recommendations on mandolin construction books?

[fiddlinfool]

Can anyone make any recommendations on decent introductory books on mandolin building, construction or repair (A or pancake style - not F)?

I am considering the purchase of a Stewart Macdonald Campfire kit this winter to get my feet wet but would very much like to start reading and learning on the subject so in the future...well, you never know.

thanks #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Gimick]

fiddlinfool - I'm also a novice thinking of starting with a Stew-mac or (more likely) the IV kit you can build as an oval hole. So I just looked around for a book that might be more appropriate than the Siminoff bluegrass mandolin construction book for what I'd like to make.

I just ordered The Mandolin Manual by John Troughton - it's really all I could find, but it looks really good from the description. Amazon has a couple of reviews & more info, but says it lists at $50 & prices it at something like $66. If you decide to go with that one, Luthiers Mercantile has it for $35. Hopefully someone who knows what they're talking about can give us some informed feedback, though!

~Gina K

[John Gardinsky]

Siminoff's Ultimate Bluegrass Mandolin Construction manual is an informative book. Also check a lot of the builders websites- some show you pictures or give hints. You'll notice that no two do it exactly the same.

[Bill Snyder]

Arched top mandolin construction for A and F style will be essentially the same except of course you don't have the time consuming chore of carving and binding the scroll on the A style. Therefore the Siminoff book would be fine for A style arched top mandolins.
I don't think you are going to find much more on arched top mandolin construction but several people recommend get Benedetto's book on arched top guitar construction to go along with it.
For flat top mandolin there is the Troughton book mentioned above and Graham McDonald (he is an occasional poster to the Mandolin Cafe) has a book on bouzoukis and cittern construction that, while not exactly the same as building a flat top mandolin, would likely contain some valuable information.
As for the Stew Mac campfire kit they have pretty complete instructions for it that you can download from their site HERE. (http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/i-5160/i-5160.pdf)
Good luck with whatever you decide to construct and remember that your best resource for information is likely this forum and the Musical Instrument Maker's Forum.

[rhetoric]

Books are nice, but this site is WAY more helpful. Read a book to find out what comes next, then come here to get your questions answered.

[Antlurz]

The Siminoff book already mentioned will do a good job for you to get started. Just save reading about the curlique stuff till you are building an "F" model. The rest of the info can translate directly to an "A" model.

Ron

[mandomaker]

You can actually download the assembly manual for this instrument from Stewart McDonald's website free gratis. That will solve your immediate problem.

[Bill Snyder]

You can actually download the assembly manual for this instrument from Stewart McDonald's website free gratis. That will solve your immediate problem.
Already mentioned and linked to above.

[Jim Rowland]

Good advice from all contributors. If you have the extra bucks, Don MacRostie's video tapes are excellent and contain a great deal of good,well organized information. I bought a set the first day they were available and have watched them many times since. It's a pleasure to watch Don's careful workmanship as it's happening.
Jim

[EdSherry]

Roger Siminoff has just announced that he has a book on "Tap Tuning" (with DVD) coming out in early 2007. Should be very interesting.

[dave17120]

I found Troughton very useful, and built my first one from scratch using his book...... no kits and very few tools. It was a great learning experience.... and I'm still learning. I would recommend it to anyone starting out who DOESN'T want to build a carved top.
The book also contains plans for a mandola and Irish Zook, and by slightly adapting the blueprint, I also built my mandriola.
Its a good place to start, with a lot of background information, as well as detailed guidance on how to proceed.
Good luck, Dave

[thistle3585]

I liked Graham McDonalds book on Bouzouki building. A lot of photos and very well written for the beginner to understand. It also gave me a lot of ideas on building jigs, molds and tools.

[dave17120]

I'm glad you reminded me of that..... its going to be this year's Xmas present to myself. Dave