# Instruments and Equipment > Videos, Pictures & Sound Files >  Finally Finished: Soliver #001

## soliver

Firstly, Mandolin Cafe, thanks for being patient with a nerd like me who is probably overly excited about his first build and my most humble apologies for "over sharing" my progress as I've gone through it .... what can I say, I'm excited and proud of myself. This all came out of a want to learn the craft by means of combining a newer love of Mandolins with 20 plus years of love with fine woodworking as a hobby and a profession. I've had way too much fun doing this and have every intention of building more. So I wanted to share the results with you all!

I used Graham McDonald's book and plans from Terry Majewski to build this Flatiron Army/Navy Style Flattop Mando. It has a Torrified Sitka top, mahogany back, sides, and neck, with a Ebony and Sapele headstock veneer and a radiused ebony fretboard. It also sports Grover 309 tuner and a Cumberland Acoustic Bridge.

I personally wanted to thank Terry Majewski, Graham McDonald, Marty Jacobson, Steve Smith, Ken Ratcliff and John Hamlett all for the emails and guidance. I am super pleased with how well it turned out and I owe a good deal of that to you all for your assistance.

Here you go:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sIu...ature=youtu.be




Thanks all!

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Bill Cameron, 

Bob Clark, 

bradeasley, 

bstanish, 

Cobalt, 

Doug Brock, 

Eric Platt, 

fatt-dad, 

Frankdolin, 

Gene Lewis, 

Gunnar, 

HonketyHank, 

Jean Andreasen, 

JH Murray, 

John Soper, 

Mandolin Cafe, 

Mark Gunter, 

Mark Seale, 

Mark Wilson, 

Marty Jacobson, 

MikeEdgerton, 

Northwest Steve, 

Randi Gormley, 

Southern Man, 

Steve 2E, 

Sue Rieter, 

Willem

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## Frankdolin

Very cool ! Congrats ! Now that's mando love at it's best. :Mandosmiley:

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soliver

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## Skip Kelley

Nice work Spencer! There's just something about those little flat top mandolins that I like. You know, now there's no turning back. It's time to clean off the workbench and start the next one. :Wink:

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Charles E., 

soliver

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## CES

Nice work, Spencer!

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soliver

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## Steve VandeWater

Very nice! Congrats!

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soliver

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## Sue Rieter

That's SO cool! It's been great watching your progress, and even better seeing the final result. It looks and sounds awesome!

Sue

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soliver

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## Bob Clark

Beautiful work, Spencer.  I really enjoyed watching your progress, as well as now seeing the final product of your efforts.  I'll now be watching for Reports of your next build!

Congratulations and best wishes,

Bob

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soliver

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## Mark Gunter

It's awesome, Spencer, congrats of the completed project!

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soliver

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## soliver

Thanks everyone!... I've already got plans and ideas for my next 2 builds! 

I'm hoping by #004 I'll be brave enough to try carving plates!

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## Timbofood

Take your time when carving! That’s a darned nice looking #1! Good work.

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soliver

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## Randi Gormley

So nice! congrats!

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soliver

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## Drew Streip

Gorgeous! And it sounds just like a mandolin, too  :Wink:  

Love that headstock veneer... reminds me of my own guitar #001. Can't wait to see the next one(s).

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soliver

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## Jim Garber

I love the look of your mandolin, Spencer. Very nice. Sounds great, too.

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soliver

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## Denny Gies

Soliver, thank you.  You should be proud.

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soliver

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## Bill McCall

Congratulations!  While I know you've been working on this awhile, I'm still envious at the speed with which you got it done, ie, you kept after it.  Not all of us do that :Frown: 

Beautiful job :Smile:

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soliver

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## MikeEdgerton

Nice! That looks great.

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## HonketyHank

Looks good and sounds good, too! Great combo.

