# Instruments and Equipment > Builders and Repair >  Holst F4 custom build

## jmagill

Hi Everyone,

Oregon luthier Stephen Holst has begun construction on a custom F4 for me, with delivery expected in October, and I've begun this build thread so you can join with me in seeing the instrument take shape.

First of all, it was this oval-hole Monteleone, (my favorite of all the mandolins I have owned, but sold many years ago), that was the inspiration for this project:



Like the Monteleone, the Holst will have a radiused fingerboard, 15 frets to the body, and, I hope, a unique sound, combining the sweet tone of an F4 with some of the pop, projection and volume of an F5.

As with the other guitars and mandolins I have commissioned, the process I've found that works well for me is to describe to the luthier as carefully and completely as possible the sound I'm after, then let him decide on the woods and major design considerations that will get us there.

In Steve, however, I found a talented luthier who was also eager to collaborate with me in a new, modern re-imagining of the classic Gibson F4. Using his basic body shape, I was given free rein to design my 'dream F4', with input from Steve when my vision conflicted with practical, real-world considerations.

As the process goes forward, and more build pics arrive, I'll be describing in more detail the features and specs of the mandolin, but perhaps these will do for now:

- top: red spruce
- back & sides: quilted (red?) maple
- slightly elongated 'hook' scroll
- modified body points

Here are the bass side and neck block rim sections in the body mold, showing the instrument's general contours. The body points are more gently rounded and subtle than a typical F-style body:

 

The carving of the top has also begun:

 

Steve writes that at this point the scroll is left thick and overlarge. Its final shaping will take place once the body is assembled.

More to come...

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Jan Viljoen, 

JEStanek, 

robert.najlis

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## JEStanek

Congrats and enjoy the build process.

Jamie

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## sgarrity

I love his style.  Looking forward to seeing the final product!

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## Matt the Mead Maker

Looks like it's going to be a beauty! Please keep us in the loop!

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## Marty Jacobson

> Like the Monteleone, the Holst will have a radiused fingerboard, 15 frets to the body, and, I hope, a unique sound, combining the sweet tone of an F4 with some of the pop, projection and volume of an F5.


Sounds cool -- you're fortunate to have Mr. Holst building this for you. Looks like it's going to be great. 
Is it going to be X braced? I'm just thinking that this instrument is basically an F5 with an oval hole, so the bracing and graduations will probably be pretty different from an F5.

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## John Duncan

Jim,

Looks like you've got a very unique mandolin in your future! Awesome!

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## jmagill

Hi Martin,




> Sounds cool -- you're fortunate to have Mr. Holst building this for you. Looks like it's going to be great. 
> Is it going to be X braced? I'm just thinking that this instrument is basically an F5 with an oval hole, so the bracing and graduations will probably be pretty different from an F5.


An F5 with an oval hole is a pretty good way to look at it. Steve is really excited about the project  a very good thing indeed. I'm on the road at the moment and don't have access to my notes, but I'm pretty sure the Holst will be X-braced.

Cheers, 
Jim

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## swinginmandolins

Very cool! Steve is great to work with and you won't be disappointed!! I miss the one I had to sell, but the one I still have just keeps getting better! Will be watching for updates.

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## Mark Seale

Congrats on the new build.  The Monte Oval hole that inspired it haunts my dreams on a regular basis, that is ultimate MAS.

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## jmagill

Steve's been working on the top and sent these pics.

Here's the top held up next to his bench light. Steve writes, "You can see how the top thins out towards the edges... It does show how a builder's "sound" is unique. One person's taper will be very different from another's. All will sound different."


In the next photo the soundhole has been cut and the top braces are resting on the top. Steve marks the points where the thumb wheel posts will be and the extreme edges of the bridge base. Each brace will be located under the thumb wheel location on the x-brace:


The braces are clamped:


And here's the finished bracing on the top signed and dated by Steve:


more to come...

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## jmagill

Here's a photo of the ribbon curl maple Steve will be using for the neck. Should look good with the quilted maple back & sides. It will be a three-piece neck, so he'll rip this piece down the center, then re-glue the two pieces with a 1/16" dark contrasting strip sandwiched between them.

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## Tiderider

Very nice, I can't wait to see the next batch of pictures.  Congrats

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## jmagill

This pine mockup of the neck & fingerboard arrived today from Steve. 

