# Music by Genre > Orchestral, Classical, Italian, Medieval, Renaissance >  New Classical Mandolin

## labraid

Friends and Colleagues, the all-new Labraid Orchestral --











This mandolin features 34 fluted staves, a scale length of 13", 1+1/8" nut width, 27 stainless steel frets, 16:1 tuners, spruce lined maple bowl, Engelmann spruce top, and hide glue construction. She'll be making her debut in Dayton, Ohio October 28th. Hoping to see _many_ of you there!

----------


## Shelagh Moore

That's beautiful work Brian. I'm sure she sounds as good as she looks.

----------


## JEStanek

Exquisite.  Congratulations.

Jamie

----------


## joebrent

Crikey, that's sexy.

----------


## John Goodin

Beautiful! I'll be looking forward to giving it a try in Dayton.

John G.

----------


## Bob Borzelleri

Another reason why checking in at the Cafe is always a good thing to do.

----------


## Michael Wolf

This mandolin looks very "dense" and complex to me. Many fine details and everything seems to be very organic. The bowl looks as if it were a creature, maybe a aquatic creature. And I really like the headstock, maybe a touch of modern design here, but very subtl. 
This is a very beautiful mandolin and a successful design. Thanks for the nice pictures.

----------


## Fliss

Wow, what a beauty. 

Fliss

----------


## Jonathan Rudie

Congrats Brian! Looks awesome.

----------


## vkioulaphides

A fine-looking instrument, if I ever saw one. Bravo, Brian!

----------


## Zappa

That is gorgeous! If I only had the money...

----------


## Jim MacDaniel

Wow! Beautiful work there.

----------


## labraid

Thanks very much, all. I'll admit that I did make an attempt to give this mandolin something "organic". I share the opinion of luthier Keith Hill on the subject of perfection:

"I have observed that there is a profound effect on the souls of those who play an instrument which is "dirty" and obviously "used". That effect is what I call "amicis utiorum" or user friendliness. The impulse to touch an object that appears like someone else has already used and appreciated the object is both immediate and invited. That is players feel like the instrument is inviting them to touch and play the instrument. Instruments which are pristine in every way send the clear and opposite message: Noli me Tangere! or don't touch me." 

While it has not yet been "used", it certainly has been _appreciated_ on its brief sejour in the shop. The use of hand tools and the simple fact of brushing on a home-made varnish, etc, etc.. give the instrument a character I hope players will find "warm", despite its overall newness.

----------


## MLT

If it is the played and well loved look you are after, you could send it to me for a week or two, then I can ship it so that it meets you at the 2009 CMSA Convention in Dayton  :Laughing: .

Well done Brian!

----------


## Jim Roberts

Holy blowlback, Batman...that is lovely.

----------


## Jim Garber

Nice work, Brian. I wish I could make it to Dayton (or Nova Scotia) to chekc it out in person. Ah, some day!! BTW is the fretboard radiused?

----------


## labraid

Jim, it sure is. Most stark near the nut per my standard, flat across the tops at the bridge. We'll catch up some day, maestro...

----------


## JeffD

I am curious about the dampers in the strings between the bridge and the tail piece. Were they part of the design from the beginning, or a last minute tweaking of the sound?


You hit the mark, I must say, in making an instrument that calls me to play it, hold it, or just change its strings.

Beautiful.

----------


## Martin Jonas

Very nice!

One question: as your overall design is clearly Embergher-inspired, I wonder why you decided for the all-ebony bridge Embergher used on his student and lower orchestral models, rather than the bone saddle version on his concert bridges?  Did you try both and prefer the all-ebony tone?

Martin

----------


## labraid

Thanks, Jeff! Damping the strings at center is more effective than at the string ends. That really is the extent of why I place them where I do. They don't always photograph well, so I suppose it depends on my mood if they make it into the final pictures or not.  :Smile: 

Martin, the question could become very deep because tone itself is not a very easy question to answer.. But in essence, this _is_ an orchestral, and it is my intent to be true to the final intent of each instrument as an individual. I aim to always build for "best in class", and would never skimp on a detail that actually improved tone for the sake of economy. The bone saddle simply does not improve the tone of the orchestral in my opinion, it simply nudges it toward soloist tone.. Some aged and/or poorly built instruments lacking brightness will benefit from a bone saddle, thus bringing them up maybe closer to the tone we would expect, but no saddle will make an orchestral into a soloist, or vice-versa. At least, it should not, the two being very different beasts. Thanks Martin!

----------


## Giannis Tsoulogiannis

Beautifull work!
Bravo Brian!

----------


## DougC

Looks like spar varnish to me. The fret markers are very nice. Another winner Brian. Very nice.

