich,
full and almost oriental sound which has become so popular in both
traditional song accompaniment, melody and ensemble playing over
recent decades.
I
became more interested in the cittern through my old friend Wally
Bell (that's him opposite) when he and I sat
down to rehearse for a gig
at the Back Bay Inn on Vashon Island in April 2008. I promptly
returned to the UK and built the guitar-cittern which you see here
and which was very quickly snapped up by Ken Tonge, a musician,
friend and customer of many years standing who happened to be in the
market for such an instrument at that time. I had thought about its
design and appearance very carefully before making the Venetian
cutaway mould, as well as an appropriate scale length which in this
instance is 595mm, much shorter than a guitar and hence the 15 frets
to the neck body joint. This could easily be 16 frets to give even
greater fingerboard access and which I am considering as a
variation. With stronger bracing to cope with the extra load imposed
by 10 strings, this instrument far exceeded my expectations
in terms of the quality of sound it produced along with its
incredible volume though I doubt that anyone who plays them would be
in danger of attracting the same degree of notoriety as banjo
players enjoy.
Ken’s instrument featured here is built of Indian Rosewood and Sitka
spruce with ebony fingerboard and bridge (standard to all my
instruments) and Brazilian mahogany neck with adjustable truss rod
(also standard to all my instruments) though they can be built of a range
of different materials dependent upon your tastes.
This Carved Top Cittern is of more
conventional tear-drop design with the top carved from a book-matched
piece of AAA grade Sitka. Back and ribs are of Indian rosewood
and with maple
neck and adjustable truss rod, ebony bridge and fingerboard.
Few instruments have given me greater
satisfaction than this one, not only in its
construction but especially because of its full and resonating
bell-like sound
and I’m grateful to Wally Bell, Doc Rossi and Andrew Hartig for their encouragement (see
www.cittern.ning.com).
The
instruments dimensions are 90mm depth at tail, 75mm depth at heel
and 370mm wide but if you would like more details, a full account of
its construction can be found on the “workshop blog” page.
Currently Available Instruments
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"Where's Wally? - Well,
he was over here from Seattle recently and stayed with us for what
turned out to be an action-packed week. He also took delivery of his
new guitar-cittern in Indian Rosewood and a magnificent western red
cedar top that we salvaged from the LS timber yard on Vashon Island
a couple of years back. What a powerful beast this turned out to be
so look out for another "YouTube extravaganza!
The action-packed week
took in a great session at the Ship Inn in Low Newton, a trip down
memory lane at the old Lampglass Cellar In Ashington, renamed
"Bubbles", where we dueted on an open acoustic mic night. A great
session at the Forge in Ulgham and a magnificent day out at the new
BAAFEST festival up in Bellingham in the heart of Northumberland.
where we saw our old friend Pete Scott play. He had this ould bugger
worn out by the end of the week. Thanks Wally - see you in
September.
Click here to watch Wally Bell
and his new Docherty Cittern
Click Here for another Wally
Bell tune...
'Madame Bonaparte'
Western red cedar top and rosewood back and sides
Click here for more details
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