He wanted me to check the neck profile and radius for 'feel' so I could be sure the real neck is going to fit me just right. You can see where he's marked where the nut and frets 1, 5, 7, 10 & 12 will be. 

Pretty cool attention to detail and customer service, I think.

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hank, 

Jim Garber, 

robert.najlis

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## Pete Jenner

> Pretty cool attention to detail and customer service, I think.


You can say that again!

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## spenser

Jim-I was lucky enough to buy Terry's Holst. They are well worth the wait. Great mandolin that keeps getting better. You will enjoy it

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## jmagill

Steve just sent a photo of the quilted maple for the one-piece back. 

Mine is the bottom piece, closest to the camera. The piece on top will be used for a mandolin being built for my old music partner, Rick, who is getting an asymmetrical 2-point oval-holed Holst.



Another view:



The carving for the neck should be finished up this week.

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## Spruce

Nice!
Those pieces are bookmatched, so both your mandolins will have a very similar look on the back....

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## Dale Ludewig

Yikes!  That's some serious material.  I think Mr. Holst does some very fine work.

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## jmagill

Steve's been working hard on the neck. The first photo shows the rough cut of the neck with trussrod installed and the ebony and cocobolo headplate veneer laid for position over the headstock. The second photo shows the finished neck with the ebony backplate glued and the neck shaped. In the third photo, taken before final shaping, you can see that the backplate is actually inset into the wood instead of laying on top of it like some are.

  

In the final photo the neck is fitted (but not yet glued) to the top & sides.




It's starting to look like a mandolin....

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## Marty Jacobson

> It's starting to look like a mandolin....


Like a really, really nice mandolin!

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## Pete Jenner

Has the dovetail been shimmed with cocobolo or is that a shadow?

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## jmagill

> Has the dovetail been shimmed with cocobolo or is that a shadow?


 I noticed that, too. I'm not sure. Maybe I'll ask Steve.

Jim

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## Pete Jenner

Not that I'd be worried about it at all. My understanding is that shimming is an important and often employed technique used to ensure proper alignment of the body and neck and in no way undermines the structural integrity of the joint.

I was just curious as to why he used cocobolo. Probably had a bit left from the peghead that was close to the correct thickness.

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## jmagill

Here was Steve's reply about the shim on the dovetail in the photo;

_"I like the joint to be very evenly tight fitting and I almost never get it perfect with my initial cut. I cut the dovetail on the body with a router so it's consistent and perfect.  I mark the dovetail on the neck and it's held at the proper angle by a wood jig.  I use the band saw to cut this out.  From there I hand fit it to the body making sure that I maintain the right back angle as well as straightness with the center line.  All this while making sure the fit to the body is tight and there's no gaps anywhere.  Invariably I need to adjust things so I often use a shim to make sure after I alter the dovetail that it still fits nice and tight.  It's absolutely critical that the neck fit well.  I use whatever is laying around to shim with."_

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Pete Jenner

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## Pete Jenner

Thanks Jim - pretty much what I thought.

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## jmagill

The rosette is nearly finished. The outer channel will get a simple black/white/black ring similar to the hole's binding.



Next is the final shaping of the scroll ridge.

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## jmagill

Here's the bound headstock of ebony and cocobolo with Holst's logo in metalflake.



And here's the body, with completed rosette, in the mold.



The back should be joined to the top and sides soon...

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## jmagill

Here's the top and sides with the binding channels routed, resting on Steve's routing tool. All but the scroll is done here. The channel for the scroll binding is done by hand.



This is the finished top binding (black with a thin line of white purfling) alongside the neck and a few guitar necks in progress.

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## jmagill

The neck and the support for the fingerboard extension have been glued on. The back has now also been glued on and most of the binding channels have been routed, leaving only the back's scroll bindings which have to be cut by hand. Like the top, the ridge on the scroll has been left high for now and will not be so pronounced in the finished instrument.

Steve writes, "Since the back is glued on, I'm able to tap the top and hear the instrument's tone. This one has a really great low woody tone. The back is helping us out a lot here. It's very flexible and enhances the low end."

Click the image for a better view of the one-piece quilted back.

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## Jim Garber

I love this design and just re-read this thread. Holst has been very much of interest to me since he is not afraid to go off afield from the std designs. I am a fan of oval holes so am esp interested in how this one turns out. 

