How to care for a tiple and a bandola?

The tiple and the bandola are cared for as wood instruments with many metal strands in tension: clear the strands after playing, change every complete order at the same time, watch the bridge and cover and protect them from sudden changes of moisture and temperature. If the bridge starts to get off or the top goes down after them, loosen the strands and bring them to the luthier.

They are tools that travel a lot: to festivals, to tertulies, from Bogotá to hot ground. That's why climate and transport weigh as much as cleanliness.

To sum up

He changes his strings by complete orders: a new string with two old ones and his order's been tipped.
Cleans the ropes after playing and quickly oxidizes the metal, especially with hot climate.
If the bridge gets up or the cover goes up after it, remove tension and consult a luthier.
Avoid sudden climate changes and never leave the instrument in a car in the sun.
He looks for a luthier with Andean tools: calibration orders isn't the same as calibration a guitar.

Why tiple and bandola demand care of their own

Unlike a classical guitar, tiple and bindola have metal ropes grouped into orders: sets of strings that step and play together as if they were one. That adds up a lot of tension to a light body and makes the bridge, cover and mast work more.

What to monitor at each instrument
Aspecto	Tiple	Andean bandola
Cuerdas	Twelve metal strings in four orders of three, that combine smooth and jammed strings.	Metal rods grouped into orders and number varies with model.
How to play	I scrape with fingers and fingernails and I also aim.	Plectro, a lot of trumolus and melody.
Typical wear	Reds at the top by the scrape and oxide at the ropes.	Stolen events where you touch most and scattering of the Plectro close to your mouth.
Critical area	Bridge and cover, by the 12-string tension.	Bridge and scattering.

At both, the strings of each order have to sound pairs with each other. If one is a little higher or lower, the order sounds dirty, as a scattering chorus. That's why string care's thought by order, and not by loose string.

Rings: To clear them and to change them by order

After touching, pass a dry microfibre cloth by each order, from bridge to cebula, and then a thin strap of the same cloth between the ropes of the group, where the sweat remains. In hot climate, or if your hands are greatly sweat, this step makes the difference between ropes that last months and rusted ropes in a few weeks.

Change the ropes step by step

Before you remove anything, take a photo of how the strings are attached to the bridge and of which string of each order is jammed and which smooth.
It changes a complete order at once. Thus the tension about the mast and bridge remains more or less balanced.
Put up the new cords of the order while respecting his position.
It leaves two or three laps in every stick, rolling in the same direction as the other.
He puts up his tuning from time to time, alternating between the cords of his order, so as to avoid charging a single.
Gently pull and re-tuning several times: new strings become detuning during the first few days.

Buy tiple or bandola games, or those that recommend your teacher or your luthier. Put more thick calibres to sound more strong increases the tension and can end up up up up up with the bridge. To tuning every order, stick to how to tuning the tipple and at [online tuning machine]](/herramientas/afinador).

The bridge and cover: warning signs

The bridge is attached to the cover and supports the strength of all the strings. Check them every time you change strings:

He's trying to get a paper leaf under the back edge of the bridge.
Look at the side cover with a straplight: an abombation behind the bridge or a sink ahead indicates that the tension is deforming.
He looks for thin cracks along the sewer, especially close to the bridge and to the end of the diapason.
Check that the bridge bone, where the ropes are supported, isn't leaning forward.
Compare the height of the ropes at the twelve-figure with which I had the instrument when you bought it: if something goes up a lot, something's moving.

Before any of these signs, loosen the strings up to remove a good share of the tension and bring the instrument to the luthier. To continue to play with the bridge and get off can end up at a torn bridge with some of the wood from the cover.

To protect the rag and pellet cover, ask your luthier for a pounding and remove rings and clocks before you play.

Wetlands and wood: from Bogota to hot ground

Many luthier tiples and banners have a solid wood cover, which sounds better than laminated but reacts more to climate: it contracts when the air's dry and swells when it's wet.

In Bogotá, dry seasons, strong sunlight and electrical heaters resecute wood: cracks and scattering that stand out at the edge of the mast may appear.
On hot ground and moist zones, the wood swells: the ropes rise, the sound goes out and the metal oxidizes faster.
Abrupt change is the best risk: to come down from Bogotá to Girardot or Melgar in a couple of hours, or to pass the sun case from a window to a cold room.

Save the instrument in his case as soon as you do not use it, far from windows, exterior walls and hot-bearing equipment. When you get to a very different climate, leave the box closed a while before opening up to be acclimated. We explain it in detail how to save instruments according to climate in Colombia.

To clear up a dry cloth. No products for furniture, alcohol or cleaners. If the diapason is made of wood without varnish, your luthier will tell you if you need a conditioner and every how much.

Carpeting and transport

A rigid box protects a lot better than a fabric lining, especially by bus or if the instrument travels at an intermunicipal bus's hold.
The instrument should not be moved inside the box. If you dance, fill with a soft cloth, never with hard objects.
Do not put strings, tuning or loose pleptors onto the cover: with his strokes they scrape them.
In his car, put him in his cabin and not his trunk and never leave him inside with his car parked in his sun.
If you're going to spend weeks without playing, put down a little tuning and leave the ropes loose.

At festivals, tertulies and meetings of Andean music the instrument goes from hand to hand and climate to climate. It always carries a cloth, a tuning and spare strings of the order that most gets broken.

When to go to the luthier and how to choose him

Colombia has a long tradition of Andean instrument lutheries with recognised workshops at Chiquinquirá (Boyacá) and specialized luthiers in Bogotá and other cities. The important thing is that they know these instruments: to set the height of twelve strings at orders, the cebela slots or the level of a bandata's tracts is not the same as to calibrate a guitar.

Once a year for a general review, or once you change string calibre.
If the bridge gets up, the cover gets bad or a crack appears.
If the ropes are altered or, on the contrary, they have been so high that they have a hard time passing them.
If a stick scatters and an order gets out of place alone.
If you put them up at the bandola, they have furrows where you play best.

Your teacher can help you notice these problems in time. tiple classes and andine bandolaand if you're still looking for one, read how to choose a tiple or a bandola.

What you never have to do

To change a single string of an order and leave the other old ones.
Reg up the calibre of the ropes without consulting.
Filling a clear bridge with homemade stick.
To lay the instrument against the wall or leave it on a chair.
Filling above the normal tuning so that it sounds brighter.

Frequently asked questions

How often do you change tiple's strings?

It depends how much you touch and how much your hands sweat. When they lose light, they look dark or tiple no longer sharps well at high jobs, it's time. The person who plays daily usually notice that in a matter of months.

Why did my tiple get so thin?

The most common causes are new ropes that are still stretching, temperature and moisture changes, loose clamps or a bridge that's moving. If you always get out of order, check that clamp.

What do I do if the tiple bridge gets up?

Loosen the strings to remove tension and get the tiple to the luthier. Do not hit it at home: the bridge needs the right stick and controlled pressure to re-sign.

How do I transport a port by bus without damaging it?

In a rigid, vertical and attached to you, with no loose objects inside and far from the window if it's hot. When you get there, give them a few minutes inside the box before opening and tuning them.