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Hi Jeff - you should have dropped by one day to see how things were going, we would have kept some beer cold for you - good fun as before.
Karen, I've been trying to convince Don for ages to make a...

Leroy - it is fun - especially if you like pork/bacon - I guess it must be a staple in that part of Virginia. It's only a few miles away from Appomattox Court House National Park - well worth a...

Here's a collection of photos from Don's camp in Appomattox that took place at the beginning of the month. Apologies to all the guys, I'd hoped to post these sooner.
The camp was, as usual, a great...

Don't know if Niles (mandocrucian) is still running any sort of group mando camps, this could very well be the sort of thing to tempt him back from his flute. I think he did an emando tutor with...

Just saw this and yes it is his Mike Vanden mandocello - but you already found that out. One thing I've always noticed about Simon's playing is how much he varies his "picking area' between close to...

Nicely done Barry, I'm interested, as I did mine at a camp where I could devote all day uninterrupted to the task - how long elapsed time do you think it took you start to finish.

I agree with Karen on the neck shaping, on the one hand it really is a piece of customization that you as a player are free within certain bounds to express your preferences, on the other hand those...

Barry, the binding is much easier if you have 4 hands. At the camp we teamed up to do this, glueing and taping a few inches at a time. It was pretty messy work and there was a lot of cleanup sanding...

Here's the one I did at Don's camp last year, the shot on the right was with flash.
I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out, plays well and sounds good. One day I'll do a build from scratch...

I think it was Karen (Otterly) who mentioned about the hardware with Don's kit, I'd agree it's not "high end" but clearly meets the needs of the majority of folks who are trying this building...

Kip, talk to Don regarding the OM kit, I went to the camp last year, had a blast and came home with a pretty reasonable good sounding OM. It sounds like your woodworking skills are way beyond mine,...

Another vote for Don K. If you can get to one of his camps - it's a blast, if not, his kit + teaching support is hard to beat.

I don't understand why CBOM builders/owners don't fit tailpieces that will take both loop and ball end strings. That, and a tension calculator should be enough to let you use your favorite materials...

Thanks Bill, I guess the one in the middle without any reflections or flash is the closest, the top is redwood and I believe Don just sprayed it with nitro so no additional staining. I'll take a...

I previously posted some pictures of the OM I built at Don Kawaleks camp in April, at the time I asked Don if he could spray it for me. I picked the finished article up from on yesterday.
I'm pretty...

Another fan here, I'm just back from a 12 hour round trip drive to John's place to pick up an instrument he was fixing for me. Despite my best efforts over the winter my cittern suffered a top crack...

I did get Jeff's OK to post this. Although I said we were not under a great deal of pressure we did normally start off around 7:30 before breakfast at 8 and worked through until after dinner,...

Thanks Karen, I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. I think Don has got the design on the octave just about right - the gently induced arch on the top and back and the slightly rounder...

I've posted a few pictures from Dons camp last week. They are in an album under my profile.
Great fun and really nice looking (and sounding) instruments. Don was as supportive and encouraging as...

the originals, and still the best after all these years

I bought Cold Blow and the Rainy Night as a teenager in the early 70's - already had a mandolin - these polkas were the first time I'd heard long scale mandolin type instruments - I knew I'd get one...

Sounds like another batch of acolytes to add Don's followers - instruments look great folks, well done. Alanz's quote "we can fix this" brought back memories of my 2005 camp - I think Don said that...

Here a quote from Sobell's website news in October last year:

"All these months after injuring my hand (news item 5 June), it is now almost back to normal. While I’ve been able to work at a...

Good to hear you are back in the business Don, I'll try to make the OM camp, please put the firm dates up once you have them.

Steve, Glad you enjoyed Monksgate, I guess a couple of the arrangements reflect just how old the album is but it's always been a favourite of mine. As a couple of people have pointed out the...