My new clayton mandolin!

[MarthaWhitePicker]

Ok folks here it is.... My New (To The Board) Clayton Mandolin. You may be asking yourself who makes a Clayton Mandolin? The answer is...... Josh Vest (Big Joes Son) Josh now works at Gibson and does repair work. Josh made this instrument just before he came to work for Gibson. I believe its around 3 years old. Its a whopper of a mando! Its got the low end woody bark like a silver angel. The Neck is a Sam Bush neck with extra binding. Since I bought the mandolin I have had the neck shaved down to more of a semi V shape. I hade the nut changed from pearl to bone. With a slimmer neck and bone nut the tenor end came out whailing a lonsome Monroe tune! Enjoy the pics!

[MarthaWhitePicker]

another...

[MarthaWhitePicker]

Headshot...

[MarthaWhitePicker]

The Rear End!

[MarthaWhitePicker]

Smaller version of first pic

[mandolooter]

looks nice, whats it sound like?

[Sitka]

I played one of those on the way to the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend last year.We stopped by a mall in Tennesee to eat lunch when we saw a sign for a bluegrass museum in the lower level of the mall. The guy that ran the front let me pick on his for the few minutes that we were there. The one in the picture looks almost exactly like the one that I played.


Micah

[MarthaWhitePicker]

Great Memory!
I am the guy that works at the Bluegrass Museum in Bristol. This is the only mandolin he has ever made.

[Antlurz]

Pleasantly interesting take on the peghead design.

Looks nice!

Ron

[Woundtite]

I was the first proud owner of this mandolin. As for the sound, it has been played by Hershel Sizemore, Roland White, BJ Cherryholmes, and many more. Each complimented the sound.Josh is a talented luthier. If you hear this instrument, it's easy to see why he now works at Gibson.

[Mark Walker]

Pleasantly interesting take on the peghead design.

Looks nice!

Ron
I concur - I like the uniqueness of it. #I always liked Ken Ratcliff's headstock designs on his earlier mandolins - not so 'cookie-cutter' like most headstocks on many mandolins.

Congrats on a 'one of a kind' (for the moment anyway!) mandolin! #Looks like a beauty.

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

[Big Joe]

This is a good sounding mandolin with tons of bottom end. Josh has been building fretted instruments for about 12 years. He has built several solid body guitars, a semi hollow electric, several electric mandolins, an electric upright fretless bass (really, really cool!), several electric basses, and a couple mandocellos. He loves to build in his free time. He also plays bass in a pretty hot band in Nashville called "shed". The lead singer of that band was on Nashville Star this year.

I'm sure you can tell Dad is not proud http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif .

[Big Joe]

Hey all! I'm Josh Vest just posting under Big Joe. Thanx for the compliments on the mando. Danny, the pics make it look great. Interestingly enough, that mando was built first just to see if I could do it. Mission accomplished. Secondly, I thought I wanted a mando for myself, and if you heard me try to play, you would quickly see why I don't. Any way, just wanted to thank yall for the comments. Josh Vest
p.s. the finish is oil varnish

[ronlane3]

Hey Josh, when building it were you worried that if it didn't meet "the standard" that Joe would shred it and make ya start over? At least you have a GREAT resource to consult along the way. Looks sweet.

Now someone post an MP3 file so we can heard it http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif