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wjpauly
Jun-20-2004, 1:44pm
Well, after about 14 months from concept to end, have a look at my interpretation of the classic F-5 style. #It started with blocks of wood - no kit here. #It came to life Saturday, 19-Jun-2004 at ~2:15 PM. #Let the pictures speak....
Sitka spruce top; big leaf maple back, sides & neck; ebony fretboard and headstock; paua shell for inlays; Schaller tuners; Monteleone-style tailpiece.

Thanks for looking. #This forum was inspirational and informational during my project!

http://home.earthlink.net/~wjpauly/images/head_inlay1.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~wjpauly/images/Pauly01_back1.jpg

frets1
Jun-20-2004, 3:50pm
GREAT LOOKING INSTRUMENT!! My compliments. If your mandolin sounds as good as it looks, you are a lucky man. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

mandoJeremy
Jun-20-2004, 6:12pm
Just tell me what the back inlay means.

Brookside
Jun-20-2004, 9:34pm
C'mon you big mando tease. Show us the front. Don't make us beg....

wjpauly
Jun-23-2004, 6:41pm
Thanks for your kind words.

The back inlay is the "Star of Texas" - where I live. #I should have done the Truss Rod Cover inlay as the Texas state image. #And for those curious about full frontal exposure....

http://home.earthlink.net/~wjpauly/images/front_finish.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~wjpauly/images/front_trebble.jpg

mandopete
Jun-23-2004, 7:07pm
Very, very, very cool!

Can you tell us about the pickup(s)? Looks like both a bridge pickup and something over the lower f-hole.

mandoJeremy
Jun-23-2004, 7:16pm
Looks like the one you can get from FQMS with a Baggs and a Mills mini mic. Of course, the mic also looks like a Crown. Which one? I have a similar setup with the Countryman Isomax IIC and a Barcus Berry Hot Dot.

wjpauly
Jun-23-2004, 8:20pm
It's the Fishman M-200 product that incorporates piezo (Fishman) transducer and an acoustic (Crown GLM-200) microphone. I mix the two using a Fishman Pocket Blender and feed that direct to the church PA. The multipurpose building being used as the church has very poor acoustics and we're shoved back into a corner. If I play loud enough to be heard without amplification, the guitar players and choir get annoyed.

craigtoo
Jun-24-2004, 2:08pm
Great work!.... Did you draw your own plans or did you use some of those that are available?

Looks awesome...
craig

wjpauly
Jun-26-2004, 10:01am
I used several reference texts:
# -Siminoff's "Constructing a Bluegrass Mandolin", and
# "The Luthier's Handbook";
# -Larry Robinson's "The Art of Inlay"; and
# -"Woodcarving Tools, Materials and Equipment" by
# #Chris Pye

The Siminoff blueprints were not quite accurate and some of his concepts were updated in his second text, so they were modified slightly. #The major change, though, was in the neck shape at the head end. #

As my digits are uncomfortably large for the classic skinny mandolin necks, I increased the string spacing close to that of my guitars (1 1/4" wide X 15/16" deep at the nut) with a slight V-shape. Several people who have played it really liked that change.

The top was quartersawn by me from a billet of Sitka Spruce. The maple came from Notable Woods and was sawn from the same tree. The back was a book-matched set of wedges. The Star of Texas covers a large knot that I didn't want to show in the final finish.
All of the shaping was done by hand with chisels and sanding.

Albert Whiting
Jul-25-2004, 9:45am
geerally i don't like pickguards but that one is very nice. man that is great looking mandolin. love the color.

Albert Whiting
Jul-25-2004, 9:47am
that is a very nice mandolin.

jasona
Jul-31-2004, 9:11pm
Number 1? Very nice work! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

Zed
Aug-04-2004, 8:34pm
I would liked to have seen those same pics of the mando before it was junked up with the pickup paraphanalia. Sorry, i'm just not a pickup guy. Great work... beautiful instrument.