----------


## labraid

For the varnish, all-natural sticklac (bug legs and twigs included, of course  :Smile:  ) is blended with naturally-occurring almond benzoine, gum mastic, Manila copal, and up to five other traditional resins in a high-grade alcohol. Left to saturate for a month and then filtered, the resulting varnish is quite hard, smells incredibly nice, and is food-grade -- it contains absolutely nothing artificial/man-made.  :Cool:

----------


## vkioulaphides

_Food_-grade varnish! Man, you sure know how to tantalize...  :Wink: 

Cheers,

Victor

----------


## mrmando

So, if you're lost in the desert with nothing but your mandolin...

----------


## labraid

mrmando, I happen to know that cynics are tastier, not to mention more filling, than this varnish... 

 :Smile:

----------


## wundo

Dean,
What is the difference between an orchestral modal and a soloist model?
Is there a price difference too?
thanks

----------


## labraid

Wundo, there are in fact a few differences. Put simply, the soloist mandolin is meant to project in order that it fill an entire concert hall, alone if need be. An orchestral, on the other hand, is by nature more sweet-toned for blending with a handful or more of other mandolins. It has greater and deeper range, is more cello-like, and is not generally meant to be heard above the orchestra, so volume is somewhat capped. Many claim that the orchestral is a nicer instrument to play alone in one's living room, for example, precisely because of the greater balance, sweetness etc.. This does depend on the instrument though -- "orchestral" being nearly as roughly obtuse as "A-model". The goal, however, is the above.
The 5-bis soloist requires a finer degree of precision to build. It must remain sweet-sounding even at the highest pushed volumes -- it cannot "break-up" at any range, even perhaps going so far as to challenge the player to "try and dig in more"... It is also an amazing accomplishment to build projective, full basses to match glass-like trebles, and that heard at the very back of the concert hall. It gets quite a bit of singular attention when it does so! Much rests on the back of the soloist, it having more responsibility to the success of the piece.. This, the greater precision required to build, and the status conferred on the player are all reasons for a slightly higher cost.
Thanks for your question!

----------


## Alex Timmerman

Hello Brian,

Congrats with your new 'Labraid Orchestral' mandolin. It is really a very nice looking instrument!


Best,

Alex

----------


## labraid

Thank you very much, Alex.

----------


## gw16

I've just returned from a great afternoon of chatting and brain-storming ideas for a mando Brian is soon to build for me and had the pleasure of playing this beauty.  Here's my take on this amazing little bowl back!  Surprisingly loud with a gorgeous, balanced tone with a slight lean towards the treble side, but overall a wonderful full sound.  It sounded killer to me straight out of the box but when I found the sweet spot - wow!  Very articulate and a joy to play.  My words to Brian were that it had a very comfortable, familiar feel to the short scale neck and perfect string spacing.  I had problems putting it down, and even when I did I think I took it out of the case at least three times just to hear it again.  Brian's attention to detail is fabulous.  From the tiny offset inlay at the 24th fret (you have to look hard, but it's there) to the flush mount pick guard.  Yes, the pick guard is inlayed into the top which Brian explained was so he could "tune" the top with the guard in place.  This made a lot of sense to me to tell you the truth.  Whatever the reasoning for it, that appointment alone gives it a really unique look and feel.  The hand cast tail piece has a little lock that allows quick access to change the strings - a great design and another ultra cool feature.   This little guy is something special and whoever winds up taking it home from the show is going to be a very, very fortunate player.  Killer job Brian & congratulations on a brilliant instrument.

----------


## labraid

gw16's website, which he very humbly omitted: www.fraidknot.ca... Don't be fooled by the loud rock, Glenn is an accomplished classical guitarist and a fine mandolinist to put it lightly. His acoustic Celtic sound was right at home on this mandolin... It's a sound I hope to hear revived in folk music in the very near future, in fact. This orchestral mandolin is not all classical, of course. My topic title is somewhat misleading... Sometimes a limited selection of words is all we have, that's also something I'd like to change in the near future. Its use in other genres can only be implied to date. We'll have to see I suppose...

Thanks for the very kind review, Glenn.

----------


## vkioulaphides

> This orchestral mandolin is not all classical, of course.


I would contend that NOTHING is "all classical".  :Wink: 

I look forward to actually _hearing_ one of your lovely creatures sing up close some day, Brian.

Cheers,

Victor

----------


## K. WONG

I have a post in "Classical Mandolin Solo Video on You Tube", in you tube you can see a Korean playing an Embergher 6 built by Mr Takusari in Japan.

----------


## Eugene

An intriguing instrument, artfully crafted with elegant voice.  Thank you for sharing it in Dayton, Brian.

----------


## Sammy_L_D

That's beautiful, congrats.

----------


## Jack Roberts

Until now, I thought my MAS had been cured.

----------