What will you have him do for the fretboard ornamentation? Will it be similar to the Monteleone? My preference would be to keep it simple -- either no inlays on the front of the board or very subtle small dots. I think that would keep it elegant and understated... but that is just me.

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## jmagill

Hi Jim,

I'm tempted to say, "You'll soon see..." but I can tell you the fretmarkers will be cocobolo and will echo the curved 'dome' shape at the top of the headstock. We might see a photo or two next week...

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## Jim Garber

Very cool... I like this way this is going. You must be getting excited.

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## jmagill

> Very cool... I like this way this is going. You must be getting excited.


I am. 

It's tremendously satisfying to find a talented luthier who essentially agreed to act as my 'hands' to create the mandolin I dreamed up. 

The sound is paramount, of course, and I'm understandably anxious about the 'moment of truth' when I play it for the first time, but since a full, throaty low end is a big part of the sound I specified, Steve's comments about this instrument's "great low woody tone" are very encouraging.

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## Jim Garber

Jim: Had you played many of Stephen's instruments before commissioning this one?

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## jmagill

> Jim: Had you played many of Stephen's instruments before commissioning this one?


None.

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## Charles E.

I have a fondness for F-4's, this one looks totally wonderfull. Thank's for sharing the building process.

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## Skip Kelley

Jim, that is a fine looking mandolin! I really admire Stephens work! Looking forward to seeing some pictures of the completed mandolin!

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## jmagill

Here's the latest photo from Steve, with this note:

"Here the fingerboard with inner white binding line is pinned into place 
(not glued yet).  Once glued in place I'll glue on the outer bindings 
and then radius and fret it.  The extension is slightly oversized so I 
can trim it flush with the outer bindings when they are in place.  The 
back bindings will be scraped flush to the body now that they're dry."

The extension will allow the fingerboard to float over the top and will eventually be beveled in on the sides a bit to remove some mass. The cocobolo section of the fingerboard after the last (19th) fret will be scooped.

The staining begins next week...

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Jim Garber

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## almeriastrings

Looking absolutely great. I can imagine jazz and swing pickers drooling over this one.

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## jmagill

> Looking absolutely great. I can imagine jazz and swing pickers drooling over this one.


Well, Steve builds a lot of jazz guitars, and that experience is part of the reason I chose him. 

This mandolin will, hopefully, have a fresh, contemporary look to it that I imagine would appeal to jazz players. The finger-rest, tailpiece and stain will all reinforce this look. 

Stay tuned...

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## jmagill

More pictures.

The back binding is now completed, and a cocobolo heelcap installed:



A shot from the front, with the fingerboard installed and bound:



The neckblock extension support has its final shaping: 



Tomorrow, Steve says he will radius and fret the fingerboard, and scoop the cocobolo extension.

I wrote him that it's starting to hint at the beauty the finished instrument will have.

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hank

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## Marty Jacobson

Delectable. Digging the cocobolo inlays, nice collaboration!

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## sgarrity

This is one of the coolest designs I've seen in a long time.

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## jmagill

Thanks fellas. I'm flattered.

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## Pete Jenner

It's been fun watching this one come together.

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## Charles E.

What type of finish will it have?

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## jmagill

> What type of finish will it have?


Steve knows our goals for this mandolin, so I've left it to him. I believe an oil varnish is his preference.

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## hank

Beautiful wood sculpting Mr. Holst and a Great overall visual design Jim.  I've never had the opportunity to test drive a hybrid or Gibson Snakehead and in my ignorance am curious about their sustain and response.  My two experiences are one of long sustaining, ringing sweet tone of old Gibsons with slower response charateristics that can easily be overdriven and lightening fast response F5's with little sustain or ring. My F5 is a Goldrush with reduced apertures that really fires the notes out as quickly as I can play them. It's practically impossible to overdrive it but its notes are so brief that I mentally remind myself to hold my finger in place as long as possible to get a more full sound as opposed to a pip of a note during runs,etc.   Can these hybrids have long sustain and fast response?  Do you play them occasionally right hand muting to control the sustain like we do with booming guitars?

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## jmagill

> Can these hybrids have long sustain and fast response?  Do you play them occasionally right hand muting to control the sustain like we do with booming guitars?


I hope to have an answer for you soon, Hank. 

