My Eastman 315 Distress/Refinish

[Randy Linam]

I bought a 315 [for a super price] from a guy use who used it as his "beater" mandolin, but it was really his "badly beaten" mandolin. There was no structural damage, and it had a great sound, but it was just too ruff for me. Sooo, with very little knowledge of what I was doing I decided I would attempt a refinish. It took me many hours of sanding with various grit sand paper and steel wool, and 2 days to apply the finish. I used WATCO Danish Oil. I also replaced the tailpiece with a Golden Gate stainless steel tailpiece. I installed a Cumberland Acoustic Bridge and replaced the tuning gears with Schallers.

I must admit I wasn't going for the distressed look, but I really like the result. Most of all I like the improvement in sound quality and volume. I'm not attempting to "toot my horn" but I think I did a pretty good job for an old guy who had almost no idea of what he was doing.

[choctaw61]

Looks great Randy! I really like the distressed look.Does it sound any different now.

[Randy Linam]

Looks great Randy! I really like the distressed look.Does it sound any different now.

The overall tone and the volume have very noticeable improvements.

[BrianWilliam]

Toot away! It looks cool. Nice work!

[BrianWilliam]

Reminds me of the early F9s

[Randy Linam]

toot away! It looks cool. Nice work!

thanks!

[Caleb]

Wow, great job.

[soliver]

Very cool, I like it!... I am a fan of the satin kind of finish over the high gloss sheen... Love the look of the Eastman 304,305, and 315 models for sure. You did a good job with the stain for sure!

[Caleb]

I never understand why companies don't offer models that look like this to begin with. Kentucky, Eastman, et al could save a ton on man hours and save the customer some money by selling stripped-down, no-frills models like this one. I think this mandolin looks better than 90% of what the majority of companies like Eastman are currently offering anyway. All those tacky-looking bursts and globbed on gloss finishes are a waste IMO.

[Randy Linam]

Wow! Thanks to everyone for your compliments and thoughts. Personally, I don't care for mandolin that looks as though its never been played. I'm not a poser. I'm not even a good mandolin player, but I prefer the distressed look. I'm happy with it, and I'm happy there are others who validate the hours spent in my "labor of love." However; there are many who do want a shiny new-looking mandolin. They spent there money to buy it, and if shiny is what they want then shiny is what they should have.

Again, thanks to all.
Randy

[Stephen Perry]

Interesting. One thing I prefer to do is to imitate wear and dirt. For example, here's a scroll on an old violin showing wear: http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/067...G?v=1440700880
That is a new violin that we've gone through. I'd like to do a mandolin that way sometime.

Those 315 are really a fine deal

[Ron McMillan]

Well done. You added your own unique touch and upgraded parts that are likely to make a difference to the pleasure you get from playing the instrument.

[Isaac Revard]

very cool, nice work!

[bluegrazz]

Nice work, Randy. I just bought a MD315 and, so far, like it as my first mando. I'm thinking of upgrading also. Would you have the part numbers for the Schaller tuners, Golden Gate tailpiece, and Cumberland Acoustic bridge handy?

[gtani7]

Nice work, Randy. I just bought a MD315 and, so far, like it as my first mando. I'm thinking of upgrading also. Would you have the part numbers for the Schaller tuners, Golden Gate tailpiece, and Cumberland Acoustic bridge handy?

(I haven't done this yet but you can measure your string height at the E and G saddles and send those to CA to make sure you get the right bridge (and mention 12" radius)