Standard Mandolin XV: now complete and available

The latest Standard mandolin is now complete and is available. Below are some photos for you. If you remember, my intention was for this instrument to be a celebration of walnut and I think the beauty of this wood is shown off nicely in this mandolin. Also, its sounds so good too! There will be a video soon.

The current price of my Standards 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.

Twin-Point, Flat-Top Rosette

 What with all the arch-tops and e-mandos that I’ve been building recently, I’ve not had the need to make a rosette, as there hasn’t been a sound hole to put it around! I’ve always enjoyed making rosettes so I’ve really been looking forward to making one for the new twin-point and here it is……..

And how I did it!.......

It’s all about planning

I’m fitting a Headway transducer to Brendan’s new mandolin and this changes the order of the way that I put things together. I have to start work on the tailpiece much sooner than I usually do.

Then the soundboard is fitted and glued to the rim (normally I glue the back first) and the area around the end graft is cleaned up.

 

Then the brass base of the tailpiece is fitted to the rim, I only use two screws as the jacket socket is essentially a 12 mm bolt holding the tailpiece in place.

With everything very, very secure the 12mm hole is drilled through the tail block, using the tailpiece as guide.

Also at this stage (i.e. before the back goes on) the jack socket can be test fitted and the backing nut adjusted to the correct position.

Once I take the socket out of the hole, I glue the nut in position with some CA- this greatly helps when fitting the pick-up finally in place, as you have to work blind through the relatively small sound hole.

Archtop mando update

I’ve just complete the back plate for my archtop mandolin project. If you follow the blog, you’d have seen the project bubble to the surface on occasions. Don’t worry it’s not a commission- there’s not some poor client somewhere waiting years and years for his instrument!

However, I have been thinking about the design for literally years, and now that  I’ve covered all the elements in my head and on paper, it’s high time to make some real progress.

Here are a few photos of the back plate carved, scraped and sanded and the rim. 

You’ll notice that I’m using mahogany for the back and sides, this wood is being re-used; it was originally a desk top. It’s extremely good quality wood and would be criminal not to give it a new life.

Here’s a little video that Amanda and I put together for your entertainment!

What’s on the bench?

Currently, I’m waiting for the Tru-Oil on Chris’s e-mando to harden and then it can be re-assembled.

So, time to get on with the next two! The work on Heikki’s Standard mandolin is well underway. Heikki lives in Finland, so this will be another one of my mandolins going out to the discover the wider world! We’ve chosen Bubinga for the back and sides- (which is sometimes called African rosewood) I think that it is a much under-rated tonewood and it has all the properties that any luthier would want to make a great instrument.

Below are a couple of photos of the back and rim.

 Also work has commenced on Paul’s Standard Plus; here’s its herringbone rosette, which I must admit, I'm very happy with!

Safe in the Highlands

Another tense few days, whilst Martin’s mandolin was in transit; it took almost as long to get to the Highlands as Youhei’s did to Japan!

Anyway, it arrived safe and sound and here are few photos; spruce soundboard, maple back and sides, sapele neck and a fair old smattering of cocobolo!

Alan's Mandolin

This week saw the completion of Alan’s mandolin. It’s the seventh of my “Standard” series, but with a couple of custom upgrades- the head inlay and my design of tailpiece (as seen in the previous post). Here are a few more choice photos of the finished instrument.

A brief spec:

• Red spruce soundboard (Adirondack)
• Bubinga back and sides with maple bindings
• Sapele neck with carbon-fibre stiffeners, rosewood compound radius fingerboard with side markers and gold evo frets
• 30mm nut, 352mm (13 7/8”) scale length
• Schaller tuners
• Rosewood bridge with removable bone saddle
• “Nava” handmade tailpiece
• Open-pour shellac satin finish

The mandolin is being shipped on Monday.......watch this space for a video treat!

Waiting Game

I’ve just completed the French polishing of Tony’s Standard Plus; it’s looking really good as you can see below. The walnut is wonderful- don’t you just love pretty wood! Now we wait for it to harden off.

E-mando 

Also the E-mando has had its last coat of Tru-oil and that too must now harden off, although it won’t need as long as the French polish. There are a few choice shots for you below. It should be completed by mid- April and will be on sale on my web-site for 700 GBP including as semi-rigid gig bag and a stereo Y- lead. Got to be the bargain of the year!

Standard V
And last but not least the next Standard (American Black Walnut back, sides and neck) is coming along nicely too!

Have a good Easter!

So what’s next?

 As you can see the construction of Tony’s Standard Plus is now complete and yesterday it was strung up “in the white”. I shall let it settle down over the weekend; some fettling next week and then strip it back down for polishing.

 Below, you can see why I like my pattern maker's vice so much; I’ve had so many enquires about this vice- Rutland Tools, if you are reading this you owe me commission! ;-)

The e-mando is still progressing and it should come on in leaps and bounds once I start polishing Tony’s.

So what’s next? All of the recent Standard Mandolins have been snapped up before I complete them so I thought that I’d start a couple more. Firstly, there is a Standard- I’ve got some really nice straight grain, quarter sawn American black walnut for the back and sides and a European spruce soundboard. It will also have a walnut and maple neck.

And secondly, a maple and redwood Standard Plus with an abalone dot and lozenge rosette. And maybe some snakewood…………….

If you’re interested in either of these two, feel free to email me via my website.

I noticed, with some sadness, that Harrods has closed its piano department. We all know times are tough but when such an iconic establishment says "It's really sad. This is one of the oldest departments in Harrods, but pianos don't do as well as handbags" you have to wonder where it will end.

Fitting a Headway mandolin transducer

This week I completed the installation of the Headway transducer into a Breedlove mandolin. Here’s the pre-amp; you can judge its size compared to the tailpiece. 

 The real tricky part of installing a pick-up like this is that everything is fitted from the inside and it’s virtually impossible to work through such a small sound hole. I find that a piece gardening wire is very helpful for pulling components through.

After, who knows how many frustrating attempts, you can’t belief how satisfying it is to poke a wire through a hole!!

Here you can see how it’s routed through the new bridge.

 And the finished job- who’d know that anything had been done? There’s no doubt that these Headways produce a very good amplified sound and they are my pick-ups of choice.