Jacobson Nautilus #26- Concerto model with pinstriping

[Marty Jacobson]

This is my Nautilus #26 mandolin, just completed. It is a Concerto model, which is intended to be strung with light strings, currently Thomastik-Infeld Mittels.

Plus, it has pinstriping. Lots of pinstriping. George was a pleasure to work with (not to mention very patient as I completed it over the holidays).

We talked about the various great musical instruments and cars he loves, and then this idea of a "Hot Rod Concerto mandolin" came up.

I love a nice, elegant design... but this idea was just too fun not to try. Thanks again to George for trusting me to pull it all together. There was a point there about halfway through where I was worried it was going to look like something from Antoniotsai. But now that it's done, I'm really glad to have pulled out all the stops.

(In case your wondering, the answer is: no. What I did here does not fit into any kind of sane business model.)

The pinstripes on the top and back are inlaid curly maple, and sterling silver wire inlay on the headstock. The blocks on the ivory micarta fretboard are highly figured makore.
The makore fretboard feels great, and I really liked working with it. It's very nice- and expensive - stuff. Inspired by the Century of Progress mandolins and L-Century guitars, of course.

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[Marty Jacobson]

In terms of tone, my goal with this one was to improve the volume and projection over my last Concerto model, and also allow the use of J73's if desired.
With J73's it's a loud and feisty little mandolin. With the Thomastiks, it has that clean tone which they are famous for, but still plenty bright and surprisingly loud.
If I could play bluegrass at any level of competency, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to bring this to a bluegrass jam.

OK - some pics...

[Don Grieser]

That's an amazing looking and sounding instrument, Marty. Wow!

[Denman John]

Wow! I like it :)

[sebastiaan56]

Hot rod indeed, I love instruments that bend the conventions. Very classy, great sound, time to take on the world!

[Markelberry]

WOW that is a beauty!

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

Marty,
Saying you had outdone yourself would be a colossal understatement. #26 is a work of art and it sounds great. Congrats.

[dang]

:disbelief:

The only mandolin I have ever seen that I thought achieved that kind of stylistic intent is the Deco 1 (http://www.mandolinarchive.com/nugget/serial/272) by Nugget (or any monteleone for that matter).

[Michael Bridges]

Great job, Marty! That thing has such a rich, full tone all the way up the neck. Sounds beautiful.And you know the pinstriping really does it for me! The headstock particularly looks gorgeous. Just simply striking in every way. You keep getting better and better.
Edit with late thought: The new tailpiece looks awesome. Will the wooden "frame", or damper, or whatever it is around the top be made to match the fretboard for each instrument? Nice touch!

[Markkunkel]

Marty, that is nothing short of spectacular. Thanks for sharing your art with us!

Off to play not-so-fancy-but-still-plenty-cool-#17,

MK

[Pete Jenner]

The design and execution are nothing short of stunning as usual Marty but you have achieved a real coup with the sound. Brilliant.

[Jim Garber]

Excellent, Marty! Now, you got me going. That is a sweet sounding and looking one. I was going to ask you for some specs but I see some on your site:


#26 – Nautilus “Concerto” model (Voiced for Thomastik mittels). Redwood top, transverse braced oval hole, figured mahogany back, curly maple sides and neck. Vintage hot rod detailing. Satin oil varnish finish.

What is the scale length and the neck width at the nut?

[Lawrence Smart]

very very cool. I like

[Bertram Henze]

So far out. Who needs a scroll. :cool:

[Marty Jacobson]

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. Lawrence, I should thank you in particular. Your GAL '95 presentation, The Modern Mandolin, pointed me in the right direction when I was trying to figure out how to design an instrument for lighter strings.

Jim, the specs evolved a bit from the initial request. This one has a 13 7/8" scale length. In the next batch, I will be building one with a 13" scale length and another with a 15" scale length.

Mike - yes, the new tailpieces match the fretboard in shape and material.

Here are the final specs for #26:
Straight-grained old-growth redwood top voiced for light strings (J73 or Thomastik Mittels)
Tone bar braced, Nouveau symmetric sound holes w/ inlaid maple pinstriping
Ribbon mahogany (Khaya ivorensis) back w/ inlaid maple pinstriping
5-piece curly maple neck with mahogany stripes
Compound radius ivory micarta fretboard w/ makore blocks and aluminum dot markers
1 1/8" nut width
C shaped neck
.080" x .040" frets ("Banjo frets")
French polish over oil varnish
Jacobson maple and ebony bridge, vertically interlocking saddle
Jacobson engraved aluminum tailpiece w/ ivory micarta frame
Relic nickel Golden Age tuning machines.

I'll try to record something more lyrical/classical on it this afternoon.

[usqebach]

Very nice work, Marty. You are definitely raising the bar with each successive build!

[MANNDOLINS]

Very refreshing!

[billhay4]

Ah, Martin, you're hitting your stride here. Great job and great sounding instrument.
Bill

[Magnus Geijer]

I generally prefer scaled back simple designs, but that is stellar work, both in design and craftsmanship. Very nice indeed.

[Jim Garber]

Jim, the specs evolved a bit from the initial request. This one has a 13 7/8" scale length. In the next batch, I will be building one with a 13" scale length and another with a 15" scale length.