When the instrument arrives and I've had some time to evaluate it, I'll post a full review on the 'Guitar Reviews' page at my personal website. If you have a look at the reviews for my guitars, a 2007 Circa OM, a 2009 Bashkin 00 and a 2010 Circa 00, you'll see that I try to be as descriptive, objective and methodical as I can in my evaluations.

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hank

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## jmagill

The frets are in:



We went with EVO frets and a fingerboard radius of 6". 

If that sounds like a lot, consider this: the fingerboard will only be 1 3/16" at the nut. This image shows various radii with the vertical lines 1 3/16" apart.



I've printed this out at actual size, and while two guitar necks with radiused fingerboards of 11 1/2" and 6" would be noticeably different, at a width of a mandolin's neck you can see there's really not a lot of difference in the curve of the two radii. Also, when Steve sent me the pine mockup of the neck to test for feel, it had a 6" radius and it felt great to me.

In this photo the fingerboard extension has been scooped  3/32":



Next is the final sanding and rounding of the binding edges.

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## Pete Jenner

The scooping brings out the colour and grain of the cocobolo nicely.

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## Bernie Daniel

> The frets are in:
> 
> We went with EVO frets and a fingerboard radius of 6".  If that sounds like a lot, consider this: the fingerboard will only be 1 3/16" at the nut. This image shows various radii with the vertical lines 1 3/16" apart.
> 
> I've printed this out at actual size, and while two guitar necks with radiused fingerboards of 11 1/2" and 6" would be noticeably different, at a width of a mandolin's neck you can see there's really not a lot of difference in the curve of the two radii. Also, when Steve sent me the pine mockup of the neck to test for feel, it had a 6" radius and it felt great to me...


That graphic of the fret board with different radii was very worthwhile seeing.  It got me thinking -- I have a Gibson Sam Bush and it also has a 1 3/16" nut with a radiused fret board but I have no idea what the radius is -- never seen it written down.  But I very much like the feel of it.  

When I made a new fret board for my mandocello last spring (it's 1.5" at the nut) I selected a radius of 9" -- looking at your chart maybe I should have gone with 11'' as on the wider nut you can definitely notice it.

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## jmagill

> The scooping brings out the colour and grain of the cocobolo nicely.


Yep; this was Steve's idea.

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## Skip Kelley

Jim, We need some more pictures of this awesome mandolin!

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## jmagill

The mandolin is now in the finish stages. Here's a shot of the bindings being scraped before varnish clear coats are applied. This shot is a week or so old, and I expect that by now it already has a couple of coats of varnish on it.

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Ed Goist

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## jmagill

One more shot of the back, after the binding has been scraped and before the varnish has gone on. 

This one got my heart thumping...

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Charles E., 

Ed Goist

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## Jim Garber

I love that subtle burst. This is going to be a beautiful mandolin.

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## jmagill

This shot was after three coats of varnish. Steve thinks the last coat will go on this week, and while it cures he'll make the bridge, pickguard and tailpiece. Getting close...

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Carleton Page, 

Charles E., 

Ed Goist

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## Skip Kelley

Jim, That's looking great! I bet you're excited to say the least!

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## Jim Garber

Yikes, _I_ am getting excited. Living vicariously thru you, Jim.

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## jmagill

> Jim, That's looking great! I bet you're excited to say the least!


Yes, indeed, but wait, there's more. The tailpiece and fingerboard, as you'll see, are an integral part of the design, and the bridge, while nothing out of the ordinary, will be sized to fit the Monteleone bone bridge I saved from the mandolin in the first photo of this thread...

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## jmagill

Oops, meant to say pickguard, not fingerboard... Maybe I'm getting TOO excited.

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## jmagill

The final varnish coat is on.

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## LeonEvans

Hi Jim,

If it sounds even half as good as it looks, it should be magnificent. That back is incredible.  I know it's been a long wait, but it will be worth it.  Now you only have to wait for the varnish to dry.  Be careful with it for the first six months or so as it will still be soft and continuing to cure.

Your friend with the Holst in Las Vegas,

Leon

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## ShaneJ

That is going to be one COOL mandolin.

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## jmagill

> Hi Jim,
> 
> If it sounds even half as good as it looks, it should be magnificent. That back is incredible.  I know it's been a long wait, but it will be worth it.  Now you only have to wait for the varnish to dry.  Be careful with it for the first six months or so as it will still be soft and continuing to cure.
> 
> Your friend with the Holst in Las Vegas,
> 
> Leon


Hi Leon,

Thanks for the tip. I hope your Holst continues to blossom.

