Head Inlay

I’ve said it many times before and I make no apologies for saying it again- one of the greatest compliments you can get as a luthier is a past client coming back for another instrument. So, Amanda and I were delighted when Brendan decided to commission a new mandolin from me.

 Many of you will know Brendan for the wonderful video that he posted, playing what was then his new Nava cocobolo twin-point. That was about 5 years ago and since then Brendan has become a good friend and confidant.

You’ll have seen the neck blank in the previous post, well that’s for Brendan and over the coming months you’ll see his rather special build unfold.

He set me a little challenge for an inlay in the head overlay. Here’s a sequence of photos- A few stages are missing; once I'm in the zone, I find that I can easily forget about taking photos!

 

Many hours later........here’s the final result. The red and green are made from reconstituted rock and the N from black pearl.