Questions to ask Mando Builder

[Kip Welty]

I am considering having a mandolin built by Ray Sparks. I have never ad a Mandolin built before. What questions should I ask Ray before he builds ?

[DryBones]

1st question....have you ever and will you build me a lefty?

[Kip Welty]

Yes, ray said he would build a F Lefty

[Steve Hinde]

I think it should be more YOUR list. Neck width, fret size, finger board shape, scooped, binding, woods and color, tailpiece, tuners, trim colors, case, F or A or other, pick guard, lacquer or varnish? It's your choice and cost. It is the builder's job to interpret and create. Unless you want an 'off the shelf standard" if the builder makes that kind of thing. But there are almost always options to consider.

Steve

[Kip Welty]

steve, thanks for the info, lots to consider. can you expand on the topics: Neck width ?, fret size ?, finger board shape ?, scooped ?, binding ?, woods and color ?, tailpiece, tuners, trim colors, lacquer or varnish?

wow, i do not know what to request on 90% of these, i do know f, do not want a pick guard, like the old worn vintage look vs. shiney, ike a dark tiger maple back, top seems like most use spruce ?, like the cast tailpieces on webers, what does scooped mean ? can tell i am a beginner, but dedicated, practice all the time. have a beginner ky model know. big sound is important of course. i play trad bluegrass, monroe style, southern flavor my fav. & geogorgia rose.

thanks again for your input.

[ab4usa]

Kip,

Fellow lefty here. When I had my Old Wave made, Bill sent me a questionnaire. Your builder may do the same. It should be important to him that you will use the mandolin primarily for bluegrass. You should ask him what options are available.

Standard neck width at the nut is 1 1/8”. It’s probably what you are playing now. If you don’t have a problem now don’t change.

Do a search on fret size. There are some pretty good discussions here.

Fret board shape could mean is the fret board flat, radiused or compound radiused.

Scooped means that the elongated end of the fret board is scooped out so that you don’t hit it with your pick.

Binding may be on the front, back, fret board and headstock. It could be some or all and can be of various colors.

Search the board for discussions on tuners and tail pieces as well as the argument varnish versus lacquer.

[jjboone101]

to me, there are three approaches. One, you work with a custom builder where you can "drive" the process in terms of virtually all decisions like woods, inlay, radius, fret size, etc. Two, you let the builder "work his magic" based on your review of his earlier instruments, philosophy, design sense, etc. with some inputs from you. Or, three, some combination of 1 & 2.

[Kip Welty]

wow, those old waves are nice, my budget is much less, 1500 range. i wlll have to ask what options are available. i suppose sound is always #1, playing comfort #2, then looks. i tried to see opinions about sparks mandolins but did not get many opinions. i am sre you get what you pay for and can not expect a 5000 mando for 1500.

[Kip Welty]

thank for the direction. i guess i will have to go for #2 option since i do not have much knowledge about them at this point and let him lead for the most part.

[the_guitar_guru]

I would put playability at the top of my list. A mandolin needs to be made "true" in order to play well. After the build, string selection and pic choice can lead you to differences in overall tone. If the mando is not built true and doesn't play well that is hard to change. If the mandolin is not comfortable you won't want to play it so much and your search for the perfect mandolin will continue. I also believe that the tone we get is from our individual approach as a player.
Asthetics attracted me to Kevin Mathers and Old Time Mandolin; he makes a beautiful F-4 and I knew I wanted an oval hole for the sound. My expectations for string action are a bit extreme on the low side and it took a little experimenting with string gauges and types but he achieved action of 3/64" at the 12th fret for me.
The right builder will listen to your desires and tell you if you are realistic or not. My experience with Kevin was great and he did so well on my F-4 that all of a sudden I am cured of MAS and am monogomous to just 1 mandolin now.

[otterly2k]

kwelty... it will help if you familiarize yourself, at least, with some of the standard options available in mandos. For instance...flat or radiused fingerboard. This is a personal preference...if you don't know your preference, see if you can go play each kind and see what feels best to you. Other similar issues to consider might be:
oval hole or f holes
neck profile (shallow or deep U shape? V shape?)
thin or thick fretwire
pickguard or no pickguard
gauge strings you prefer
scoop or no scoop (or no extension)
elevated fretboard or not
and then a host of preferences that mostly relate to the appearance of the instrument.

