Coombe flattop

[peter.coombe]

Here is my latest flattop. Thought you might like to see some eye candy. Australian Blackwood does not come any better than this. Woods are Tasmanian Blackwood back, sides and neck, King Billy Pine (from Tasmania) top, Indian Rosewood bindings, ebony fingerboard and one of Vern Brekke's flattop bridges. Rubner tuners with Teflon bearings (smooth). Sounds great.

[Perry Babasin]

Crazy figuring! Beautiful!

[billhay4]

Quite lovely, Peter. Can we hear it?
Bill

[Jim Garber]

Beauty for sure. It resembles Hawaiian Koa. Is it related, at least in tone?

[citeog]

Gorgeous....

Paul

[Tavy]

Love that crazy blackwood, those Rubner's look nice too!

[bfc]

Very nice Peter, any chance of a sound clip. Jim I believe blackwood is an Acacia so maybe, Im not sure about Koa. cheers

[sgrexa]

Wow. That is some of the nicest wood I have ever seen. How is the weight? I hear that blackwood can be dense. I also sent you a PM to see if this was available though I need another mandolin right now like I need a hole in the head.

Happy Halloween!

Sean

[peter.coombe]

Have not had a chance to make a sound clip just yet. Will try and get one done today. Blackwood is Acacia melanoxylon, very closely related to Koa. Tone wise it is similar to Koa. As for weight, it varies enormously depending on growing conditions and genetics. It can be dark coloured, heavy and very hard, or light coloured and not much heavier than Mahogany.

[peter.coombe]

Have just done a few sound clips. Here they are -

http://petercoombe.com/for_sale/Mand..._Inchiquin.mp3

http://petercoombe.com/for_sale/Mand...7/Hornpipe.mp3

http://petercoombe.com/for_sale/Mandolin177/bsa.mp3

http://petercoombe.com/for_sale/Mandolin177/rrtd.mp3

[Ron McMillan]

Lovely work. I've never seen photos of Rubner tuners until now. They look nicely engineered, but are a bit hard on the eye.

[peter.coombe]

Lovely work. I've never seen photos of Rubner tuners until now. They look nicely engineered, but are a bit hard on the eye.

Well I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but those are one of their cheaper models. I try and keep the costs down on my flat top mandolins as much as possible. Rubner offer a very large number of options with their tuners, e.g brass, nickel, black nickel, plastic knobs, wooden knobs, and various engravings, plus some other decorative options in any combination. They are custom made to your requirements if you order direct from the factory, but I do recommend Teflon bearings because they make a big difference to how smooth they operate. Their black nickel with luxury engraving and Ebony knobs are very easy on the eye, but are significantly more expensive. Not surprisingly, they do have a European influence so if you are stuck in the American aesthetics they might not appeal. I think their main business is in classical guitar tuners.

[Eric F.]

Gorgeous, Peter.

In case anyone is wondering, Peter's mandolins sound great too.

[mandroid]

How's the Bark?