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## soliver

> Congratulations!  While I know you've been working on this awhile, I'm still envious at the speed with which you got it done, ie, you kept after it.  Not all of us do that
> 
> Beautiful job


Thanks Bill... whenever I had a home improvement project, I was able to set it aside and work on wherever I needed, but I made sure to put in 30 min to an hour on the mando in spite of whatever else I had going on.

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## Nevin

Very nice, clean and elegant.

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soliver

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## Graham McDonald

Nice one!. Now, on to number 2... You didn't think you were going to stop at one, did you 8-)

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soliver

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## Louise NM

Looks and sounds, terrific, Spencer! How long until this is your primary, full-time job?

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soliver

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## soliver

> Nice one!. Now, on to number 2... You didn't think you were going to stop at one, did you 8-)


Thank's Graham, your book was a BIG help!... while not every step was 100% applicable to this particular instrument, the step by step was very helpful!

And numbers 2 and 3 are already in the planning stages.

#002: Another flattop using wood from a 60 yr old Redbud tree we cut down in the front yard that was original to the house when we bought it. I have some slabs that have been drying for about 6 months that should be ready to resaw for the back. Hoping to do a redwood top with F holes, black topped with white binding. Meant to make something meaningful out of meaningful pieces of wood and to hone the skills learned with #001.

#003: This is a big maybe, but I'm thinking a "Djangola" ... a flattop, Selmer Shaped Mandola... just seems like a cool idea... plus I've always wanted a 'dola.

#004: Finally exploring carving plates

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## usqebach

Spencer,

Congratulations on that first build!

Looks great, and sounds even better!

I saw you a NMC a few weeks back - hope all is well there.

I'm sure I'll cross paths with this mandolin sometime in the future.

All the best,

Jim

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soliver

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## GeoMandoAlex

well done soliver

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soliver

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## JH Murray

So will you be putting one of your excellent arm rests on it as well?

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soliver

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## bgpete

Nice job - looks good and sounds great! I've played a few of those babies over the years and none of them sounded as good as yours - it's got pop!

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soliver

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## soliver

Thanks Jim, yea I was on stage at NMC the last Sunday of Sept and again last Sunday... they're a great talented group of people to play music with!




> So will you be putting one of your excellent arm rests on it as well?


I most definitely will! I just want to let the varnish to cure for about a month. I also want to add a tonegard-like device that I've seen someone made here on the cafe to help hold it off my stomach.

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## soliver

*Drat!!! Failure!!!*

So I noticed every time I picked up the mando, that every string was flat and assumed that the strings were just taking a long while to settle... then, I started getting fret buzz where I didn't before... I worked on the frets last night and restrung it and let it sit overnight... just checked it and the top is seriously sagging.

Bummer!!! I'll investigate later and share what I find.

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## Sue Rieter

That's a major bummer. Hope it's something easy.

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## Charles E.

Oh no, so sad to hear. Did you put a induced arch in the top when you braced it?

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## soliver

> Oh no, so sad to hear. Did you put a induced arch in the top when you braced it?


Yes!

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## Bob Clark

> *Drat!!! Failure!!!*
> .


Hey Spencer,

I am really sorry to learn of your mandolin's issue.  This is very sad, to be sure.  But really, don't take it as a failure.  I am sure that you learned a tremendous amount on this build, and now you will learn a bit more.  See if you can fix the problem on this one, and also apply what you learn on the next one.  You really have had quite a victory here.  I, and certainly others here as well, look forward to following your next build.  In the meantime, please let us know what you learn about this one's issue.

Best wishes,

Bob

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soliver

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## soliver

Just wanted to update you guys on the status of the issue with #001.

I've exchanged a few emails with a few different builders who have helped offer some guidance through the build. As I had suspected, the glue failed on the main brace under the bridge on the bass side. John Hamlett pointed out to me that if the bracing wasn't tucked well enough under the kerfed lining, that this can happen under the tension of the strings... So I realized that I made a rookie mistake of not being attentive enough to this part of the build by not being particularly carful to keep the lining fully in tact over the bracing. I was not aware of how this particular geometry played such a role in the integrity of the top of the mando... Lesson learned!

