First of all, I've written this whole project up in detail (and with a soundclip) at my blog post on it.
But, to sum it up -- I had this playing "in the white" at a show on Friday after two days' build. I was really pushing myself to get it done quickly. It's vaguely based on the sizing of old Gibson mandobasses with a touch of the aesthetic of the 30s Kalamazoo mandobasses. I wanted it to be durable, functional, and something I didn't care about getting all scratched-up like I knew it would be.
The scale length is shorter (34") which is similar to a few early Gibson MBs and I've strung it with upright 1/4 scale strings (Corelli 350s) though I may try roundwounds for the heck of it at some point. It's tonebar-braced, the body is entirely 1/16" birch ply (flat top/back), and the center 3/4" of the (maple) neck runs through from the headstock to the endblock.
After playing a lot with various bridges since Saturday I'm happy to say I've arrived at the tone/power I wanted out of it and it easily supplied bottom-end growl for a two-guitar, two-mandolin group even with my original (not-best-sounding) bridge setup. The current bridge isn't the one that's still on it (though it's similar but has a 3rd foot in the center to engage that portion of the soundboard).
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