I copied those specs but barely had time to read them. it started out oval hole/transverse bracing. I am just curious what the process was like that culminated in symmetrical soundholes and tone bars. As far as I can tell from the video, it sounds esp well-balanced across all strings and up the neck.

Also, I love the soundhole shape and the overall design.


I'll try to record something more lyrical/classical on it this afternoon.

I do like the celtic tunes you played. BTW what tunes are they? I am looking forward to hearing some more on this gorgeous instrument. tho I imagine that George can't wait to get his hands on it.

[Charles E.]

Absolutly wonderful! Nice playing too.

[Marty Jacobson]

Well, Jim, I believe the process was this. I was about to do final graduations on the top, and I called George up and said, "I really think this thing wants to be parallel braced, with f-holes". The look and feel of the redwood, combined with the sound of the plate when I was tapping it, just sounded like it would work better that way. I try not to make decisions that way, but in this case it just seemed like the obvious thing to do.

It is a very nicely balanced instrument and easy to record (although I don't have the best equipment or expertise). Unless I am trying to replicate the sound of a vintage instrument, I try to keep the bass from being too woofy and the trebles from being too stringy. I'm very happy with this one.

Tunes are The Home Ruler and Cattle in the Cane (from Sam Bush's Howling at the Moon).

Charles, Jim S., Magnus, Jonathan, Bill - thanks, gents!

[Tavy]

Gorgeous, nothing more needs saying!

[Mike Arakelian]

Fantastic Marty...can't wait to see the others from the "summer batch".

[Marty Jacobson]

Heh, I'm just glad to have them done before Summer 2014 rolls around.

[bruce.b]

It sounds and looks great, Marty!

[Jim Garber]

Well, Jim, I believe the process was this. I was about to do final graduations on the top, and I called George up and said, "I really think this thing wants to be parallel braced, with f-holes". The look and feel of the redwood, combined with the sound of the plate when I was tapping it, just sounded like it would work better that way. I try not to make decisions that way, but in this case it just seemed like the obvious thing to do.

That is why your instruments are all the more impressive to me, that you seem to have this innate sense of where to go to get the tone and the right voicing.

[Marty Jacobson]

Well, it's just like anything else. A good statastician can analyze data in a way that looks like magic to me, but it's just the result of lots of effort and learning from mistakes. I try to quantify as much as possible, taking guys like Mike Kemnitzer at their word when they say it's useful to do. And then all those measurements swirl around and help to make educated guesses about how the instrument will sound. Rather than pushing for one specific sound, I've tried to see what all the sounds are that this design can produce. Now I have a pretty good set of parameters and can predict what it's going to sound like much better than I could when every instrument I built was a different shape.

[sumibuilt]

Pictures and Videos only scratch the surface of these works of art!

[Pete Jenner]

Now I have a pretty good set of parameters and can predict what it's going to sound like much better than I could when every instrument I built was a different shape.

Good point Marty and a good lesson for beginners.

[mandolinlee]

Marty -

Wish I lived closer so I could drop in and watch your technique on the maple pin-striping and silver wire work.

I'm impressed with the beauty of this instrument, plus it sounds great, too!

Thanks for sharing.
Lee

[Jake Wildwood]

Dang! That's nice.

[Skip Kelley]

Marty, absolutely beautiful! A real work of art!!!

[Mandoborg]

Hey Marty , that is a really, really nice looking and sounding instrument. What's going on with the top to side area there, i've never seen anything done like that before. That technique might be one for the 'Mandolins in progress' thread !! Really neat treatment there !!

[Marty Jacobson]

Hey Mandoborg, these mandolins are built with the sides wrapped around the top and back plates, so the sides act as binding.
You can see the whole process in these videos:
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[Bertram Henze]

these mandolins are built with the sides wrapped around the top and back plates, so the sides act as binding.

So, removing and re-glueing the top is not that easy, later on, I guess? (whatevever that should be neccessary for...)

[Mandoborg]

Hot dang , just when you thought you'd seen it all !!! That is pretty slick !! I was kind of nervous watching you work such small pieces on the router table at first, but once that passed i was ok !!...... That is a really neat way of doing that !! Great videos as well, much easier to 'see' something than to read it !!

THANKS !!

[Marty Jacobson]

Bertram, even on a traditional mandolin, removing and re-gluing the top is a major pain. IMHO much harder than building a new instrument from scratch. But once these mandolins are all together, the approach to fixing them is not very different from a normal mandolin. There are a number of ways one could go about it, including freeing the back by routing a binding channel. After the repair, most people would assume that the binding was original.

I'm glad you liked the videos, Mandoborg.

[Mandoborg]

Marty, two more questions, then'll i'll leave you alone !! First, what kind of glue was that in the jar when you were gluing in your blocks, or was that just hot water for cleaning? Second, when you glued your sides on, you wiped the entire inside of the side with glue. Doesn't that leave a mess on the inside of the instrument, or am I missing something there ?? I would think just putting the glue on the edges of the top and back, like you did, and then on the blocks would be sufficient.


EDIT: Scratch that, just noticed on your site, the sides are laminated !! DOH !!!

Excellant site by the way !!!

[Michael Bridges]

Mandoborg (and everybody else), believe me that the videos are great, but don't really do justice to seeing and hearing Marty's creations live. I've been lucky enough to see and play most of the last two batches, and they really are striking creations, visually and sonically!

[JEStanek]

Beautiful!

Jami