Mandocaster

[hardryde_mando]

Hey guys, I want to make a fender style mandocaster, and i was wondering if anybody knows where to find template drawings. I want to make the body and the neck the same shape as a mandocaster.

[labraid]

You could take a picture and project it onto the wall, tracing it at the smaller scale.

[hardryde_mando]

I've tried messing around in a paint program trying to trace around the body of a picture from the net. Haven't had much luck because every picture i can find, has a slight camera angle to it. My body shapes keep on looking kind of lop-sided and weird.

[mrmando]

So where are you located?

[thistle3585]

Are there a couple different body styles? Or was it just different pickguards? I had some discussions with Steve Tourtellette when he was looking for some instruments to take dimensions. I thought he got someone off the cafe to trace theirs but i can't recall. We swapped emails for awhile about bridges and neck plates but I haven't heard from him in awhile I think he built about 2 or 3 Mandocasters. Elderly always has straight on shots of instruments, so you can photoshop one of their photos.

[jefflester]

Are there a couple different body styles?
I believe the only different ones were the "slab" body when first introduced, which then gave way to the countoured body for the rest of the run. The cutouts and body shape the same. Slab means the sides were straight front to back (like a Telecaster), countoured means there is some rounding all the way around and additional rounding on the backside where the instrument would be against the body ("gut" :-). Countoured is like a Stratocaster.

[hardryde_mando]

So where are you located?
I'm from Toronto.

[Bret Roberts]

Dont know a thing about building, but, I did find this on the web and I thought it might help.

http://www.guitarplansunlimited.com/Mandocaster.htm



Good luck!

[hardryde_mando]

Dont know a thing about building, but, I did find this on the web and I thought it might help.

http://www.guitarplansunlimited.com/Mandocaster.htm



Good luck!
Thanks man. That was just what I was looking for.

[Bret Roberts]

Happy that I could help, just remember me when you become a famous builder.

[Forrest Mandolins]

Here are a few pictures of a 1967 mandocaster: I will have to make several posts, since i can't seem to attach more than one image per post.

[Forrest Mandolins]

backside

[Forrest Mandolins]

peghead

[Forrest Mandolins]

peghead front

[Forrest Mandolins]

pickguard

[Forrest Mandolins]

tailpiece

[Forrest Mandolins]

body

[thistle3585]

By the way, Seymour Duncan did make an OEM pickup for the Mandocaster for awhile. They are listed in their Antiquity line, but I don't know if it is stock or custom. If you can reproduce the instrument, then that will help reproduce the tone.

[jefflester]

Interesting top burst on that one, like it's faded. The red shows under the pickguard, but not elsewhere.

[crazymandolinist]

Emando anatomy 1O1 people.

[Jim MacDaniel]

Any other ideas for pickups for a mandocaster clone? This SB-4 owner (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=350066972993&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=022) added a blade pickup designed for a Strat before selling it on eBay. Also, the below pictured Tourtellotte has a stacked pick-up and a push-pull switch which is kind of cool and would add versatility, but I guess either option might not yield the same sound as an Mandocaster -- but I'm not quite sure if that is bad thing.

[Jim MacDaniel]

I had problem posting my Tourtellotte pic, so here (http://emando.com/builders/Tourtellotte.htm) is a link to Martin's emando.com page on him instead. ;)

[dandhr61]

I am building one now, I used adobe illistrater to copy the insterment and grew the image until the nut on screen was the same size is the real thing (same scale is an FM-52 I think). Then prined the life size image, Then I cut the body out and traced it and will cut the pick guard neck ect. for a template. just a thought. Also would Stratocaster electronics be a good choice? the pickup cound be strattled between the strings(one extra on each side of the pick up). looks are not important once a cover is placed over top.