View Full Version : Graphite Mandolins
Brian Ney
May-12-2005, 5:36pm
Just curious if anyone here as ever seen or played a mandolin made out of graphite? #I know that there are guitars out there (Rainsong for example), but I was wondering if mandolins were also available
freddyu
May-12-2005, 5:40pm
Composite accoustics "CA" makes a very good graphite guitar, I believe Tim Stafford plays one. I had thought that they had plans for a graphite mandolin but that has been a couple of years ago and I've heard nothing. Would be interesting to hear one.
I'll only buy one if it is made of "certified" graphite and no animals were harmed in the construction process!
jmkatcher
May-12-2005, 7:44pm
Only free-range pencils...
I have a Rainsong graphite guitar, and it really sounds wonderful-- although not quite like any other guitar I've every played. Very resonant and extremely loud. It ends up being a really good fingerstyle guitar, because I can get a lot of volume with a very light touch, and I can really vary my dynamics a lot without a lot of effort.
I don't know that I've ever seen an archtop graphite instrument, but I'd be intrigued by a graphite flat top mandolin... interesting.
Pedal Steel Mike
May-12-2005, 9:51pm
This company....
http://msapedalsteels.com/html/home.html
makes carbon graphite pedal steels. They are one of the best pedal steels on the market. I'd buy one if I could afford it. Instead I have an older wood body instrument from the same company. If anybody is wants to see my bald head, there is a very good picture of me playing it in the section called "MSA family."
evanreilly
May-13-2005, 6:48am
I recall last time the question was posed the opinion was that the market for graphite mandolins was too small to retool for or develop.
Plus didn't somebody have many patents on one? It basically prohibitied anybody else from making one based on the specs and wording. It was posted here about 1 year or 2 ago.
billkilpatrick
May-13-2005, 9:44am
my electro/acoustic crafter is made from polycarbon - i don't imagine it would sound all that much different than graphite. nice idea though. i've seen an extremely expensive car made out of graphite called a zonda. it - the graphite, as a building material - was beautiful.
John Flynn
May-13-2005, 9:53am
I had a mandolin made out of "redneck graphite" aka plywood! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Pedal Steel Mike
May-13-2005, 11:01am
my electro/acoustic crafter is made from polycarbon
Is the top made of the same material?
billkilpatrick
May-13-2005, 11:11am
hope you won't mind me correcting you on that, there brother john but i've been fishing with poles made from "red neck" graphite and there's nothing plywoody about it - in fact, it's 100% solid in construction. those who are unfamiliar with this useful and highly versatile adjunct to any fisherman's box of goodies sometimes refer to it as "stick."
billkilpatrick
May-13-2005, 11:22am
no, the soundboard is made from plywood, the top layer of which is called "burbinga" - or some such name. somewhere on the .cafe there's a thread i started on laminate tops which never got off the ground because the first response compared the 3-plys of plywood to the symbols connected to the arm of a slot machine - you pull the arm and sometimes what comes up goes together beautifully and sometimes it doesn't. i have to say that mine gets better as i play it - more resonance, an even(er) tone ...
can you tell that i like this thing? here (hopefully) is a photo: