Mandolin Ornaments/upgrades who has em'?

[woodwizard]

I was looking at my mandolin last night and noticed all the things I have added to it that was not there when I first got it new a little over two years ago. Man! you can really pimp one out can't you? The first thing I added was a beautiful abelone TR cover I already had. It had been on a few other gibby's in the past as well as my Kangaroo braided strap I already had. Then came the toneguard. Then the armrest. I also put my gold original tailpiece in the case to keep new looking and replaced with a vintage Gibson tailpiece. I think the most impressive ornament I've added, (and fairly recently), was Mike Blohm's handel tuner buttons. They are absolutely beautiful. I guess you can call a lot of things ornaments/upgrades that I haven't done yet like raduis fretboard, larger fret wire and what are some more? I know you probably wouldn't want to do much of this kind of stuff to a vintage collecter piece. You think I might be overdoing it? Sure looks pretter now tho. Oh I forgot ... just got my newest ornament for my mando yesterday. A TPR60 BlueChip pic. Love it! Haven't even mentioned cases yet. :mandosmiley:

[allenhopkins]

Wanna hang a pair of fuzzy dice from the headstock?

[woodwizard]

:)) Or an eagle feather? :grin:

[Phillip Tigue]

Do dents, scratches, and dings count as ornaments? If so, then mine's a Christmas tree with strings!

[woodwizard]

You bet!

[Sean Greer]

The bling on my Fern is rather minimal at this point: a sweet strap (El Dorado), a McClung armrest and a TPR60 resting in the strings.

I'm considering a Tone-Gard, as I'm jamming with a group and more volume would help with taming the banjo across the room. Also, I notice the improved tone I get when I have the mandolin away from my body, so that would be nice as well.

I've also kicked around the idea of nicer tuner buttons, but there aren't many options for the Grovers that came on my mando. I might be forced to upgrade to Waverlys. :)

[woodwizard]

Trust me you'll like the toneguard. It and the bc pick compined will bring out some great tone for you and "volume". I have Grovers as well and Mr. Blohm had to do some extra special work to get his handel buttons to work on them. In other words it was a pain in the @#*! for him. I was so happy he didn't turn me down. They added a touch of class I think.

[Doug Edwards]

Let's see, Tonegard, custom pickguard, custom TRC, custom armrest, Allen tailpiece, schaller MOP button tuners. couldn't find any fuzzy dice. I'm still looking for a cup holder though. :))

[mandroid]

Forearm quickly wore off Gold plating on the original Lebda TP, [it's nickel plated 1st]
so I got the local Ace to install an Ebony faced James Tail-piece .

I epoxied the ebony piece on the lid and finished it ,
and he plugged the original jack hole in the end block, redrilled a new one
rewired the signal leads, and installed T-P & end-button-jack

Nary a clue seen from the outside , as new T-P covers all .

For all those that don't like their plain Jane TP cover on their mandolin

and those that balk at the cost of replacing one stamped with the Gibson Logo,

a nice wooden face on the top of it looks good, and is warm
to the bare forearm when using it for an armrest..

[Michael Cameron]

I am really happy to see "Handel"-type buttons being made. It's about time,eh?

Blohm's buttons look adorable. I have a Handel button earring from 1913.

I saw a necklace of Handel buttons one time at Kamp(she also had a pre-war,OOO-45, as I recall...(was that a dream?)

Handel-type buttons look incongruous on an F-5 style mandolin;or,any mandolin style made after 1917(?). I like incongruous. Bill did too.

New Waverly's(machines) with Blohm/Handel buttons !

[pigpen]

Don't forget the need for a rattlesnake rattle to give your sound that extra pop!

No mandolin can be true-ly considered fully outfitted without adding reptile parts. Lizard legs are nice, but don't quite supply the same mojo.:)

[Mike Bunting]

On my Collings, I've added Waverly's, a James tailpiece, a tone guard and a Sully strap, don't know if picks count but I use a Blue Chip and/or a Taterbug.

[woodwizard]

Wanna hang a pair of fuzzy dice from the headstock?

on second thought ... how much do you want for em? :cool:

[man dough nollij]

I wonder if you can get dice-sized fuzzy dice. That'd be about right...

[Mike Snyder]

Dual quads, cherry bomb muffler, and a posi-trac rear end.

[mandroid]

on second reading , anyone have mandolin themed ornaments hanging from their Christmas tree?

[Phillip Tigue]

I have one A style. Haven't too many F style ornaments around. Cafe merch, I wonder? Hrmm...

[frankenstein]

:(
:)) Or an eagle feather? :grin:

[Ivan Kelsall]

On my Fern - the MOP truss rod cover shown in my avatar,
Saska:cool:

[Mike Snyder]

No way, frankenstein. Not a 3 point, too!

[frankenstein]

incongruous ?? what's that ??

[jim simpson]

When you run out of things to do on your mandolin, you can start on the case. Stickers are usually reversable. I would like to add the following sticker to my Collings A case: My other mandolin has a scroll - a play on the "my other car is a Mercedes" bumper sticker.

[jim_n_virginia]

Just a ToneGard on mine but I put that on for the sound not looks so I guess I'm not one for putting bling all over my mandolin.

But my first nice scrolled mandolin I got years ago I pimped it out because mandolins were kinda new to me, gold hardware, custom TRC, fancy strap, Brekke bridge and custom endpin. All it needed was those spinning rims and I would have been set! :grin:

[PsychoMando]

Here's a question - How do I find out more about Mike Blohm's handel tuner buttons? I've done a search but haven't come up with anything. Thanks for the help.
Doc Simpson

[Mike Bunting]

Here's a question - How do I find out more about Mike Blohm's handel tuner buttons? I've done a search but haven't come up with anything. Thanks for the help.

Good question, I couldn't find anything either.

[mandolirius]

<Good question, I couldn't find anything either.>

There was something about them in a recent thread. Maybe in the builders section?

[Mike Blohm]

Hi folks. The buttons I make go for $250 a set. The lines on them are not gold wire, they are engraved and filled with colored epoxy. I have fit them to Schallers, Waverlys, Gotohs, Gibson Grovers and the old tuners with the bat wing shafts with pretty good luck. My email is Blohmmandolins@cablemt.net.

[Carlo Carr]

Don't forget the need for a rattlesnake rattle to give your sound that extra pop! No mandolin can be true-ly considered fully outfitted without adding reptile parts. Lizard legs are nice, but don't quite supply the same mojo.:)

I've considered this; there are "authentic" rattle snake rattles available on eBay! So far though I've stuck to nicely braided straps on my mandolins and an Allen tailpiece for my 'Luke Thompson' F5. The Thompson also got a TKL coffin case and a trip to Sim Daley for set-up.

This week my daughters middle-school did a violin presentation and all the girls instruments had little Christmas trees dangling from the tuners - cute!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all,

Charlie Carr
New Orleans