Always great to hear from our friend, Tércio Ribeiro, brilliant Brazilian builder of Hamilton de Holanda and Joel Nacimento. His latest is being performed on by Hamilton at the Mandolin Symposium in California, and he is also busy with a group of 12 in the works being constructed for the American market. (We'd love to hear from you if you are one of the lucky!)

Below are pictures of his latest tweaks; Tércio tells us, "It has the same shape of the second bandolim of Hamilton. I made some internal changes to try a better sound - looking for more bass. It has a beautiful rosette made of mother-of-pearl, and I'm always trying a personal pattern to each instrument. The bridge has the same curves of Hamilton's last bridge. The last photo is from my workshop. You can see the bandolim resting on a board (left/middle), inside the acclimatized room, where the instruments are constructed and where the wood are stocked."

Recently he's finished the 8-string Joel Nascimento Signature Model, an instrument based on the model of Brazilian legend Jacob do Bandolim. He's been studying American musician, Darren Dix's 1929 Gibson (more of a bluegrass model), incorporating some of the tonal qualities by experimenting with the bracing. This ought to be an incredible venture and we hope to keep you posted.

Enjoy the following some pictures:

TR_Binding
TR_Face
TR_HdstInlay
TR_Side
TR_SoundHole
TR_Workshop

Contact Tércio Ribeiro

Grande abraço

Posted by Ted at June 21, 2007 6:13 AM