Archtop #4- In the white.

This week, I completed setting up archtop #4 and got it playing “in the white”. In case you’re wondering, “in the white” is a phrase pinched from violin makers. They get their instruments playing before applying the finish, which of course transforms them from white (i.e. natural colour of spruce and maple) to that orangey brown that they like. Funny though, I thought that if the back and sides of this mandolin had been made from, say quilted maple, some makers would stain it, to get the same colour as the sapele.

In case you’re wondering, the blue tape is to stop any oil from the new tuners seeping into the unfinished wood and contaminating it.