Took delivery on a brand new Sorensen Sprite a few weeks ago. Still getting accustomed to it, but damn what a beauty she is!
https://youtu.be/TfEpItVHMBA
Took delivery on a brand new Sorensen Sprite a few weeks ago. Still getting accustomed to it, but damn what a beauty she is!
https://youtu.be/TfEpItVHMBA
That is a beauty!
Shaun Garrity
http://www.youtube.com/user/spgokc78
What a nice look to that mandolin, all the figured wood and the cream top. Very tasty.
-Dave
Flatiron A
Way too many other instruments
Wow...beauty!
Congratulations! I also own a Sprite (#93) and love the sweetness of the tone. Yours has quite a unique appearance. I've never seen a blonde Sorensen. Interesting inlay in the headstock. What is the meaning of the Chinese character?
Congratulations on joining the Sorensen club. My Sprite keeps getting better and better, or I keep getting better and better at pulling the tone out of it.
Wow! That is one fine looking instrument - the combination of woods and trim is amazing. It sounds really great in your video - thanks for sharing! I've occasionally lusted after the sprite, but I had the impression the neck is made with a sharp V, which I don't like much. It looks to me like yours has a more rounded shape on the back of the neck - is that right?
Dan, that is a beautiful mandolin. Congratulations and thanks for sharing.
Gorgeous.
What can you tell us about the pickguard/finger rest?
the same material as the rest of the instrument: claro walnut bound by curly maple with perfuling on the top and sides of the piece - the same pattern as the body, neck and headstock. It's attached to the fretboard via a single brass screw on the side. I normally have no use for a pickguard, but in this case it adds significantly to the design and the beauty, so it stays attached, afaic
Beautiful!
I do love the twin points
What I play
2021 Skip Kelley Two-Point
Eastwood 'Ricky'
Morgan Monroe RT-1E
Epiphone Genesis guitars
Various Basses
I clicked on this thread because I am a fan of the Sorensen Sprite, and that one is a beauty! I also love the Chinese calligraphy on the headstock: very unique and well done.
However, I hate to rain on your parade. The two characters together in that order are a noun and mean "ball; pellet; bullet; bomb". I consulted several of my Chinese-English, English-Chinese dictionaries, and that is what I came up with. The two characters are pronounced "dan" (4th, falling tone). The Chinese use the character "ba" (first, rising tone) to indicate "to pluck" a stringed instrument. That character is: 拔.
But to steal from Shakespeare: a Sorensen by any name still sounds awesome!
Japanese traditionally use the Hanzi Chinese characters, for perhaps once similar ideas, but not necessarily for the same words now.
As Dan was saying, he has spent quite a bit of time in Japan and liked the idea that the Japanese Kanji symbol for "dan" which can mean to pluck or strike an instrument . . . ironically both fits his name and his passion. The Kanji character is --
We used a stylized brush stroke version of the characters in some of my last pieces of blue Paua Abalone . . . which is getting harder and harder to find in this quality without worm damage.
Luckily, I had both Dan's knowledge and my wife's many years of speaking and studying Japanese in college to make sure we got it right.
This was a delightful build indeed.
Steve
Here are a few shots to give a better idea of what we cooked up --
The finish is a oil varnish followed by many French Polishing sessions with Shellac. The claro walnut grain filling was through French Polishing with pumice only.
I realized the top,which is from an Englemann Spruce billet I bought back in 2010, is so creamy, silky, and fine-grained that it almost looks painted. What a treat to have wood like that in the "Library".
Steve
Last edited by Steve Sorensen; May-02-2021 at 1:20pm.
Steve, that is officially, my favorite mandolin that you’ve built. You knocked it out of the park brother!
Beautiful instrument!
Sure is a Beauty. The Sprite I played at The Mandolin Store in Surprise AZ a few years back was totally a standout. Big tone and a bold style.
Scott
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