Thanks! Evo Gold frets.
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Thanks! Evo Gold frets.
Another trashcan rescue, sort of. All plywood (save the neck, it appears) MIJ "Winston" from what, the 60s?
Quick question is whether these little plastic rings, which take the place of actual ferrules, should be tacked down with a dab of fish glue or similar. Just a vote. I'm guessing the originals were not glued, though it looked like one or two might have been. (Hard to tell from the decades of tar build-up that was all over this thing since its life was that of a wall hanging in a smoker's home.)
FWIW, the back had popped off, and a friend had first decided to toss it, but had second thoughts and pulled it from the trash. Some time (years, perhaps - I didn't ask), after it had spent its time backless with the strings under tension, we were having a chat that turned mandos, and I said I could probably at least make it suitable as a wall-hanging, again. And, here we are...
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p.s. (edit) Ha. Well, "Never mind..." After picking the thing up to look at something and having them fall off and roll to dark corners, *twice*, they're tacked down for now. I figured one more time and one of them would go somewhere I couldn't get to, and then I'd spend too much time kicking myself. I suspect they won't stay that way forever, maybe not past the first string-up, but leaving them loose wasn't working :)
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Newly bent rims and bending pipe setup.
Holy hot plate Batman! Never have seen a bending rig like that but apparently it gets the job done.
John, that is some seriously good inlay work.
John - Really like the inlay, especially the peg head; reminds me of the pine cone mandolin inlay, which is an all time favorite. i wonder if the "corn neck" owner plays an E9 steel also.
The inlay represents the 3 sisters. Apparently several native American tribes considered corn, beans and squash to be gifts from their gods, and grew the three crops together. The idea for the theme came from the future owners, the design was done by his hired artist, I did the work of cutting and inlaying the design after working with the artist to help adapt it for the fingerboard.
The next step in the mandolin quartet project - the side assemblies for the two mandolins, mandola and mandocello glued up and ready for the next step. The next few weeks will be carving soundboards and backs. The sides are Australian backwood, the neckblocks from some old mahogany, the tailblocks laminated from spruce with spruce corner blocks, with laminated Australian kauri linings. The 'cello linings have been reenforced with epoxy/carbon fiber composoite to make the rim as rigid as possible
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It looks like you have a lot of carving ahead of you!
Keith.Rogers: about those plastic rings… it seems that they would only be decorative and not actually serve a function like actual ferrules that would line the post holes. Either leave them off altogether or else glue some other donut shaped thingers.
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No mando content, just a new guitar build. 00 size
Yesterday morning's work was cutting out the soundboards and backs for the mandolin quartet, ready for the next couple of weeks of carving.
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Rim and block assembly
No mandolin content this week:
Laying out the details for a new giant 7/8+ gamba shaped bass with a 30" lower bout from spruce cut and air dried since 1904! Part of one of my new quartets....
Oh, snap - that looks like persimmon for the fingerboard. Can't wait to see it finished!
Brescian Mandolin in walnut and maple:
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Lovely instrument, David. I assume it is using nylon strings with that fiddle scfroll and tuners?
Pretty! Well done.
Is that a black cherry center stripe in the neck and heel? Or something else?
I lived in North Carolina for several years. I found the diversity of tree species in the Southern Appalachians to be amazing!
Your and Graham's local-wood quartets are inspiring. Can't wait to see how each develops.
!!!
Seems a little big for a bench mounted bandsaw. Is that padauk dust?
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Some western cedar armrests….