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  1. Re: My First Octave Mandolin - Design & (Hopefully) Build Thread

    With the thinking of a 17" scale length, could you make it a European octave mandola? Anyone care to chime in on the design differences? Or is it simply a change in nut & saddle.
  2. Re: My First Octave Mandolin - Design & (Hopefully) Build Thread

    How are you going to get that "mint chip" color? If you want to see grain and get there with stain, it's not going to be that color, most likely. Maybe with Alaskan cedar or some really pound cake...
  3. Re: My First Octave Mandolin - Design & (Hopefully) Build Thread

    I don't know how Steve Gilchrist does the transverse brace. Mine is basically like a Gibson transverse brace, but narrower, taller, and wider.

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  4. Re: My First Octave Mandolin - Design & (Hopefully) Build Thread

    I like the simplicity of a transverse brace. So Marty do you do a transverse brace like Steve Gilchrist. And if so what size, shape, and placement?
  5. Re: My First Octave Mandolin - Design & (Hopefully) Build Thread

    The bracing shape doesn't dramatically change the tone, it's more about the stiffness added by the bracing as implemented. I use transverse bracing on oval hole instruments because I use it to...
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    Re: Sam Bush discusses " Hoss"

    Discussed in March in a thread bump here: Sam Bush's Mandolin He Got From Norman

    rcc56 has some interesting backstory history he shared...at that time in March, I had taken the original Facebook...
  7. Re: My First Octave Mandolin - Design & (Hopefully) Build Thread

    Interestingly Steve Gilchrist's oval hole mandolins don't the x brace crossing under the feet of the bridge. Instead they intersect at the centre of the bridge. Gives one more options in terms of...
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    Sam Bush discusses " Hoss"

    Sam tells about the history of his mandolin "Hoss".


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    Cool stuff.
  9. Re: My First Octave Mandolin - Design & (Hopefully) Build Thread

    I really like this! I would add a little more space (1cm or so) between the nut and the lower flare of the headstock, that is often short-changed when designing an instrument from scratch for the...
  10. Re: My First Octave Mandolin - Design & (Hopefully) Build Thread

    You certainly seem to be on the right track.

    The more that at I look at your latest drawing, the more I think that the tranverse brace under the soundhole will not be necessary. Especially if you...
  11. Thread: A vs F style

    by sunburst
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    Re: A vs F style

    As you might guess from the first two responses, this had been discussed "ad infinitum" around here.
    To get right to the bottom line, no, there is no difference in sound that can be directly...
  12. Re: My First Octave Mandolin - Design & (Hopefully) Build Thread

    I'm a repairer and restorer, not a builder. So you can take the following with a grain of salt:

    1. You might want to go with a neck joint at the 12th fret-- it is less confusing to a player. It...
  13. Re: My First Octave Mandolin - Design & (Hopefully) Build Thread

    Start by purchasing Graham's book on how to build them ( he is too modest to mention it) .......

    http://www.mcdonaldstrings.com/bouzoukibook.html

    That will get you going in the right direction.
  14. Re: My First Octave Mandolin - Design & (Hopefully) Build Thread

    Are you familiar with the term "biting off more than you can chew" :grin:

    There are several reasons why carved-from-solid sides have never become popular. They are heavy, which is generally not a...
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    Re: Fret Wear from a Mechanical Engineer's View

    This had been a very interesting discussion. I was especially intrigued by CarlM’s statement that even with stainless steel, the steel of the string is harder than the fret material. This spurred me...
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    Re: Fret Wear from a Mechanical Engineer's View

    Strings nearly never contact the fingerboard on fretted instruments. People with fingernails that are too long can cause serious fingerboard wear, but the wear often comes just from fingertips...
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    Re: Fret Wear from a Mechanical Engineer's View

    Mandolins (and other stringed instruments) are under constant, though somewhat variable, tension/compression/push/pull. As a result, instruments are not infinitely stable. Most are made of wood which...
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    Re: Ballpark for a Dudenbostel

    If you owned a ballpark, you could sell it and buy a Dudenbostel.
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    Re: What If Top Wood Grain Was Askew?

    isn't there anisotropic variation that's sort of fundamental to the way guitars are built and braced?

    (I just wanted to use a big and hard-to-pronounce word.)

    Notwithstanding John's point about...
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    Re: What If Top Wood Grain Was Askew?

    Tops are usually split off the same billet. You'd be wasting a fair amount of wood to try for a \\// match. Of course, it depends on the grain in the chunk of spruce you're working with.

    Insofar...
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    Re: What If Top Wood Grain Was Askew?

    This 1882 Tilton guitar has the topwood running diagonally. I have seen many, but not all, of Tilton's guitars with that feature.

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    Re: What If Top Wood Grain Was Askew?

    If you think about it, getting //////\\\\\\ isn't possible in a bookmatch without reversing one side. You end up with ////!/////.
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    Re: What If Top Wood Grain Was Askew?

    This is my #4, which I built basically from discarded parts from #1-3. Somewhat irritatingly, it's probably the best sounding 4-string I've built.

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    Re: What If Top Wood Grain Was Askew?

    I've seen the V shape in laminated tops with exotic woods but I suppose that's another kettle of fish. Didn't someone post an instrument with a checkerboard top, or maybe a four piece puzzle piece...
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    Re: What If Top Wood Grain Was Askew?

    This \\\\\\\\\///////// and this /////////\\\\\\\\\ represent grain run out at the glue joint, and that means the glue joint is weaker, so those are not good ideas structurally.
    As for sound, likely...
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