A year or two back the National Music Museum in South Dakota published The Masters Bench by Paul Schmit and Arian Sheets. It is a book about the work of John D'Angelico, Jimmy D'Aquisto and Paul Guldelsky and full of drawings and photos of templates and jigs from the workshops of these builders. It includes a sketch by Jimmy D'Aquisto of an idea for an Art Deco mandolin and I thought it would be an interesting project to build one inspired by that sketch.
It is made from maple and Sitka spruce with tortoise celluloid binding. The head overlay is very old burl walnut veneer, with Gotoh tuners and an Allen tailpiece. A little amber stain on the maple and a satin nitro lacquer. The sides are bent in sections with small shaped blocks overlapping the joins. A challenging and fun project.
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