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One other data point: playing cleanly with a high action is near on impossible, it's possible the action has been jacked up so much that it's no longer possible to get clean notes even on a perfect...

Whatever it is, it's not like any DeMeglio I've ever seen.

And yes, the metal between the ribs would be decorative, and quite a pain to build no doubt!

Hmmm, I think I did a video about this too:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIP5rzTcQy8

Works OK for me for wound strings, though I haven't tried the brand you mentioned.

BTW most regular...

That's about the long and short of it yes. The way I do it is to use a spindle sander with a fence to get the headstock to final thickness, and then the same sander without the fence to shape the...

Just came across this, and frankly thought it was really quite lovely:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0FHR3dCkNw&feature=youtu.be

I'm afraid that's not going to work: these old instruments do not have the same tuner post spacing as modern instruments, so wherever possible you should try to restore the old machine heads. I...

Very nice!

Haha, sounds about right. There are a lot of ITM tunes that get played so fast that you can no longer tell what the tune is. I'm sure the same is true in other genres as well!

Dark pubs with brown carpets and brown picks... shudder... been there done that!!

Well.... you could trust it to the post and send it down to me :), or in London, Paul Hathaway would be your man I would think. I can't remember off hand what the tier 4 regs say, but I suspect...

OK, good news and bad news:

* The good news is the one to the right of the sound hole might just be a "surface fissure" for want of a better term. They happen when a single wood fibre is pulled...

Just my 2c here, but I've replaced several like that and the procedure is always the same:

* Remove the old collar that was holding the original button on.
* Fashion a new button from bone (a...

Our cousin's in the America's probably might not be familiar with Steve Knightly and Show of Hands, but they've done much to popularise CBOM's over here.

Just came across this lesson from Steve,...

You're too quick Belinda: I was still waiting for it to upload! :)

Here we go:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ_ns_b3kF8

Also a quick photo comparison of the two instruments:
...

Someone really should buy that Vega - those are classy bowlbacks! :)

I had no idea 1/4" saddles even existed - that takes over-sized to the extreme!

Check the ebay sellers - 1/8" thickness is a standard size so you should find blanks fairly easily.

BTW it...

Nice!

I've had one Fairbanks pass through here - it was my favourite bowlback by far!

So I would say nice mandolins that are greatly undervalued.

They re-fret just fine, glue just like any other wood - either Titebond of HHG would both be fine.

For longer necks, it's not as stiff as ebony certainly, so maybe take that into account, though...

I've been using Rocklite ebany more or less exclusively - I love it, and visually it looks just as good as ebony. Haven't tried removing one though...

> Is there a double top?

Yup.

Banjo's are surprisingly hard to mic: if you mic the head then you get the dark tubby sound you describe, mic the rim and it's all bright and sparkly. Traditionally in a studio setting you'd put a...

On what? A Mandolin? I think you'd have real difficulty in finding space for them and they'd look silly too ;)

I do use 40x80, and it is very comfortable to play on, but I really wouldn't want...

You can never tell what will sell right away, and what will take time. I had a "no frills" electric mandolin that hung around for a while (much less than a year though), when it did go the buyer was...

How interesting.... no I hadn't come across those before!