RAS Kits

[UkuleleAl]

Anyone know about the RAS mandolin kits, look interesting. Not advertised as solid top so...

[Pribar]

I bought one off Ebay just to see what it was like, I just got it in and I must say I am not impressed, it was only 145 bucks so I shouldn't complain but the top in addition to being laminated and pressed (which I expected) it had gouges and major flaws, the scroll was crudely done with a gap in the wood on the inside of the scroll where it will be difficult to correct, the binding was sloppily glued on with gaps where the points curve around and the neck joint will need major shimming to fit right, and it is not a kit as I would define the term since the mandolin basically only needs the neck glued on to "finish" it. the hardware included is the expected cheap Chinese stuff you can get on Ebay for a couple bucks.
I am on a business trip atm or I would photograph the "kit" so you could see what I mean, if I remember I will post some pics Saturday after I get back.

[belbein]

I have a damn dog. And it barks.

And howls. (As I did when I saw your signature line.) Thanks for the info on RAS kits. I wondered, too.

[kkmm]

I also built one of this kit. It requires one glue job: glue the neck to the body, quite straightforward as mine fits really well.
Then just a lot of sanding and finishing works. The hardware and strings are of course cheap but I found it stays in tune really well compare to some other mandolins I own. It sounds not super but not bad to my ears and sound better than many low end mandolins I have owned (and sold). I do enjoy playing it still with the original strings supplied in this kit.
I went for this kit as I was not very confident about my wood working skills.
After this one, I built an ukulele (all solid wood) from near scratch.
Now, I am confident I can work on any mandolin kit that requires more tools and skills. and I won't go for an easy kit like this again.
If you have built mandolin from another kit, I recommend not to go back to this one.

[Pribar]

Sorry I am a little late posting the pics I promised but after reading kkmms post about his kit I decided to order a second one to see if maybe I just got a bad one, it came in by fedEx this morning and here it is just as I took it out of the box..


not as bad a neck fit as my first one but the scroll area is a mess as are the frets..



the top and back are in better shape than my first kit but still not great..


It is not the worst kit I have seen but all in all I wouldn't recommend it

[toddjoles]

That's why sunbursts were invented!

[Pribar]

That's why sunbursts were invented!

I would love to see the sumburst that could cover up that atrocious scroll butcher job, it would have to be supernova strength

[John Soper]

Pribar:

Thanx for the pics. X-po-say of "if it sounds too good",,, based on your pics, I wouldn't consider this for a beach beater project. It would take some kinda burst to cover this up, and it still wouldn't be close to what you wanted for even a player...

[kkmm]

Actually, mine came out quite well, it stays in tune, sound pretty loud with the original strings. I will replace the strings with the ones I like (and used on all other mandolins I own).
There was only one thing I have not done right (as I did not have much experience on wood working skills): i did not fill some of the little gaps, did not sand the wood smoothly before applying the finish. I am thinking about taking off the hardware / strings, and redo the sanding (including scraping off the current finish) and redo the finishing for the sake of practicing these skills again.
Now that I have more tools, this job could become much easier.

[UkuleleAl]

I would love to see the sumburst that could cover up that atrocious scroll butcher job, it would have to be supernova strength

Where the neck join is, did you or are you going to putty up the imperfections?

[UkuleleAl]

btw is the hardware any good?

[Pribar]

The hardware is the typical stuff you get for a couple of bucks from Ebay, nothing special. As for the kit, the first one I ordered (not pictured) is in such poor condition I am going to salvage what I can of it and call it a 145 dollar neck for another project. The second kit pictured above is salvageable, I will probably pop the fretboard and binding since both are not worth the effort of saving, sand down the veneer since it is already trashed in so many places, I may redo the veneer or maybe I will resort to paint, depending on my mood, as for the scroll, I am planning on removing the block for easier access, doing a bit of recarving and see if I can make a silk (or at least polyester) purse out of this cows ear

[Mark Marino]

Gotta tell you... Siminoff are awesome kits. Great support and very clear instruction book. First one I made is VERY respectable. If you're making a model airplane then there's always some amount of putty and sandpaper that will correct defects. On a mandolin, the string tension and tone qualities are not so forgiving. I like Pribar's handle: If u want something that barks, buy a dog.