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Known to some as a 'Smurf hat' I believe

Absolutely.



Truss rods have more to do with action height on a guitar (which the OP is asking about) than on a mandolin, IMHO.

There will be others on here with more experience than me, but I have found that CF will never do the same job as a truss rod. You can't straighten a warped neck by gluing a CF rod into it. Even if...

Thanks Marty. Yes, it did take me a while to get used to that. At first I was just too close to the bridge, and it mattered. When I moved up to the soundhole it sounded OK across all the strings...

Here are some shots of the finished instrument:
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I am working on a sound sample . . .

Ready for spraying. I'm not sure how long that will take as I'm trying a new finish
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:)) Challenges enough on this one, thanks!

I think I've covered most aspects of the build that are different because of the fan-fret format. I'll post occasional photos as I pass significant...

I think this is caused by varying run-out within the board. Gluing small struts to the side may help to hold it flat (some builders do this anyway). Scraping may even it out a bit. I find it doesn't...

One of the most difficult parts to get clear in my mind was how to handle the neck/head transition. The simplest way is just to plane the head perpendicular to the top of the fingerboard, but that...

Marty - many thanks for referring me to that thread. For anyone reading this, you can find it here. I watched the video on YouTube - the m'cello sounded gorgeous. When it had finished another video...

Here are my plans (sorry about the quality). They are a starting point and I will probably change my mind about some things as I go along.

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Woods:
Back and sides English walnut...

Come on guys, lighten up . . . this is about an old man having fun with mandolins.

I couldn't find much on MC about building a fan-fret (multi-scale) mandocello, so I decided to start my own thread. Maybe someone will find it useful in the future, and I hope it will satisfy some...

Gibson mandolin body with a five-string banjo neck. Looks as if it's been rather sadly treated but not beyond redemption.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/153704631441?ul_noapp=true

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There was some discussion of these 'screwed' Ceccherinis on this thread. The screws in the bowl do play a structural role in that they are screwed into narrow struts that go round inside the bowl,...

Glad you found my input interesting, so I went off and did my homework. My source for the information was Dave Hynds' website (here). This is what he says:

'All Ceccherinis I have ever seen were...

So, I couldn't keep quiet. I have to come back to that comment that this mandolin has clearly been tarted up to within an inch of its life. I really do consider that a slur on my workmanship....

Thank you Peter (Cobalt) for drawing my attention to this thread - I hadn't spotted it.

I will do my best to satisfy everyone's curiosity, but first I must make it clear that I do have a financial...

All done. Here are some photos:

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General comments: I don't like the violin-style neck joint - not strong enough for a mandolin. But at least it's...

So, I bought the Radiotone mandolin in the Bamfords auction. Got it for £88. Here is a close-up of the damage to the neck joint:
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It does not look like the result of being sat on - if it was...

My V joint is different from both of those. Here is a shot of a couple of dummies I made when I was first working this out. I hope it's clear how the V tapers (front to back of the head). The string...

I'm not much of a player - I get my kicks from building mandolins and bringing dead ones back to life. I can't describe the sound as a player would, but to me the trebles sound clear and sweet and...

It's generally reckoned among guitar makers (and players too probably) that guitars with spruce tops do mature noticeably in the first couple of years, though ones with western red cedar tops don't...

Sound samples of two pocket mandolins here (a German one from the 1930's and one I made myself)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEMdZpTw_W4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjjszMehUk0

Would like to clarify that a pocket mandolin and a piccolo mandolin are not the same thing. Pocket mandolins are ordinary mandolins with a narrow body, 330mm scale length, tuned GDAE. A piccolo...