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I always suggest a 22" scale as good compromise between playability and tone. Much shorter and the heavy strings that are needed sound too thuddy and longer makes melodic plays harder. It depends on...

My Ashbury Octave Mandola is about 13.5” wide with a 20” scale. So I think you’re in the right ball park. Recommended strings on it are 014/.022w/.032w/.045w. Don’t know how well they would work on a...

You'll probably be more limited by what you feel is the optimal bridge position unless you don't care what fret the neck joins the body at. That said, you can do pretty much whatever you want. I'd...

Thanks, Jason! It has a Carpathian top which is something that I was first turned on to by one of your mandolin videos. Such a great tone wood. Thanks for the influence!

I wish you good luck on your first F4. I am curious as to your rational for including a virzi? Thanks in advance.

THIS looks like a very good deal...USA luthier made, red spruce top, etc. all for $1100

Sloan A5

I like to drill a 1/16" pilot hole from the back, and then drill to size from both sides. A Forstner bit a little less than the diameter of the ferrull (is that spelt right?) halfway through from...

If the peghead is even thickness, drill from either side (be sure to back up the exit surface to prevent "blowout").
If the peghead is tapered (as Loar and many others have historically been) it is...

On the three necks I have done with CF reinforcement I have used Titebond, making sure the channel for the CF has been routed to a tight fit (as fscotte says above) and the filler strip is clamped...

I make my channel so tight that titebond is fine. I have to literally use a clamp to push my CF rod in after I put down a layer of glue. If your channel isn't so tight fitting then maybe a gap...

I'm not sure that epoxy is much stronger for bonding wood to wood than are yellow AR glues such as Tightbond. On the other hand, the CF composite bars used for neck stiffening are usually CF/epoxy...

Stephen-

If you decide to fool around with this, there is a trick you can use to enhance your chances of success- chamfer the ends of the rib pieces slightly so that you have a sort of "ramp" for...

You mean like this?

taE3_BrBb88

Hi, it's all good, and thanks for the comments so far!

Here's the thing, while selling the guitar on eBay I was contacted by someone stating that the guitar was stolen from his granddaddy nearly...

Couldn't resist the temptation any longer - the most iconic mandolin headstock ever,
...

oh, i thought it said headstuck. '55 father of toilet seat, '06 F-4 torch and wire, '30's F-7 and...

I think it is impossible to generalize any market wisdom based on our observed trends in the Classifieds or our own unscientific observations.

When a particular quality mandolin cannot be found...

That is one of the most beautiful finishes I've ever seen.

I had an opportunity to play the Mando Jason Built last weekend. The mandolin sounds great with the first set of strings. If it sounds good now , I can only imagine what it will sound like in 6...

Cool! Look forward to hearing it!

Steve

Congratulations on the build. You should be proud of the accomplishment!

Jamie

very nice ... must be rewarding to produce such musical art. My woodworking is such that birds are embarrassed to live in the birdhouses I make...

nice looking instrument! If i had a cabinet maker's skill, i'd love to try my hand on one. I would probably end up fingerless

J.Sloan that's a real pretty mando you got yourself there! Your work looks really neat and clean too. I love alot of bass in my mando, does that baby got alot of bass in it?? Oh yeah, pic's are...

Congratulations... you are a braver man than I! it would be nice if you could post larger images so we can all see.