Mandolin #3 Done

[Yonkle]

Hi Folks: I got her stained and lacquered and strung. Its sounds good for being fresh, louder than the others, and a lot better chop. Setup was a little work and I put a tiny chip in the lacquer by the F hole, other than the chip (which I am going to fix starting tonight) all is well with #3. So far I like it alot, the first sounds are always a bit scary, but after a hour or so it started sounding real good, It sounds better than number 2 which is a year old, played everyday, so I think when it "wakes up" it will be good!
I want to thank all the folks on the cafe who answered my e-mails and helped me along the way. Every mandolin is it's own separate journey, this one started out hard and finished easier than the other two.
Just some notes on #3... Adirondak Red Spruce Top,1 Piece Maple Back,Shaller Tuners, Gibson Style Tailpiece,Brekke Bridge,Head Inlay by me, fingerboard inlay by Bryan England, trus Rod cover by Andy Depaul. Here are a few photos, I wish it was light outside, the flash keeps going off and it does'nt show the finish well, natural light is much better. Thanks Again For all your Support and Help, The Cafe members are great people!!

[Yonkle]

A shiny BACK!

[Yonkle]

In the case

[Yonkle]

back again

[Yonkle]

points

[Bluemando]

very sweet Yonkle, love that color.

[Yonkle]

Good Shine AYe

[Yonkle]

Head Inlay

[Yonkle]

Heres #1 A5 ##2 F5 and #3 (AND thats it! Thanks Again JD

[sunburst]

congrats JD
Looks like the string spacing come out OK after all!

[John Bertotti]

fyi when taking your pictures and the flash is over powering, tape a piece of tissue over it. You can play with extra layers till the light is how you want it. It does take practice but with your mandos turing out so well you obviously have the attention to detail to get. John

[crawdad]

Someday I hope to BE Yonkie! Just excellent work, my friend. Excellent!

[mandoryan]

Great job Yonkle. I upped the light in your photos with my Photoshop. Hopefully this is okay. I didn't think the lack of light did justice to your work. Great job and enjoy your new mando..... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[mandoryan]

....the purty peghead....I upped the light in this one too so you can really see the abalone....

[Brookside]

That is fantastic work. The finish is stunning. I'm a bit worried about some of you guys becoming too good too fast. After all, you set the standard for the rest of us....

[John Soper]

Yonkle- you're an inspiration for newbies- great growth exhibited between #1 thru #3. When do you set up production on a full-time basis?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[John Zimm]

Yonkle-

Good grief, that is beautiful. Good job, and congrats on finishing another one. I may have to try and build an f-style one day. That looks great.

-John.

[PCypert]

Good looking mandolin. When will we see one on the classifieds?
Paul

[Scotti Adams]

..great work JD...you have many reasons to be proud...

[Yonkle]

Thanks for all the kind words guys, you are all a great inspiration! JD

[mandoJeremy]

Yonkle, GREAT mando dude! I love the color, the scroll passes my test, and I want one!

[John Soper]

Yonkle:

Your 2nd & 3rd mandos have very good looking finishes- great subtle sunbursts: what stains & finish techniques are you using? Hand application vs spray?

I hope my #1 can come close...

[Yonkle]

Thanks John: I used Amber Yellow for the base, then Tabacco Brown with a hair of Orange mixed in and orange and amber mixed on the burst, all mixed with denatured alcohol. I hand rubbed them in with rags, and added more stain, or rubbed in more alcohol, to darken or lighted a area, and just kept playing with it until I liked what I saw. It took about 5-6 hours of playing with it, but I don't know any tricks, so it's all trial and error with me. Then I did 2 coats of sealer, and then several coats of lacquer, flat sanding any drips in between coats, after the last coat I let it dry 2 weeks, then used micro mesh sand paper to rub it out. I started with 2000 grit and worked up to 12000 grit, then hit it with Mcguires #17 and then Mcguires #10 and it was pretty darn shiney by then. JD

[GaryM]

It turned out beautiful Yonkle.
You can be proud of that effort....
I love the colour....and the scoop looks really cool as well!

[Km1000seth]

That gorgeous Yonkle. I love the one piece back. The color too, it looks like a real keeper.

Seth

[Km1000seth]

[B]10.0

[Yonkle]

HERE are some Outside shots, see the color better. Last of the photos. Seth ! Your Next! JD

[Yonkle]

back

[Yonkle]

Eye Candy

[Yonkle]

Thanks Again to all of you. I won't bore you with anymore photos. She is about 2 weeks old now and I'm getting it dialed in well. starting to sound better every day. Been tring different strings, Ti's are on there way, so far I like the Elixers on this one. The Bush Monels I hated at first, but after a few days they are pretty nice sounding but a bit low on volume, J75's next then TI's. I went back from my Brekke Bridge to a Randy Wood Bridge a lot more punch with it! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Dan Cole]

John,
That really looks nice. Can't wait to hear it sometime.

[Mark Simcox]

Hi Everyone. Any idea when siminoff is going to produce the A5 kit?