Scoop

[neal]

Just got a new mando and the sweet spot falls where the peninsula is. What does a luthier get for scooping the fretboard?
Thanks to the poster that coined the Florida.

anywhere 50 to 75

[Bruce Evans]

Just got a new mando and the sweet spot falls where the peninsula is. #What does a luthier get for scooping the fretboard?
Thanks to the poster that coined the Florida.
The penninsula. I never thought of that before. I understand the Florida reference, but some of them have an extra little lump to the side, causing them to look more like the State of Michigan, but upside down.

The "sweet spot" usually does fall at about the Michigan\Indiana border. #I've never seen anybody play up there near Mackinaw City. I noticed on the Sam Bush video from Homespun that his has been excised. I finally got a different mandolin.

Bruce
Jenison, Michigan

[neal]

Thanks Mav. I've heard a quote of 200 from one. Maybe it's name demand. I was at the frets.com site and it looks simple enough, but I'm not even confident enough in my tooltime abilities to put in a new faucet, let alone remove wood from a fairly nice mandolin.

Its a very simple procedure.. 200 is way to much thats a rip

[Hoovetone]

Ok I wish builders would guit making Floridas. They are useless. AND UGLY!! Weber has the right idea(except for the Fern). If you disagree, please respond, and explain why. Don't say "tradition" -I mean. Is there a practical need for them?

[Steven Stone]

The reason for the fretboard extension is really quite simple. The mandolin was and is a classical musical instrument. Some of the pieces in the classical repitoire require notes that are only available if you have a fretboard extension.

Saying that no mandolin should have an extension is like saying that no number should be higher than 1000 because that's as high as you can count without geting lost http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Also learning to play without clicking will improve your playing.

[Dave Cohen]

If the $200 quote came from Frank Ford ("Frets.com"), it was not a rip. Frank is a luminary in the repair and vintage repair world. His reputation is sufficient for him to justifiably charge more than most do, but he usually doesn't. When I did the first of those Florida scoops following the procedure on his website, I e-mailed him to ask what I should charge. He would not tell me what I should charge, but did tell me, fwiw, what he charged at the time. Suffice it to say, it was more than $50. Based on an hourly rate, I would be almost giving the work away if I charged $50. So, Maverick, have you ever done a Florida scoop and kept track of the elapsed time?

[Luthier]

I have also done them and not charged that much. #I choose to do building and repair work on the side in my spare time from my teaching job at a middle school.
I am not a famous luthier and more than likely never will be. #I work alone and teach a few people here and there. #I don't advertise or do shows. #I charge $40 / hour for my labor. #My 24' X 32' shop is attatched to my house and my overhead is not that high. #
It should be understood people charge different ammounts for different jobs. I have more work than I can handle just from word of mouth. If I were doing it full time I may consider raising my prices but until that happens, I will not charge more than I nor a customer is comfortable with and I will never sacrifice quality nor craftsmanship. I am very thankfull for the talent that I have and I consider it a blessing. #Frank ia a Great Guy and has helped me when I needed it and does deserve that fee without question. #
I just don't charge that much. #
(how come it isn't a panhandle?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif)
Don

Dave I have had several scoops done from $50-75 dollars. Frank my charge that and that is ok but I would say 99 percent of luthiers don't charge no where near $200. The ones I have had done was done even while I waited less than an hour. #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Jim Rowland]

I scoop most of the "F"s I make in about ten to fifteen minutes. That,however is with the fingerboard unattached and no frets installed..just the binding. Scooping a Florida on a finished mando (I've done it a few times)takes longer,but not more than a half hour. It's the added risk of working a whole instrument on an oscillating tubular sander that makes the job more daunting. If you want all traces of the fret kerfs erased or want some kind of inlay simulating frets installed, it would be well worth the two hundo.
Jimbo

I can see 100 bucks if you have the fake simulated frets done with the scoop but for $200http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif No way I would pay that for a simple scoop.

[Yonkle]

Just scoop it yourself. takes about 1.5 hour and is easy//

[sunburst]

I've done more "Floridectomies" than scoops. I scooped one only to have the owner later decide to have it cut off. I don't remember what I charged, I've only done it during fret jobs. I'm pretty sure I could do it for less than 200 and come out OK. I'm not sure I could be talked into fake frets.

[Dave Cohen]

I have been charging $80 - $100 on finished mandolins, depending on what I have to deal with, and I think that is a bargain price. Remember that when you "scoop" the area after the fretectomy, you have to be concerned with not chipping the lacquer or varnish on the binding, and you have to cove the transition from scooped area to unscooped in order to make it look clean and intentional. Also, the fret slots often are quite deep up there, so removing them entirely may require scooping away the fretboard down to the extension underneath - not pretty. The alternative is to simply leave the fret slots, or inlay some maple faux frets. Also, if you count setup time, as you should, I'll bet that 1/2 hour for the job is really pushing it.

"Luthier" nailed it when he said that different people charge different amounts for different jobs. I certainly don't see charging $200 for that job. But with Frank in mind, I really think that it is a bit reckless to insinuate that his fee is a rip. That is why I felt compelled to post on this topic.

[Charlie Derrington]

When I do it myself, I charge $190. If one of my employees do it, $125.00. It all depends on labor charges and every repairman can charge whatever they feel like. Sometimes I think we repairmen have a tendency to devalue our own worth.

Charlie

[MikeB]

Hoovetone, Just so you don't feel like the Lone Ranger, I also feel that the fretboard extension serves no practical purpose for the majority of players. #I got fairly well chastised for posting that comment here once before.

There may be a handful of classical players who use the extension, but why not make it an option, instead of creating a small industry to scoop or remove them? #Seems ridiculous to me. #I'm so glad there are a few builders (like Collings) who design their mandolins for the majority us.

To each his own, I guess. #But, I'm with you.

[sunburst]

The standard fingerboard on the mandolins that I build has 22 frets with no vestigial florida. If you want one with 29 frets that's fine, I'll build it, but most people don't.
That said, I'm not as bound by tradition as a company like Gibson is. They are building recreations of models from the past, and to do that they can't leave off the extension.

[neal]

Interesting. People like me, who are really fairly inept at mechanical things are really out on a limb when it concerns things that come fairly easy to some. If I was a luthier, you bet I'd charge what the market would bear, so, I really don't have a problem with someone being higher/lower than another, as long as the workmanship is competant. On the other hand, it's not a real expensive mandolin, so I really wouldn't want to shell out 2 bills. Ah well, live and learn.

[MikeB]

Charlie, I guess I don't know much about how some shops work. #Do customers get to pick who works on their instrument at Gibson? # I suppose most shops are one-man shows and the question doesn't come up there.

I'd probably be happy to pay $190 to be able to say Charlie Derrington worked in my mandolin. #Without meaning any disrespect, sarcasm, or implied criticism, may I ask--if someone requests the $125 deal at Gibson, would they get the same quality of work as your own?

This just seems like an odd situation not to have a standard shop rate.

[Charlie Derrington]

There is a standard shop rate. It's just that my personal time doesn't apply. I don't have too much time to work on instruments and if you want me, you have to pay for me. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Charlie