Again, many thanks to Marty Jacobson, Steve Smith and John Hamlett for their advice.

Approaching the repair through the sound hole seems more difficult than necessary and I'm not sure I'd be able to do the repair effectively that way either. My plan is to remove the back being more attentive to the condition of the sides and top, and simply rebuild and refinish the back. I have plenty of mahogany left over and this should prove relatively easy.

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Bob Clark, 

Eric Platt, 

Jess L., 

Sue Rieter

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## pops1

You could reuse the back it you are careful when you take it off.

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## soliver

What a great learning experience this is!

Marty came by today to hang out and brought me a seam separating knife and gave me a great description of how to get it repaired. We hung out for a little bit to shoot the breeze and when he headed out, it started to rain which hampered my "wife-and-kids-are-out-of-town" honey do list, so why not take advantage of that time and head out to the shop and give 'er a go!

I was a little intimidated by trying to get the back off, but it turned out to be easier than expected:

 




> You could reuse the back it you are careful when you take it off.


My original intent was to not be too concern about it, but it looks like it might be possible to reuse the back. I may add some binding to the back as well to help cover up any ugliness from the repair, but that remains to be seen.

Found that the bracing had separated from the top from the side, to about 2" from the side. And while I did tuck the bracing under the kerfed lining, there was probably about a 1/32" gap between the bottom go the lining and the top of the bracing... its amazing how much such a small gap can effect an instrument!

 

Per Marty's advice, I planed and chiseled away the entire brace and will completely replace it and also add some small blocking to help support the bracing from the sides as the Lining should have done... after I buy a new bottle of wood glue; mine is kinda old, so why risk it. The pile of wood chips used to be the brace.

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Gunnar

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## Nick Gellie

Yeah I have been in the same place as you have been not fixing a brace and instead removing a back and putting a new one on.  It is not for the faint hearted.  I remember replugging the holes in a headstock and redrilling new ones on one side of the headstock.  Great stuff and a shout out to Marty Jacobson for helping you out.

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Marty Jacobson

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## JEStanek

Well done!

Jamie

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## soliver

So I have completely removed the old brace and scraped any remaining glue. One thing I noticed about this piece of spruce, and I'm not sure if it's just this particular piece of spruce or possibly the torrification process, but the grain has been very "stringy" where the fibers have pulled apart somewhat easily and concerns me to some small degree. In spite of this, I've remade and installed a new brace, and added in some small but substantial blocking to do the job that the kerfed lining was supposed to do.

  

All the interior work being done, I've glued the back _back_ on. I bought some more binding with the intent of using it if the seam looked wonky after regluing the back, but it doesn't really look like it needs it; and last night I glued back on the heel cap.



It's going to take some sanding to prep, but I'll start the refinishing of the back soon, and I plan to do some polishing of the top and I think that ought to do it.

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## sunburst

Somehow I missed that this top is torrefied. I have only limited experience with torrefied wood, but it does tend to split more readily and has the reputation of not gluing well sometimes. I suspect that might be the reason (at least partly) for the stringiness. 
Especially if the process is slightly overdone, the wood can be downright fragile.

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## soliver

Thanks John, that's good to know!... it hasn't seemed fragile, but I can see why people would say it doesn't glue well. Where the glue failed, it pulled off in small torn fibers. Hopefully the blocking that I added should keep that from happing again.

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Marty Jacobson

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## soliver

Just wanted to update here again. I've finished up 3 coats of Epifanes oil varnish, sanded to 1500x and applied my first coat of Tru Oil... almost back to normal.

 

Been working on the tune Banish Misfortune to re-inaugurate #001!

BTW, I'd like to introduce our newest addition to the family; meet Mr. Tumnus, our 11 week old English Cream Dachshund. He's been with us about 3 weeks now and is shaping up to be a great dog! ... Dachshunds always have such great personalities!

