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I use a 3/8" wide aluminum U channel from the hardware store with 320 self stick sand paper. you can get directly under one string as needed & it's inexpensive, and you can cut what ever length you...

As is apparent from many of the builder posts on this string, we seem to be detail-obsessed personalities ... in the best way!

I guess that is why I am so tickled by the little V5 logo detail on...

Just because I haven't posted anything here for a while, here's one of the things I'm working on.
The mahogany that this neck blank is made from is not wide enough for a peghead. This guitar is to...

This thread reminds me of something I’d not thought of in many years. My wife and I got married very young and I started attending her church. I was 20 and had been playing (owning, really) guitar...

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Nothing new about GBOM’s Howe-Orme 1897.

A renaissance cittern nearing completion.

https://i.imgur.com/i0nmPIW.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zCrEP7B.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3zVjAZb.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xUYs8Kq.jpg

Kia ora,
Thought I'd pop up some pics of the mandolin that just left my wee workshop. Was a commission for a local player's son, who has a thing about otters, so I made a wee copy of his otter...

Hi Dave,

Good questions, thanks for asking.

I agree that it's easier to cut the slots prior to tapering and affixing the fretboard, but I have a specific reason for doing it this way. I've had...

A new style of instrument, for me at least. A European style Octave Mandola with a 45cm/17.75" scale length made for mandolin orchestra playing. Strung with Thomastik 174 mandola strings. Soundboard...

The cherry mando is done. It’s a screamer with a very nicely developed bass end. I’m happy with how warm looking it turned out.

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I’ve been working on building an A5 with the help of local luthier James Condino for a few weeks now. James has provided a ton of knowledge in just a few short sessions and I feel confident that I’ll...

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Tenor harp guitar in progress. American white sycamore back and sides. Spruce top. Rosewood fingerboard and bridge.

Oud:

https://i.imgur.com/guvXRss.jpg

Small baroque guitar:

https://i.imgur.com/VoevfYx.jpg

Medieval gittern:

Always remember, a musician is only playing fast those tunes he is able to play fast, after years of playing or focused practice or more likely both. Point is, the musician is not playing the tunes...

It is also fun to design your own from scratch. Just keep a few parameters in mind. Here is what I am working on.
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I've been pulled away from this job recently by other obligations, but am back on this project again. Here's the latest:

I decided to attempt to match the bottom arch profile on a bridge blank...

I have just measured the bridge height of the first Army Navy style of mandolin I made and it comes to 16mm, and that is the height I aim for. That mandolin is a direct copy of an original, so that...

I've got a new batch of mandolins in progress, but this character has been taking up most of my week. I'll put it politely that everyone could hear me this weekend!

An update and family photo. The first photo shows the newly completed Fronkie jr in the foreground and Fronkenshteen in the background. Second photo is of the backs of the two instruments. Third...

Recently completed this colascione and medieval lute:

https://i.imgur.com/kzym8yF.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/SddILtj.jpg

Off to the US next month for the Guild of American Luthiers convention in Tacoma WA. I will have a couple of new mandolins with me. The latest of the King Billy and Huon Pine oval hole mandolins, and...

The tuners on this mandolin are Rubners, bought recently. Luxury nickel w/ ebony buttons, which is the combination I like. They were on sale. I haven't paid attention to newer vs older. What I...

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First coat of varnish.

They didn’t have good wood back then. The trees were too young:mandosmiley:

Here's a delightful instrument at Retrofret from the earliest days of the 'modern' Gibson A models. HERE The top grain is so striking, I think it's worth noting. These were the days of vast easy...