I’m fitting a Headway transducer into Carl’s mandola and much
of the process is pretty much the same as I did on Brendan’s mandolin a few
months ago. However, as this transducer is active, it requires a battery. I
normally discourage having a battery (using, if possible, phantom power or a
passive pick-up) inside a mandolin as the space is too tight; however on the
mandola the soundhole is a tad larger and the body deeper. The battery with a
Headway transducer is normally held inside a bag which, in turn, is attached to
the instrument with a sticky Velcro pad. However, after a trial it became very
clear that only a person with the manual dexterity of Houdini would ever be
able to change the battery!
Therefore I
reverted to my preferred method of using one of these clips…………..
And ditched the bag.
-Normally I make the tailpiece towards the end of the build
but as I need it sooner rather than later, I’ve made–up the base plate.
Having
this component ready, allows the jack-socket hole to be drilled and the back of
that hole (where the drill breaks through) can be supported.
Satisfied that the transducer fits etc. the box is
closed-up!
Labels: handmade mandola, Luthier, Nava mandola