Standard Mandolin XVI

With a deposit taken on the walnut Standard, work is well underway on the next one. If my previous mandolin was a celebration of walnut, this one (XVI) is a celebration of rosewood! In the video below, I show how I put together a three-piece back. Woods such as Indian Rosewood are such precious gifts from nature:  making instruments with multiple piece backs, necks etc. is the best way of using smaller pieces of wood and honouring the trees that were felled. By their nature, more joints, ensuring symmetry etc, the construction of a three-piece back is more challenging, but as responsible luthiers, that’s what we do. I think they look cool too!