Rick Lindstrom
Nov-07-2009, 2:58pm
It seems like there was a thread for instruments in progress, but I couldn't find it, so I'm posting here. The reason will be clear eventually.
Attached are two (hopefully) pictures of my first (and probably last) build, in the white. I worked on this off and on for 18 months and finally finished it to this point because I felt a little guilty about letting it go for so long. It's not a kit- it started out as a box of tonewood from Old Standard (great folks by the way), and I worked from the MacRostie F-5 plans, getting rid of some of the frou-frou (points, scrolls, inlay and what not:) ). The peghead is my own "design" if you can can such a simple thing a design. I used Andrew's countour maps, and I didn't graduate the top in any sense- I just built it to recommended average specifications for an arch top mando. I have a feeling that trying to meaningfully graduate plates is a waste of effort until one has built more than a few mandos and has a longer view on what's going on with the wood.
I strung up this past Wednesday, and even though none of the preliminary setup was done (nut way too high and bridge set high because the fingerboard had yet to be leveled) I sat down and played it until I ran out of tunes. I got to experience something that I think most builders probably know about, but that I've never seen mentioned- the "first opening up". It didn't sound so good when I first started playing it, but it changed dramatically over the course of the hour that I played it. A totally amazing transformation. Good enough that if it never sounds any better than this, I'll be happy.
I plan to do the setup, finish sand, wipe on a coat or two of shellac to seal it, and then play it until I decide what to do about a finish. Who knows- a couple of coats of shellac may be all it gets since it belongs to me and I'm not bound by convention.
I'm posting here because I want to thank all of you that were so generous with your expertise and didn't mind answering all the dumb questions I had when I was stuck on some point or the other. It's wonderful to be a part of such a community- thank you so very much.
Rick
Attached are two (hopefully) pictures of my first (and probably last) build, in the white. I worked on this off and on for 18 months and finally finished it to this point because I felt a little guilty about letting it go for so long. It's not a kit- it started out as a box of tonewood from Old Standard (great folks by the way), and I worked from the MacRostie F-5 plans, getting rid of some of the frou-frou (points, scrolls, inlay and what not:) ). The peghead is my own "design" if you can can such a simple thing a design. I used Andrew's countour maps, and I didn't graduate the top in any sense- I just built it to recommended average specifications for an arch top mando. I have a feeling that trying to meaningfully graduate plates is a waste of effort until one has built more than a few mandos and has a longer view on what's going on with the wood.
I strung up this past Wednesday, and even though none of the preliminary setup was done (nut way too high and bridge set high because the fingerboard had yet to be leveled) I sat down and played it until I ran out of tunes. I got to experience something that I think most builders probably know about, but that I've never seen mentioned- the "first opening up". It didn't sound so good when I first started playing it, but it changed dramatically over the course of the hour that I played it. A totally amazing transformation. Good enough that if it never sounds any better than this, I'll be happy.
I plan to do the setup, finish sand, wipe on a coat or two of shellac to seal it, and then play it until I decide what to do about a finish. Who knows- a couple of coats of shellac may be all it gets since it belongs to me and I'm not bound by convention.
I'm posting here because I want to thank all of you that were so generous with your expertise and didn't mind answering all the dumb questions I had when I was stuck on some point or the other. It's wonderful to be a part of such a community- thank you so very much.
Rick