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## jmagill

The pickguard is being glued up...

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## jmagill

The finished pickguard:

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## jmagill

The tailpiece is finished:



Early next week the finish will have cured enough for Steve to install the tuners, pickguard, tailpiece and bridge and then it will soon be on its way to its new home here in the North Carolina mountains...

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Charles E., 

Marty Jacobson

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## Rick Jones

I just re-read this thread for the umpteenth time - this mandolin is just breathtaking. I _so_ admire the builders who can take a fairly 'standard' design and yet make it uniquely their own. This is just stunning!

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## jmagill

> I just re-read this thread for the umpteenth time - this mandolin is just breathtaking. I _so_ admire the builders who can take a fairly 'standard' design and yet make it uniquely their own. This is just stunning!


Rick,

As the designer, I thank you. 

It's been a rare treat to work with a luthier willing to build whatever I could dream up, though it was Steve's own aesthetic sense that first attracted me to him, and some of the features of this instrument were extrapolated from his own work. 

It's been a terrific collaboration, and while the real proof will be in the sound, I have high hopes for this mandolin.

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## jmagill

The mandolin is getting its final polishing. It will be time to install the hardware soon...

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## Marty Jacobson

Wow, that really came together. I have always admired Stephen's tailpiece designs, but this is the coolest one he's made yet!

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## Pete Jenner

I don't like most sunbursts but that colour is gorgeous. That's one of the best looking instruments I've seen on this site. You must be getting excited.

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## jmagill

> Wow, that really came together. I have always admired Stephen's tailpiece designs, but this is the coolest one he's made yet!


Marty,

As you'll see once the tailpiece is installed, I wanted the rounded point or 'dome'-shape of the tailpiece to echo that of the position markers and headstock, while its indented 'wings' suggest the headstock's notches. When the tailpiece, bridge and pickguard are installed, all the design elements will hopefully come together in an integrated whole. It shouldn't be long, now. 




> I don't like most sunbursts but that colour is gorgeous. That's one of the best looking instruments I've seen on this site. You must be getting excited.


Peter,

Sunbursts can be problematic for me, too, but Steve was able to give me exactly the color I was hoping for, reminiscent of my old 1915 F4 that was a very deep red. I specified no yellow in the sunburst and sent him nearly a dozen photos of instruments with a similar color to use as a target, but the red in the big photo of the top above really pops, just like I wanted.

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## Jim Garber

Whew, Jim! I like this combination of a modernized classic look. If this thing sounds as good as it looks already, I may have to put myself on Steve's list.  That subtle sunburst is exactly what I would want -- in fact I talked about that very same thing with another potential luthier once.

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## jmagill

> Whew, Jim! I like this combination of a modernized classic look. If this thing sounds as good as it looks already, I may have to put myself on Steve's list...


Jim,

Well, as you know, the proof is in the playing, but I feel confident that Steve has a good idea of the sound I want, and he seems pleased by the taptones he's getting from this box, so I'm optimistic. I'll know for sure soon...

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## jmagill

All finished except for the truss rod cover....

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## Pete Jenner

That's all class.

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## jmagill

My Stephen Holst Custom F4 mandolin was strung up for the first time yesterday, and is being shipped from Oregon today. It will hopefully arrive here in North Carolina in the middle of next week. 

When it does, I'll take lots of hi-res photos, and after I've had some time to evaluate it, post all the photos and my player's review at my website here. 

I'll also start a new thread under the "Post a picture of your mandolin" forum category.

Until then, here are a few of the last photos that Steve took.

It's been a wonderfully creative journey and I'm looking forward to seeing/playing/hearing the results.

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## Pete Jenner

> It's been a wonderfully creative journey...


It sure has been Jim and a magnificent one. Enjoy.

Oh and don't forget the obligatory sound clips.

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## Jim Garber

Man, Jim, can you wait that long.  I thought you would be flying out to Oregon.

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## Marty Jacobson

Wow. Stunning work! A masterpiece.

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## chipotle

That is one beautiful instrument! I love the color and the subdued burst and that back is eye popping! Wow!

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## billhay4

Mr. Holst is a bit of a genius, isn't he?
Bill

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## Stoker

Just ran across this. That is a stunning instrument. Innovative and thoughtfully detailed, on every level.

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