The better you know your preferences as a player, the more intelligent choices you can make. If you don't know what you like ... either spend the time to explore and find out some of this stuff before embarking on a custom order... or be willing to trust the builder's vision and perhaps your preferences will be shaped by your instrument.

[Flowerpot]

My advice: Wait until you know what you want before ordering a custom mandolin. Try more models, play more, get to know your own preferences. That way, a year down the line, you won't be wishing you had ordered the radiused (or non-radiused) fingerboard, the scooped extension, a different pickguard, finish, tailpiece, etc.

[JGWoods]

I'm with Flowerpot.
Getting a custom built instrument when you don't know what you really want and why is....odd

[Kip Welty]

ok guys I give, i get the point, no custom for now, it seems like the off the shelf (china made) ones are not very good to me in terms of sound, quality of finsh, feel, i was thinking at least a custom would be much better, but now i understand all the issues i would face and being a beginner i need to keep my $250 ky "a" style for now, learn more about mandolins
and keep practicing.

[Kip Welty]

BTW, that may of sounded like a complaint, not at all, i thank everyone for their advice, really helped, thanks !!!!

[Steve Davis]

In the mean time play as many different instruments as you can so you can see for yourself what feels/sounds/looks good. Haunt your local music stores and try them all.

[the_guitar_guru]

Kip,

Getting a mandolin from a small builder does generally give more bang for the buck and I wouldn't rule it out. I would recommend finding a builder within driving distance from you and play their instruments. If it feels and sounds good go with him or her and if it doesn't move on to the next.

When Kevin Mathers was building my mandolin I made a lot of trips to Elderly and tried things out and reported back to him about what I liked and didn't like. I started out playing cheaper not so great imports and they just didn't lend themselves to helping me advance my playing due to poor tone and really bad playability. Having a beautiful instrument has been a huge help.

[arbarnhart]

Not having one custom built doesn't mean you have to go buy a foreign factory built. I think some of those are fine, but since you don't, you might consider shopping for a used mandolin built by a small builder. There is a Glenn F5 in the classifieds now for $1250.

[Kip Welty]

One big problem is I am a lefty, I realize answer is switch, but I am brainwashed lefty, so this limits "off the rack" tremendously

[ab4usa]

Kip,

As a lefty, I never got to play anyone's Old Wave before I bought mine, but Bill had a reputation that was so good it didn't scare me off. I was thrilled when it arrived and I'm still thrilled now. Alternatively, if that lefty Collings MT2 is still in the classifieds you might consider it. NFI but I have played it and it's a great axe. Yeah, I realize it's not an F style but it is a great axe none the less.

[Flowerpot]

That does make it tougher, but I'd still try my best to try out all the decent lefty instruments I could get my hands on, and form some preferences.

(Od course, playing a left handed instrument is even more reason to know exactly what you're going for when you order... I'd guess that the left-handed market could be a bit slow if you need to re-sell, but I'm guessing here.)

[Kip Welty]

thank you again for all you inputs, this is really really helpful.

[Steve Hinde]

I'd check out the lefty Collings. I've had 2 in the past. Flawless work, tone, playability. If I hadn't started building my own, I would still be playing them. I agree with the others. Before you consider a custom, know your tastes and technical info first. If you want a small builder, most would make a lefty to their normal specs or to yours. I suggest you talk extensively to the builder and determine what you want. Don't rule out the small guys.

Steve

[JGWoods]

As a lefty you might find that a custom builder is the best option. I never gave that problem much thought...sorry.

The "problem" with buying a custom made/small shop made/made to order instrument before you have played enough to learn what you prefer is that after you have your custom instrument for a while you will come to know what you prefer, and it will likely be something else. Then you probably will want to sell your custom instrument to fund another one that better suits your newly acquired ability to discern all those subtle distinctions in tonewoods, finishes, tailpieces, and the like that we all pretend we know about, plus upgrading to a fancier instrument to match your growing ability.
Hey, it happens....

so- if you get a small shop instrument, and some of them are very reasonably priced- don't get anything too odd/out of the mainstream. That way when you decide you want something else you can sell your nice used mando to an eager left handed learner and everyone wins.

Good luck- it's a lot of fun getting a nice mandolin- and worth it.
enjoy

[Kip Welty]

i have another question for everyoone. does anyone know the tabs and chords to southern flavor ? i cannot find them anywhere, and my ear is not good enough yet to determine the notes simply from listenning.