That looks great, Eric. How did it turn out tone-wise? I recently got a Stanley A5 that has the forward shifted ff holes, the A oval body size/shape, and the bridge in front of the top of the arch. It's an exceptional mandolin. I wonder why more people don't build them--it's a design that really works for getting that tone.
2010 Heiden A5, 2020 Pomeroy oval A, 2013 Kentucky KM1000 F5, 2012 Girouard A Mandola w ff holes, 2001 Old Wave A oval octave
http://HillbillyChamberMusic.bandcamp.com
Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@hillbillychambermusic
Don,
It might look good from 2,000 miles away...but thanks.
It is still very young. It will need a proper set-up. I'm using a persimmon nut at the moment while the thing settles in...But I like it. It seems to have good sustain, woody and a little woofy on chops and clear and articulate singles.
It's my first red spruce top.
I do like the balance from the long head block and forward neck set.
I watch the long list of trophy wives, I mean, mandolins you run through with envy. I hope we get to MMC this fall. It needs a lot of hard picking work, and of course I can barely play.
Would love to play it. I'd like to get to MMC, but they aren't making it easy for people who have to fly in.
The Heiden will always be here. The others rotate through from time to time.
2010 Heiden A5, 2020 Pomeroy oval A, 2013 Kentucky KM1000 F5, 2012 Girouard A Mandola w ff holes, 2001 Old Wave A oval octave
http://HillbillyChamberMusic.bandcamp.com
Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@hillbillychambermusic
Was excited to come across this thread. When I saw the Griffith A5 at Tut's home back in the mid-1970s, I took a bunch measurements and photos but couldn't get a good tracing of the peghead because of the machines getting in the way. The mandolin was really tight in the F5 case and when we did our A5 Drawings in 2001 - as someone correctly stated previously - we shortened the peghead (which always troubled me a bit) so folks wouldn't have trouble putting the instrument in a standard A-model case. When working on the introduction of the F5L in Kalamazoo around 1978 or 1979 I came across a bunch of the early brass templates and found one for the 1924 A1 snake peghead, and I was able to get a great tracing of it. Although I assume it was the same shape and length as the "Griffith" A5, I have no way of knowing if it is really the same since I don't have access to that A5.
Many months back I prepared a drawing of the A5 tracing for a few folks who asked for it, but I am still not including it with our A5 Drawing sets because all the other views in the drawings show the shorter peghead length, and case length is still an issue. I put the page (PDF - free download) up on my website for any of you who might want to have it - www.siminoffbooks.com - in the Technical Resources page.
I'd enjoy knowing if the A1 snake peghead was actually the same size and shape as the peghead of the Griffith A5.
Best to all... Roger
Thx Roger; great to see you here!
The free page PDF is very handy, as well as the mention to use the correct size printer paper.
I've heard mention of those old brass headplate templates from some other folks with a possibility that they are in different hands now after Gibson cleared out the Kalamazoo factory. There was an old guy here in town who was at the "garage sale" when they closed up who purchased a whole bunch of interesting things. He somehow wound up with the entire rack of old leftover shell inlay logos from the 1920s & '30s ( hundreds of them) along with some tooling and such. He passed a while back and I believe the family tossed it all in the dumpster...
Having worked in a factory production environment in the past, I can't imagine if they had an existing brass template already made up that they would make up something completely different for a one off instrument.
I must have scans and tracings of the brass templates somewhere, as well as of the only remaining original F mould, but cannot locate them right now (among the hundreds of Gigs of accumulated data about Loars)
I wonder where original a style moulds are. I noticed one on the internet that could possibly be original teens gibson mould but have no idea where it is. I have just one pic.
There was a thread about two distinctly different body sizes of old A's few years ago so some differences may be seen on headstocks - if template got damaged or lost they woul make new one which may not be exact match of the previous.
The F-5 mould actually also spots a bit deeper "cutaway" than regular Loar F-5, but typically seen on earlier F-4s so they probably had several moulds that didn't match exactly in some (for them unimportant) details.
Adrian
Thanks James, and I hope all is well with you, that you're keeping busy, and have stayed clear of this coronavirus thing.
Very sad that so many wonderful tools and fixtures made their way to the dumpsters and into the hands of treasure hunters. I'd much prefer knowing that some of them are in the hands of luthiers who are using them to breath life into new instruments.
Best,
R
Hey Roger! Nice to hear from you. I know you would not remember me but, I worked with Bill Halsey at “Homespun Music” back when you were working on the F-5L project. Anyway, I think I remember Bill making a tracing of the brass template of several peg heads. I may be mistaken but, he might have some insight on this.
Anyway, glad you are still “involved” Roger!
I agree it is really heart breaking to know so many historically significant parts and pieces of the company ended up in drawers and landfills!
Be well.
Timothy F. Lewis
"If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett
Hi Tim - great to hear from you!
Yes, Bill had access to those templates, too. He, Abe Wechter, and I had fun going through them. It was a treasure chest of history. Wish I had taken some photos back then.
Best,
Roger
Now is the time for me to thank Roger for his mandolin building book. Mine is a 2008 model. Thanks for the book and various block sets, plans and such. (Also, thanks for the Go Devil valve guide video).
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