Thinking about Building My First

[Unseen122]

I am thinking about building my first Mando (actually first acoustic instrument I built a guitar from a body once it came out alright). What kit shoudl I go with I am thiking of a Stew Mac kit any objections to one of those. Is there a better kit somewhere else. I am going with an A style two reasons 1. They are slightly eaiser I would assume 2. I mainly play Irish style so this is my shape of choice. Should I build an eaiser acoustic instrument first? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[John Flynn]

I would start with one of Don Kawalek's kits. He is "Luthier" here on the Cafe'. He and his kits have a great reputation for quality, ease of building and support after the sale. A friend of mine is a repair luthier who has built one of Don't kits as well as a couple of the Stewmac kits. He strongly recommended Don's kit over Stewmac, especially for a beginning builder.

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/kawalekd/homepage/kitpage.htm

[Unseen122]

Interesting this one looks a lot harder to build. In the stewmac ones the body comes already shaped althought that probably won't be that big a deal. It must be cecause you have to do the binding in the stemac this would also me money becaue I don't own a dremel (plus the kit is cheaper in general). The stewmac has a dovetail neck which looks cool. Do you have any idea how they sound?

[Unseen122]

This one also has no truss rod forgot to mention I need one with a#truss rod if I want to play it.

[Yonkle]

I have built a StewMAc A5 and F5 and a Siminoff F5. Both are fine kits, if you do a good job you will have a fine Mandolin. The StewMAc is a bit more easy to build than the Siminoff.
StewMAc...>http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Kits/Mandolin_Kits/F5_Mandolin_Kits.html

Siminoff>>>>http://www.siminoff.net/
Photo of the Three, Did a better finish on the Siminoff (Right)

[mad dawg]

Don's walnut-bodied flat-top should do well in an Irish session (but an A of F will too, for that matter). #Also, Don assembles the kits on as "as ordered" basis, so he is extremely flexible in customizing the kit to your wishes, and he can do inlay work for you as well (e.g., I've been thinking about ordering one of his kits to kick-off my new hobby, with an A-hole and radiused fretboard rather than the flat fretboard and standard sound-hole.)

[Unseen122]

Who came up with calling it an A-hole? Sorry everytime I hear that...

Don's kit does sound like the right one if he does a few things for me. Okay any more suggestions? I will start in August or so when I have money from my summer job.
What about Musicmaker's and Timeless instruments gotta find the very best.

[Ellie]

I chose the Stewmac kit for my first F style, and like everything I seem to get from them, it showed up almost before I ordered it, it was of fine quality, and a good value for the money.

[WireBoy]

yonkle,
#that's a fine set of triplets you have there. #flip em over and lets see the fronts! #Are you working on anything new right now?

[daveb]

I considered a kit as well, but for the money I bought Siminoff's new book and just the wood.
I have the top and back carved and glued the top to the rim last night.
I will be the first to admit that building this way is a lot more work, but you can't imagine the satisfaction of creating a beautiful top or back from a couple of boards you glued together.
Bending the rim was pretty fun,after I got the hang of it. The wood doesn't scorch near as easy as I thought it would !

Oh there have been some mistakes,(like forgetting to draw the button on the back blank).
But this has been the one of the most satisfying things I have ever done, as well as,frustrating,agrivating,and heart breaking.
I cant wait to start on #2 !

Good Luck,

Dave

[Unseen122]

Just surfin' the stemac site and their dulcimer kits look really easy (well they look easier than the Mandos) I am thinking maybe I should start with one of those to get some expeirience in building. #What do you guys think? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[inthemountains]

I am building one of the Stew-Mac Army/Navy (Campfire) Mandolin kits right now, and it is a very simple instrument. The directions for all of their kits are online at their web site as .pdf files if you want to see what you're getting into. The directions do lack some details though, especially a very important step concerning carving of the top braces. It's definitely a simpler instrument than the A or F styles. I haven't looked at the instructions for the Dulcimer, but I doubt the Army/Navy is much more complex, and you'll have a Mando instead of a Dulcimer at the end of it all. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif Not that I would say anything bad about an instrument Joni Mitchell put to such wonderful effect, but hey, it's just not a Mandolin.

For me, it was a toss up between that kit and one of Don's kits. Everything I have read about Don's kit here has been very positive, and if this is your first Mando that might be the way to go, as I understand he is very helpful if you need it. There's a good chance I'll do one of his Octave Mandos next.

[Unseen122]

It seems I should just jump right in or start slow. The jumping right in is the Stewmac A5 or the Siminoff F4. The starting slow is building the Army/Navy ones or the Hourglass Dulcimer. Right now I just want to jump right in because the best way to learn is through mistakes.

[Unseen122]

Okay I decided on the Stemac A5 if I need any help when I get started this will be the first place I go. Thanks everyone.

[Yonkle]

Here is the front side of the "triplets" as requested by wireboy. You say you picked the A5 StewMAc (good pick) easy to build, binding channel is very easy on the A5. Have fun. Wireboy....I am not building at the present time, still tweeting number 3, may slim down the neck on it a bit, then go with no lacquer on the neck. JD

[Luthier]

I will be happy to help in anyway I can. Take your time with your building experience and do not rush anything.

Don

[WireBoy]

Yonkle, Thanks for the Full Frontal on the tripletts! #my Parsons came with a nekkid neck. #it sure makes for easy playing. #you'll like it.

[ShaneJ]

Hi Yonkle,

Those look great. I've been thinking about building an F from a kit and was leaning towards the Siminoff. You said the StewMac was easier to build. How so?

Thanks!

[Yonkle]

The Stew mac comes with the Rim already assembled, I guess that is about the only thing that is more easy,the rest is similar. Siminoff cuts the scroll slot for you which makes it match the front and back well. I like the Stewmac Neck joint better.
All in All they are both good, I think if I did another it would be a Siminoff, because you can upgrade to a better soundboard and get a 1 piece back if you wish. JD

[Lieufire]

Just try and remember...as Don told us in class while we were building one of his kits...it is a good kit to learn building techniques with and a fine playable instrument when you are finished, but it is not to be confused with a carved top instrument in terms of tone and volume. So if you are looking to play this in your bluegrass band when you are finished, keep looking at the carved kits. By the way, Don, mine is still doing great!

[ecklesweb]

Coming in on the tail end of the discussion, but in case you're interested, here's a link to a page where I documented my assembly of a Musicmaker flat-top A-style kit...

http://www.jayeckles.com/personal/mandolin/

Here's the conclusion I came to:



Overall, I give Musicmaker Kits an A- on this kit. The instructions were pretty good - they might have given some more direction on good ways to clamp, how to file the nut slots, etc. However, overall I found them quite thorough. The materials were in good shape, and of medium quality. I would have preferred a solid soundboard at least, but I'll survive with laminated spruce. In the end, I've got a nice little starter mandolin, which was the goal of the whole project.


Jay

[Unseen122]

The neck and peghead would be too hard for me to shape.