strangeboru
Aug-22-2004, 12:26pm
Hi. I wanted to give an absolute glowing appraisal of the mentoring I recieved in constructing my very first mandolin. Don Kawalek agreed to walk me through this process beginning the first week of July. We began to work on the front and back and Don gave me a tremendous amount of info on the basics of how the pieces are constructed as well as different theories on what makes a superior instrument. He had chosen spruce for the top, walnut back, neck and rim with an ebony fretboard and a rose wood veneer for the peghead. Under his supervision, I cut the soundhole and prepared the top for a ebony/maple rosette. At each point of the process he explained what I should be doing and what we were looking to accomplish. Little by little, the pieces began to take shape. He encouraged me when I was hesitant to attempt certain aspects of the project, such as cutting the mother of pearl inlay "B" that I had selected to adorn the Peghead. (He gave me 20 jewelers blades and said that if I could pull it off he would be impressed) When I came back and still had 17 blades intact, he exclaimed "Definately luthier material".
Drilling, sanding, glueing and clamping began to reveal an attractive and solid instrument. Don's patience and true craftsmanship emboldened me to to ask questions and even make suggestions on design and constuction. I was especially excited when I got to bend the maple binding. Something about the whole atmosphere brought out a real satifaction for creating a one of a kind item.
The scariest part was carving the neck. After all, I had no idea of what I was doing. But, I figured if Don trusted me to do it then I guess I could pull it off. Slowly, using a rotary rasp (and, one of his mandolins as a model), it took shape. And after LOTS of sanding I got it to the point where it was ready for 12 coats of laquer.
Just yesterday, I finished attatching the hardware and strung her up. The moment of truth was at hand! I can't tell you how satisfying it was to play the first few chords on it. I had some reservations about how it would sound even though it looked great, but it was resonant had tremendous projection and sounded amazing. I actually went out on my porch and played hoping someone would make a comment so I could share my excitement, but there was no one around. I have many friends, but the first person I called to tell of my triumph was Don. It was not out of obligation, but out of a sense of kinship that I contacted him. For although I was the one that placed the pieces together, his knowledge and experience allowed me to create a truly beautiful instrument that I will treasure for the rest of my life.
Drilling, sanding, glueing and clamping began to reveal an attractive and solid instrument. Don's patience and true craftsmanship emboldened me to to ask questions and even make suggestions on design and constuction. I was especially excited when I got to bend the maple binding. Something about the whole atmosphere brought out a real satifaction for creating a one of a kind item.
The scariest part was carving the neck. After all, I had no idea of what I was doing. But, I figured if Don trusted me to do it then I guess I could pull it off. Slowly, using a rotary rasp (and, one of his mandolins as a model), it took shape. And after LOTS of sanding I got it to the point where it was ready for 12 coats of laquer.
Just yesterday, I finished attatching the hardware and strung her up. The moment of truth was at hand! I can't tell you how satisfying it was to play the first few chords on it. I had some reservations about how it would sound even though it looked great, but it was resonant had tremendous projection and sounded amazing. I actually went out on my porch and played hoping someone would make a comment so I could share my excitement, but there was no one around. I have many friends, but the first person I called to tell of my triumph was Don. It was not out of obligation, but out of a sense of kinship that I contacted him. For although I was the one that placed the pieces together, his knowledge and experience allowed me to create a truly beautiful instrument that I will treasure for the rest of my life.