New Girouard mandola arrives!

[Don Grieser]

A near twin to dan in va's Girouard mandola arrived here today. I have to say, this is a fantastic instrument. Red cedar top, extremely flamed maple back, sides, and neck. The C string is amazing right out of the case. Wonderful tone everywhere. Max did a special slim neck profile for me and it's a joy to play and he nailed the neck profile.

I am one happy camper and what a pleasant experience it was working with Max and Lauri. Wonderful folks who are doing work at a very high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail.

I'll post a video in a few days.

Edit: And it came with a fantastic case too.

[Spruce]

Red cedar top...

I can really vouch for the wood in the top of your 'dola...it's simply some of the most perfect Western Red Cedar I've ever seen...
"That" waxy feel, hard to the fingernail, not too light in weight, but not too heavy, a nice even color, tight graining...etc. etc.
It came out of a mud bog, was 300% MC ( ), and took about two years to loose all that water...

Great wood...

I'll post a video in a few days.

I really want to hear this one...
I'll bet the aforementioned C-string is just badass....

[GKWilson]

Nice work Maxx and Laurie. And congrats Don.
That's one beautiful dola.
To bad with such a nice instrument you couldn't
find a better piece of maple for the back.
Hope to hear it soon.
Gary
I'm thinking lately that I may need a mandola.
And, like you I'm leaning toward a thin neck profile.
Could I ask the measurement of yours and the
width of the body?

[Don Grieser]

I talked Max into making it 1 3/16" at the nut, and going as slim/slender as possible on the neck using some measurements from my Heiden mandolin as a template but enlarging it proportionally. If you're familiar at all with the Phoenix mandolin necks, it's very much like those--they're also 1 3/16" at the nut. Max did put an adjustable truss rod in it. He also put Evo frets in and the setup is top notch.

Body is around 11" across and a little less that 2" deep. I didn't specify any of that--I figured Max would take care of those details. The only thing I really specified was the nut width and the neck shape. I let him deal with what it would take to get the tone I was looking for. He came through big time there.

One of my main gripes with the bigger makers like Collings and Weber is that they seem to think mandolas need 1 1/4 or 1 3/8 nuts and big chunky necks. It makes some sense in that everything should grow in proportion with the additional scale length and body size, but it makes no sense as a player.

[dan in va]

Hey Don, it was fun seeing the pics of these mandolas being built together. Yours is such a beauty that i keep looking at the pix over and over. Max sure has figured out how to get such great tone from the C strings, so they are balanced with the others. i agree that mandolin width necks work just fine. Max made mine exactly 1 1/8" and could've even gone a large 1/32" less with ease. Now that may be against conventional wisdom, but it really can work great for those who like 1 1/16" mandolin necks.

i hope you do some recording and videos soon. You know my request! Thanks for posting!

[GKWilson]

Thanks Dan and Don. I was wondering if a 1 1/8" neck would hold up.
I also need an 11"/ 11 1/2" body width. Been thinking of putting
together a little 'Frankenstein'. I'll hold off on any other ideas as it
may turn out to be a 'Frankenstein'.
Congrats to the both of you. I wish you two were here.
I'd love to play them both.
Gary

[PH-Mando]

That is a beautiful mandola!

[Tavy]

Beautiful!

[Rosemary Philips]

Gorgeous! Can't wait for video/sound clips!

[Don Grieser]

Tunes are Hard Times Come Again No More, Mandola Mandala (Dan's request: an original of mine from Hillbilly Chamber Music), and Big Sciota. Audio was recorded on a Zoom H2, no EQ, no effects just normalized. Sorry I messed up a few times--just left it all in there. Listen to the ring at the end.

Thanks again, Max and Lauri! Fantastic job all around!

[GKWilson]

Beautiful Don. Another fine addition to a thoroughbred herd.
Can't wait to here all the music played on it.
Gary

[Spruce]

Woof...

Nice midrange....

[Rosemary Philips]

Great playing on a great instrument! Unfortunately, now I think I need a mandola...

[Londy]

amazing dola! i would love one!

[Clef]

It sounds fantastic. Nice playing too.

[Jim Roberts]

What kind of strings are on the 'dola? Real nice.

[tmsweeney]

Wonderful tone on that, nice playing too

[Max Girouard]

I can really vouch for the wood in the top of your 'dola...it's simply some of the most perfect Western Red Cedar I've ever seen...
"That" waxy feel, hard to the fingernail, not too light in weight, but not too heavy, a nice even color, tight graining...etc. etc.
It came out of a mud bog, was 300% MC ( ), and took about two years to loose all that water...

Great wood.


I really want to hear this one...
I'll bet the aforementioned C-string is just badass....

Spruce, I remember when you first sent this stuff over. When I split the billets, they were still wet on the inside from hanging out in that bog for who knows how many years! So far this cedar has been my favorite wood

What kind of strings are on the 'dola? Real nice.

Jim, we string up all our instruments with Curt Mangan strings. They make a really nice dola set for the 15.9 to 17 inch scale lengths.

Thank you to all for the kind words on our work. It is truly appreciated.

[Toycona]

Excellent sound sample (great playing), really nice photos too. I'm really happy that other people are satisfied/curious about the Girouard mandola. I love mine!

[Mike Arakelian]

That's a really beautiful and great sounding instrument. Congratulations!

[ccravens]

The tone is spot-on awesome.

The mid-range, richness and depth, oh, my...

At some point in the future I may have to order a 'dola to go with my Girouard mando (he says as he looks around to see what other instruments he can sell....)

[Jeff Hildreth]

Beautiful instrument, congrats !
Am I correct that the back is not bound ? If not.. nice touch, I like it.

[Spruce]

So far this cedar has been my favorite wood...

Yeah, it's one of mine as well...

I was worried as to how it would take a 'burst...
Cedar sometimes can get "blotchy"...

And man, what a split.
Hard to find the center seam in that pic...

[Max Girouard]

I was worried as to how it would take a 'burst...
Cedar sometimes can get "blotchy"...

Lauri has developed her special technique for getting a nice burst on cedar. She uses a combination of hand rubbing and spraying. This piece was pretty streaky before staining, but the staining seems to even those things out. Great wood all around.

[Don Grieser]

I set out my Zoom H2 and recorded a little bit of some Saturday morning picking with a friend of mine who plays guitar and knows a lot of songs. This is a good one from the folk scare written by Richard Farina called Pack Up Your Sorrows.

Girouard mandola, Martin guitar, 2 human voices. Sitting in the living room picking. I'm liking how these instruments sound together.