Newell F Blonde/Tortoise

[Keith Newell]

Well its done and I'm trying to figure a way to keep it....hmm, maybe um like ...dang cant figure a way.
Sitka one piece to, Big leaf maple one piece back. Also including that now soon to be rare Tortoise colored binding that they are talking about in the builders section. Carbon fiber neck rod, custom bridge with Carbon fiber center, Mop accents, and it plays like butter.
Keith
http://www.newellmandolins.com

[Keith Newell]

A beautiful back. You see the plan was to put something ugly by it so the mando looks even better http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Keith Newell]

I have an old camera as you can see the quality of the pictures. I was trying to show all the figure in the Sitka top on this shot.
Keith

[Keith Newell]

Scroll

[Keith Newell]

Side veiw.

[Keith Newell]

Points all around....

[Keith Newell]

Grain veiw and point.

[Keith Newell]

John wanted a different logo look so I used my tailpiece design with my "N" logo.
Keith

[Keith Newell]

Back scroll

[Keith Newell]

End veiw.
Thanks for looking, I'll try to refrain from posting more pictures of it but I was on a roll http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Keith

[Skip Kelley]

Keith, that is one fine looking mandolin! That is the nicest blonde I have ever seen! You did a great job!!

[meskalito]

Gorgeous mandolin. #How about one more pic — a close-up of the full back? #Wow, that is some nice wood and wonderful workmanship. Remarkable tailpiece design. Congratulations. #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/blues.gif

One thing — don't put yourself down! Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder, and I don't know many who behold their own image as beautiful.

[flairbzzt]

Stunning! I love the peghead and tailpiece matching "sun". This isn't fair-I already had my tax return set aside for something else...........

[WireBoy]

i love that Sun / N logo. #the whole blonde / tortise thing is fabulous. # its so sad that tortise may soon disappear. #lets hope the builders thread can find another source of celluiod.

[GVD]

First things first, beautiful mandolin Keith. The wood is just absolutely gorgeous and the tortoise contrasts it perfectly. Which brings me to my next point:


its so sad that tortise may soon disappear. #lets hope the builders thread can find another source of celluiod.

Tell me it ain't so? #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif #I love tortoise binding and would hate to think it's no longer going to be available. What's the story?

GVD

[WireBoy]

GVD,
Check out this (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=7;t=24267) thread for the awful story. a real wrench in the works.

[Keith Newell]

I just got back from a jam with it and wow, its opens up so fast. Every instrument I build goes to a local session where I play it good and hard for a couple hours and then address any action issues. This one is so sweet Im just dieing to have to let it go. It has changed in tone so much in a short time.
#Thanks all for the compliments. I have a couple close ups of the back for Meskalito.
Keith

[Keith Newell]

Ok not so close now.

[Keith Newell]

I have enough tortoise colored binding for maybe 5 mandolins, guess I'm going to horde it now. I think I need to pick one Im building as my personal keeper since the tortoise is my favorite and not to easy to get for a while...if ever. Im a big fan of celluoide binding and there must be a reason it was a favorite for many years....probably the same reason I like it.
Keith

[Steve Davis]

Beautiful instrument. The new owner is very fortunate. Great work Keith.:cool: -Steve

[Ellie]

Very swank, Keith. I like the combo of blonde and tortise. I don't know if it's been talked about here, but I just ordered 20 strips of tortise binding from Danny at Martin, and he says that it's not a problem for them to ship it at this point.

[jamann]

I am the lucky new owner of this Killer Blonde Mandolin.

JEALOUS ARE YAH!

I received mandolin early this afternoon and finally getting to this thread. Just couldn't put this beauty down.
This mandolin simply put is AMAZING. Keith did an unbelievable job on this, down to every last detail. PERFECT!! It really is hard to describe just how perfect in every detail it really is. You'd have to see it with your own two eyes to really appreciate it. I pulled it out of its case (a tweed rectangular TKL), tuned it up and was blown away by what I heard. It sounds OH SO SWEEEET!! It really has a wonderful tone and when I played chop chords it WUFFED! What a BEAST! Very mature sounding for being a pup. Keith set the action perfectly. Very easy to play up and down the neck. Keith was great to work with in every aspect. He was very helpful throughout the building process. He kept me well informed sending emails and photos constantly, helping me make wise choices along the way. I highly recommend Keith to anyone looking for a top of the line quality mandolin at an unbelievable price. A bargain it is that I'm sure won't last for long. I'm really glad I got the tortoise binding, looks like it may no longer be available. This will make mine very rare. I would like to thank everyone at the Cafe for all the great information I was able to access to make my decision on having a mandolin made for me. I know I made the right decision going with Keith. Thanks everyone!

Keith You Are The Man!!
Thank you very much!!

jamann #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[kyblue]

Beautiful. I really think my blue Rose needs a blonde friend.

[steve V. johnson]

Would y'all please point me to this thread about the tortoise binding?

Thanks,

stv

[b.pat]

Steve,

Look eight post up on this thread .

B.Pat