Looks like the "bowl" and neck are carved from one piece of wood:
http://www.worldfrets.com/todaro_mandolin.html
Interesting design. I would be curious to hear and play one of these.
Sean
Looks like the "bowl" and neck are carved from one piece of wood:
http://www.worldfrets.com/todaro_mandolin.html
Interesting design. I would be curious to hear and play one of these.
Sean
A guy named Orville Gibson did that carved one piece body and neck thing years ago.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
That's how a saz baglama is built. Interesting crossover of the technique, but not too surprising. If this instrument is indeed from South America rather than Turkey, that's even more interesting, but still not too surprising, considering how simple the construction technique is.
Interesting, I forgot about old Orville! Seems like a good way to waste a lot of wood and also make future repairs to the neck a bit of a headache.
Sean
That is Joe Todaro who imports all sorts of instruments from Bolivia. He goes down there and connects with the luthiers and brings them back to the US. I bought a nice medium-grade charango from him at one of the Philadelphia Guitar Shows many years ago. I don't know about the mandolin tradition in the Andean region but it is possible that they are building them using the same techniques for building non-armadillo-backed charangos.
Joe brought a sample of one of these mandolins to the 2004 CMSA convention in Philadelphia. His web site says they will be available in fall of 2004, so I would not be surprised that he didn't get much interest in these.
I am proud to offer a mandolin whose body and neck are carved from one piece of wood similiar to our Akuleles. I have been working on this design for several years and expect instruments to be available by fall of 2004. The body is constructed from solid Bolivian hardwood, the top is solid spruce and the fingerboard ebony. The sound of this mandolin is powerful and balanced unlike the typical sound produced by most bowl back mandolins. This mandolin has enough volume to play Bluegrass and can offer a variety of tones that also make it an excellent choice for classical and folk players. Estimated street price $800.
Joseph Todaro
Jim
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1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
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In fairness to my momentary lack of reason, Orville never carved anything quite that deep! There has to be a pretty big leap of faith that everything internally is going to check out AOK once you begin hacking away at a log big enough to make a mandolin this size!
Sean
Also, if things got really bad, I could cook and eat my Ramen noodles out of one of these!
Sean
After first slicing sheets of noodle dough with the strings, I suppose.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
That's funny, because people who see my mandolin-banjo think it's made out of a pressure cooker.
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