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Charles E., 

Eric Platt, 

Gunnar

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## Bill Cameron

Inspiring!

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soliver

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## Zach Wilson

Its been fun watching your progress! I am incredibly impressed. #001 looks awesome   :Smile:

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## Cary Fagan

Mr. Tumnus--that's from C.S. Lewis, yes?

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## soliver

> Mr. Tumnus--that's from C.S. Lewis, yes?


Yes, our older dog is named Lucy after the Character in Lewis's The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (a family favorite), so "Mr. Tumnus" only made sense.

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## soliver

> Its been fun watching your progress! I am incredibly impressed. #001 looks awesome


Thanks!

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## usqebach

Spencer,

In addition to your initiative to build an instrument, I'm also in admiration of your discipline to start off simply.  That way, even if something went really awry, you haven't invested an inordinate amount of time and effort on the ancillary stuff (binding, inlay, etc, not to mention arching).  I think both the trials and the successes you are having now will go a long way to inspire you make ever more refined instruments.  I'm rehabbing tendinitis in my elbow, so I'm not playing, but you know where to reach me if you ever want to show off your latest creation.

Oh, and beautiful dog!!  Just texted a picture to the wife.  She's starting to cave (Jethro the Wonderbeagle set me back a decade from her allowing another dog in the house).  Where did you acquire him?

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Marty Jacobson, 

soliver

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## JeffD

Very nice. Well done.

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soliver

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## soliver

Thanks Jeff and Thanks Jim for your kind words! Sorry to hear you've not been able to play that great mando you've got! 

You definitely hit the nail on the head; my intention was definitely to start simple, not only for the sake of not investing a ridiculous amount of effort If it turned into a major catastrophe, but also because I find a great deal of attraction in simplicity. Call me a minimalist, but I just prefer a clean and simple look. 

As far as Tumnus goes, he came from a breeder in Duluth that my wife found online. She had a dachshund when we met so long ago, and that sweet dog turned out to be the ring bearer in our wedding and live to be a ripe old 18 yrs! Ever since, she has played with the idea of getting another and we finally bit the bullet as a very early Christmas present to our kids. Totally worth it!

Back to the mando... polished the Tru Oil this evening and will let it sit a few days for finally assembly and set up maybe Saturday evening. Honestly, I think the finish looks better now than it did when I first finished it.... since I Didn't add any varnish to the top only added a single coat of Tru Oil, I'm comfortable going ahead and adding all the bits and bobs with it only "curing" for a few days.

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## usqebach

Yes, I'm seeing a lot of beauty in the simplicity and attention to detail in that mandolin.  

Here's to a return to it's playing form!

(I may call you sometime about the name of that breeder, but "The Queen" isn't there yet.  I'm still working on her!) Do you think she takes trade ins??? (That's Oliver, aka "The curse of my very existence!!)

Jim

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Marty Jacobson, 

soliver

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## Marty Jacobson

Your dog looks like a Luck Dragon! (80's kid here...)

So glad you were able to get it back together without having to do anything more invasive, looks great!

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## soliver

> Your dog looks like a Luck Dragon! (80's kid here...)
> 
> So glad you were able to get it back together without having to do anything more invasive, looks great!


If we end up getting another, we can name it Falcor! LOL!!!

Thanks so much for all your help, Marty! I've gotten it all out back together and playing wonderfully! Will post a video really as soon as I can.

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Marty Jacobson

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## shanekeith

How can I get in touch to order an armrest?

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## soliver

Sorry for the delay getting this out there, but its all back together an back to normal!

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HonketyHank, 

Jess L., 

Marty Jacobson, 

Sue Rieter

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## Sue Rieter

It's always great when a story has a happy ending  :Mandosmiley:

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soliver

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## usqebach

Glad it's back and sounding great!

Love the playing, nice lilt!!

