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DAXOPHONES

Often, people ask me if they can buy a daxophone from me. The answer is: yes! There are not many places where you can find a daxophone! My instruments are informed by my studies with the daxophone’s inventor, Hans Reichel. I am very enthusiastic about helping the world learn about this wonderful instrument. One day, I hope to work with the keepers of daxophone lore to create a real Hans Reichel Foundation. Until that day comes, my customers support the ongoing development of my craft and livelihood. I think the world should have more daxophones in it. If you agree, read on!

to purchase a daxophone, read below to learn what i have available. once you figure out what works for you, please contact me:
daniel.fiction AT gmail DOT com 

 


 

daxophone tongues

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daxophone tongues

The tongue is the soul of the daxophone. If you already have a daxophone soundboard, this option will be perfect for you. I use handtools, the CNC machine, and creative glue-ups to create wild daxophone tongues with a great variety of sound. Perhaps you’ve been playing already for a few years, and are looking for new sounds? Buy a new tongue. A new shape or wood reveals a musical world!

I don’t often work with specific requests for wood or shapes because of the inherent variability of the daxophone. The plain fact is: even identical wood species sound different from tree to tree, and the surfaced edges and thickness of the tongue have as much to do with overall sound as does the overall shape. But if you’re curious, we can talk about wood! At present I am have been designing tongues with the domestic lumbers of North America: claro walnut, maple, sycamore, catalpa, ash, mulberry, oak, and yew. I also build a lot of daxophones made from precious rosewoods and some more common tropical woods, such as padauk, wenge, and mahogany, African blackwood, ebony. I even build with rare woods such as oysterwood, my lady, pal rosa, pal dao, cocobolo, hilberboboon, red lancewood, mesquite, pear, honey locust, and bloodwood. You may inquire about particular woods if you are curious, and depending on what’s on the bench, I may be able to accommodate you.

Basic Tongue

This option gets you a random shape and random wood choice. Please write me with your purchase to distinguish particularities about tone and sound—whether you want a good instrument for playing “melodies”, or whether you need a noisemaker.

$80

Premium Tongue

This ratio isn’t exactly mathematical, but for every 10 daxophone tongues that I build, I end up with 1 “premium” tongue—a stellar instrument that makes music like no other. a unicorn in the woodpile. These may be made from costly, rare timbers such as chestnut, Brazilian Rosewood…But this is only part of the story—it’s not merely about the wood species. I’ve built dozens of tongues from walnut and discovered upon a few exceptional creatures in this domestic lumber. The same goes for Tulipwood, a more exotic lumber in which I’ve worked extensively—many tongues, but a few miracles. If you order a “premium tongue”, the upcharge will give you one of these special instruments!

$120

Hall of Fame Tongue

Conrgatulations: you must be insane. For every 10 premium tongues I build, there is one magical tongue that is better than all the others. This is a hall of fame tongue. There’s nothing else I can say except: wow. These are the ones I usually keep for myself and share with my bandmates. These tongues usually surprise me—as soon as I hear them, I stop sanding or carving and preserve the magic.

$300

Tongue Sampler Package

People often ask: how do I know which tongues to buy? The truth is that I send many tongues to the customer, and the customer selects the tongues they want. For example, if you purchase 7 tongues. I will send a batch of 12 tongues to you—you can try them out and find the instruments that speak to you. This batch will include at least 1-2 “premium” instruments. Note the quantity discount.

$450



Minimalist Daxophone

Minimalist Daxophone

The simplest possible daxophone I could come up with. No adjustable tongue, the soundboard is permanently attached.

$availablethroughworkshopsONLY



Student Model Daxophone 
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Student Model Daxophone (only available until 2024!)

The “Student Model” daxophone is great for beginners, who really want to hear the instrument sing, but don’t necessarily have the woodworking skills to build their own instrument. I devised this model from early documentation about the daxophone from Hans Reichel’s writing and pictures. It is a small wooden box with piezo microphones, which can be clamped to any table, making a simple but effective daxophone soundboard.

The student model includes:
1) Soundbox (with piezo elements installed)
2) All-wood Dax. (no metal frets!)
3) Three tongues.

$500



Apprentice Model Daxophone

Daxophone 23

 

Apprentice Model Daxophone

For more serious daxophonists, the student model can prove a little cumbersome, because changing tongues involves resetting the table clamp. After several years I made some significant improvements to the student model, namely which is the integration of a wooden locking nut and an internal threaded bolt. This locking nut makes changing tongues super fast. The apprentice is clamped to the table, so you use a clamp solely for stabilization and the wood nut is for tongue positioning. You can also use the two countersunk “eyes” to screw your soundboard to the table, no clamp needed.   The wide footprint of the clamping surface grips the table well, so only one clamp is needed. The clamping surface is recessed so the clamp gets out of the way of the soundboard.

As of 2024, I machine these with a CNC machine for maximum precision!

The apprentice model A includes:

1) Soundbox (with piezo elements installed) with locking nut and internal threaded bolt. Soundboard includes recessed duckbill, which can be clamped or screwed to any surface.
2) Dax.
3) Four tongues.

$750

upgrades for apprentice model

1) You asked, so I did it: apprentice models are tripod enabled. I put a nut on the bottom of the instrument so you can attach it to a tripod. This is really good for an extra portability option! Stability depends on the quality of your tripod.

add $200



Daxophone Seaplane model

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Seaplane Model Daxophone

Well…this is the ultimate tabletop model. Now you never need to worry about not bringing a clamp with you.
Seaplane includes:
1) angled daxophone soundboard with wooden locking nut and integrated wooden bar clamp
2) five tongues
3) dax

$1450



Starship Daxophones

Daxophone 9


Daxophone Starships

If you want to get serious about the daxophone, this is the way to go. This hand-carved version of the daxophone offers superior ergonomics and practicality. It looks beautiful, too. To play this instrument, you stabilize it by sitting upon the soundboard. My signature style: make this model a doubleneck, which allows you to play multiple tongues simultaneously. This model also features the classic, elaborately carved wooden clamp, which holds the tongue steady in position, and also makes changing tongues quick. 

The Starship model includes:
1) Daxophone Soundboard (doubleneck option only, as well as hinged version available. note: hinge version includes a $500 upcharge.)
2) Dax.
3) Seven tongues!

$2500



Daxophone Doubleneck Tripods

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NEW FOR 2023! better pix coming soon.

This model daxophone is a tribute to the original Hans Reichel tripod style—with my signature style, the doubleneck soundboard. With aluminum legs and carefully oriented angles, it tapes to the floor, just as Hans designed. The 34 degree angle helps with ergonomics. This model also features the elaborately carved wooden clamps, of course. I can also add stacking legs so the instrument packs up to 18″ inches long maximum—for ease of travel.

The tripod model includes:
1) doubleneck daxophone tripod
2) aluminum legs (stacking option available)
3) fretted Dax.
4) six tongues

$2000



 

In addition to these offerings, I also teach daxophone building workshops, which might be a good intermediary solution for handy people that want to further develop their woodworking skills, but need a little guidance.

THANK YOU!