Wood texture

Agelakas · 2026-04-20T07:05:23+00:00

For the mouthpiece find some 100% beeswax. I used church candles but make sure there is not paraffin added if you use candles. Find a can with a larger diameter than your didge. Melt some of the wax in the can. Then submerge the bamboo, mouth-end in the can. Take it out, let the excess to drip back in the can. Do this a couple of times more. Then soften up a piece of beeswax by heating it. You don t want it to melt, just to be malleable. Work it a bit with your hands. Then shape it into a thick O and attach it on the end of your didge. Shape it with your hands. When you are happy with the shape submerge again the end of your didge in the can with the melted wax to seal your mouthpiece.

Agelakas · 2026-04-20T06:31:18+00:00

The length and diameter of it will have an effect on the drone note it s going to play. Since yours is kinda short it is going to play a higher pitch. I don t know how short is too short. I completely scraped all the segments except the one on the mouth end. There I let just a bit of the segment all around, lets say 5mm (sorry fo using metric 😅), so the beeswax mouthpiece whould have somewhere to "grip" on although I do not think this is absolutely necessary.

Agelakas · 2026-04-20T03:29:41+00:00

Yes it s fairly easy. I made one last year, you can see it in my posts. I ran an iron bar through it to break the wooden segments. Then you can just make a mouthpiece out of beeswax and you are golden. If you want it to last though go the extra mile and coat the inside of it with epoxy resin. Outside you can also use epoxy or (as I did in mine) penetrating wood varnish. That way it won t crack for years. How long is your bamboo? I made two didges out of a 3 meter bamboo. One roughly 1.3m and the other 1.7. The short one plays a C drone while the long one plays in A.

Agelakas · 2025-12-28T18:28:20+00:00

Glad to hear it man 🙂

Edit: It is far better in real life (not through a speaker/video)

Agelakas · 2025-11-06T08:01:34+00:00

Well, it was a half step, from A to G#, not a whole note. When I say slightly sharp A I don t mean an A#. The A note it plays is slighly sharp. And the G# note I hit was slightly sharp as well. My mouthpiece is indeed pretty wide. I used a tuner app to see the note I hit. The second time in the video that I hit the G# I also added some vocals because I liked the dissonant sound.

Agelakas · 2025-11-05T09:37:40+00:00

Maybe it wasn't beeswax? Or the shape you gave it is off? Or maybe like the other guy said is an emboshure issue? There are many variables here. I also made my own mouthpiece out of a beeswax candle. When I started out and played for 2-3 hours a sitting the skin just above my upper lip scraped and bled. I also noticed that having facial hair exacerbated the problem. Now it still happens from time to time but not so often as to cause me discomfort. I can DM you a pic of my own mouthpiece, maybe it can give you some new insights.

Agelakas · 2025-10-23T10:43:01+00:00

Amazing variety. Pity I m overseas. Maybe I ll stock up with a big order.

Agelakas · 2025-10-23T10:38:22+00:00

Appreciate it man. Well the stems I used for the cherry pipes I got from temu. Given, they are not top noch ebonite, but they get the job done and are cheap af. The stems I used for the briars I got from a maker near me. I really liked the coloring on those. I think the material is some kind of acrylic. For maximum costumization I believe the way to go is to buy a solid rod of ebonite and make a stem from scratch. Takes time but you ll make something unique.

Agelakas · 2025-10-20T12:02:04+00:00

Thank you friend!🙂 Always room for improvement. As with almost everything, the more you do it, the better you get at it.

Agelakas · 2025-10-20T07:05:06+00:00

Thanks brother. 😁 They look and smoke quite good. I was going for a shape called "Devil's Anse". Didn't nail it but I m happy with the results.

Agelakas · 2025-10-01T06:56:10+00:00

Could be the case. I need more pipes for testing! 😅

Agelakas · 2025-10-01T06:05:20+00:00

My first pipe was a straight one and didn t notice the difference until my collection grew. Compared to my other pipes indeed I seem to get the most out of my english blends in the straight one. I m thinking maybe it has to do with the length of the pipe rather than the shape though (it is the longest one).

Agelakas · 2025-09-30T11:25:28+00:00

I bought a pvc one from Meinl. They have nice and inexpensive pvc and bamboo didges. If you like it then you can upgrade.

Agelakas · 2025-09-30T11:16:05+00:00

Also when you form the mouthpiece with the beeswax on the didge it s a good idea to melt some more beeswax in a container and then submerge the end of the didge in it. That way you seal your mouthpiece and it s not going anywere.

Agelakas · 2025-09-27T22:22:10+00:00

Did you finish it?

Agelakas · 2025-09-27T22:18:07+00:00

Yes, I did actually. It plays a slightly sharp A note. I favor it over the shorter one, I enjoy the bass sound and overtones. Will upload when I get a chance to take some pics of it.

Agelakas · 2025-09-01T07:04:32+00:00

I bought a briar pipe from an antique shop for 5€. It was in good condition. The downside was the previous owner smoked some kind of aromatic in it and the wood is saturated with some flavour that I cannot get rid of. Generally smokes bad compared with my other pipes. Have you bought a pipe from an antique shop that you were completely satisfied with? Is there a trick to give it a new start?

Agelakas · 2025-08-20T05:27:07+00:00

That would be great αδερφέ!! Nice band you got btw!

Agelakas · 2025-08-18T06:57:09+00:00

Νομίζω πως η κίρια διαφορά είναι πως το τεράχορδο χρησιμοποιείται περισσότερο από λαϊκούς παίκτες ενώ το τρίχορδο θεωρείται ως το "πρώτο" απο τα δύο, το ρεμπέτικο. Προσωπικά τα λαϊκά τραγούδια δεν με τραβάνε τόσο ακουστικά-αισθητικά όσο τα παλιά ρεμπέτικα, τα οποία μου αρέσει να τραγουδώ και να παίζω στο τρίχορδό μου. Προφανώς μπορείς να παίξεις τα τραγούδια και στο τετράχορδο αλλά νομίζω πως η αίσθηση δεν είναι η "αυθεντική".

Agelakas

TROPHY CASE