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soliver

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## HonketyHank

Good on ya! I am impressed with how you have accomplished this first build. I am sure there will be more.

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soliver

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## soliver

Thanks guys, and yes Hank it shall not be the last.

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## soliver

*Finally finished #002 now!* 

I didn't want to start a whole new thread, but I did want to share that I have completed #002:



I had some preliminary discussion with Marty about some things I wanted to try and do differently and he gave me some sound guidance. So what's different? Well to start with, I veered from the original plans (again utilizing Terry's flat top plans) by making the body deeper by roughly 3/16", and by making it with f-holes rather than an oval. The cool part IMO is that I traced the f-holes form my daughters violin. In order to fit the f-holes, I did this mandolin X-braced rather than the traditional A or H shaped bracing that is standard in most A/N pancake mandos like this. Furthermore, Terry's plans call for a 10' Radius induced arch, but I did a 7' radius making it still deeper to a degree. I also took this opportunity to learn to make my own bridge. Originally I had intended to do the typical adjustable bridge, perhaps even another CA bridge like #001, but after some encouragement from some of the other builders here, I opted to go with a single piece fixed bridge. I used the Red Henry page to accomplish this and am pleased with the results.

This instrument is also a little unique because the back and sides are made of Redbud wood. This wood came from a tree that was likely planted in the front yard of my house when it was built in the 60's (we bought it in 2003). It was the largest redbud I have ever seen and many arborists that came to look at it said it was the biggest they had seen as well. Despite how much cared for it, it was dieing, so I had to cut it down. All told I made this instrument to keep forever.

I learned several things with this one as well, not only was this the first time I did inlay, but it was also the first time I had to pay attention to bridge compensation ... something you don't think about if you never make your own bridge. I also learned more about finishing. In hindsight, I should have pitched the varnish I had and bought more. I was using the leftovers in a can from my last build and it had thickened and created some issues. That said, I will have to pay better attention to finishing in future builds. 

I was able to finish it last week in time to my local jam and it really performed well. It projects like a monster and it sounds really nice tonally (at least that say opinion... but I may be biased).

so here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0SiQDp6ZbE

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Bob Clark, 

Gene Lewis, 

HonketyHank, 

Jess L., 

Steve 2E

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## Sue Rieter

Wow, Spencer, kudos to you. That is a fine looking and sounding mandolin. I _really_ like the way it turned out, the redbud is really something. It's very creative, you have alot of talent. How cool to make your own instrument just the way you want it  :Mandosmiley:

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soliver

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## Bill McCall

Congratulations, a very nice job.

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soliver

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## Bob Clark

Nice job Spencer!  Congratulations on a beautiful build.

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soliver

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## mandrian

Spencer,

Think #002 sounds great. Big improvement over #001. Keep it up and #003 should be special.


Regards,

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soliver

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## Frankdolin

Niice. :Mandosmiley:

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soliver

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## soliver

Its been a little over 2 weeks now, and I have played #002 at my local jam twice and in my church orchestra once an it has performed quite admirably! It has the volume to really stand out in a Jam and the sustain and tone to perform well in orchestral settings. Frankly,  its just a peach to play tremolo on. It has a very sweet tone when played gently, but is poppy and loud when you want it to be. The neck is a little chunkier than my SA and I am finding that to actually be very comfortable, particularly with the light gauged strings. With what happened to the top of #001, I am watching it like a hawk, making sure nothing is going on there,... so far, so good!

All of that being said, thanks for humoring me, and thanks for the compliments and encouragement. It means a lot  :Grin:

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## HonketyHank

I really like the mandolin, Spencer. And I am envious of your picking. Folks, I am proud to say that he was a fellow Newbie a while back. He graduated. I'm still working on it.

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soliver

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## John Kelly

Lovely job, Spencer, and a great-sounding instrument too!  Sounds well-balanced across all the courses.

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soliver

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## Jess L.

Looks and sounds great!  :Mandosmiley:

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