Standard Mandolin XVI: now complete and available

The latest Standard mandolin is now complete and is available. Below are some photos for you. This one is built using the classic tonewood combination of rosewood and spruce and my oh my it does sound good!

 

The current price of my Standard mandolin is £925, which includes a Hiscox case: shipping is extra. If you’re interested in this one, please feel free to contact me via my website.

Baritone Uke: Now Sold

Thanks for all of your interest, the uke has now been sold.

 

Electric Mandolin Build Part 2

As you can see, the e-mando’s neck has now been made. Here’s its story…………

The neck is laminated to aid stability. The bulk of the neck is from bird’s eye maple with a central core of Tasmanian Blackwood.

And the head is spliced on.

Whilst these parts are being glued-up, I make the head logo inlay. When it’s possible, I like to cut through the head overlay before it’s glued to the head itself. Inlaying rosewood or ebony is relatively easy as any gaps can be filled and are virtually invisible. However, lighter coloured woods are less forgiving and extra care must be taken.

Below you can see that the completed head overlay has been glued on and there are two fillets of cedar running the length of the neck. Under those fillets are two lengths of carbon fibre rods.

And after some shaping and drilling, the completed neck blank.

Electric Mandolin Build Part 1

If you follow my blog, you’ll know that as well as my acoustic instruments, I enjoy building electric mandolins too. I’ve just started building this one.

Let me tell you how I got to this point……. I’ve had a lovely piece of Tasmanian Blackwood (related to Koa) in stock for at least four or five years and have been itching to do something with it.

If you are going to run wires through the body, you need some planning to save a lot of hassle later.  So, before the two halves of the body are glued together, I route a slot and drill some holes for the pick-up wires. These channels are painted in conductive paint to improve the shielding. Then the body can be glued.

Using jigs, I route the various cavities; if you can, it pays to remove some of the waste wood with a forstner bit first.

A piece of pre-drilled plywood is glued to the body to act as a guide for drilling the hole for the end-pin jack-socket.

After drilling the hole, a thread is tapped into the wood. My top tip is to take the tap out after every few turns and put in a drop or two of CA, this helps solidify the end grain and give you a nice clean thread. Wait for the CA to dry before continuing!

With all the drilling and routing done the shape is cut out and the body contoured and cleaned up.

To be continued!