Hilburn #49

[Jim Hilburn]

Here's my latest.

[Jonathan James]

Stunning work, as usual Jim. What are the specs on wood, finish, etc.?

[8strings]

..... A short fretboard and a small removeable pickguard that leaves no holes in the side of the mandolin. Fantastic, but watch out for the thought police, this can't be legal?:whistling:

[Skip Kelley]

Jim, that mandolin is perfect! I love the sunburst, short fingerboard and the inlay is beautiful!!

[DougC]

Jim, that's one mighty fine mandolin. Do you have a picture of the fret inlay? Nice to see that kind of fret marker has not gone out of fashion. How does it sound so far?

[Dan Voight]

Wonderful Jim. Great burst, especially on the back.

[John Bertotti]

You sure do have some beautiful bursts!

[Magnus Geijer]

Wow. That looks absolutely fantastic.

/Magnus

[Stephanie Reiser]

Beautiful! Great example to study the perfected subtlties of shape and design.
May I ask...do you spray your stain on, and, what did you use for a finish?
Thanks in advance.

[Ken Olmstead]

That is beautiful! The Fern is a real standout for me! Very nice!!

[Caleb]

Beautiful work. Lost of clean lines. I don't often like pickguards on mandolins, but that one looks great with the pickguard on.

[Jim Hilburn]

Thanks for the nice comments.
It has red spruce, quartered red maple, sprayed sunburst and lacquer finish.
I finally got out the instructions to my camera and learned how to adjust the exposure time. These shots were taken in pretty low light on a tripod with a lower exposure time than the default setting. It's getting much closed to the actual depth and color of the instrument than the snapshots in bright light I usually do.
I'm doing some recording this afternoon and will get a chance to record this one. So I'll have a CD but no idea how or where to post an audio file. Maybe someone can help...

[sunburst]

Yep. Clean and precise as usual. Great looking instrument!

[amowry]

Looks great, Jim! That triple binding is a lot of work, huh?

[Mandolusional]

Very sharp! Beautiful work Jim.

[Austin Clark]

Looks great, as usual, Jim! Clean as a whistle.... :whistling:

[Jim Hilburn]

Andrew, thats Bill James inlayed black line binding. I've made plenty of my own and this is like cheating.
Not only do you not have to laminate and trim it but it goes on just like a plain piece of binding without the deformation and separation problems I get with the laminate. Pricey but worth it.

[Michael Cameron]

Hey Jim Hilburn,
Aren't you the guy who was the previous owner of OME #2 ?

I hope to play one of your instruments sometime. Made any black top mandolins ? Pics ?

[Jim Hilburn]

I am the guy who bought Ome #2 from Ome in 1975 for $600. It was made by Mike Kemnitzer and at the same time he was building Tim O'Brien's black A. Ome #1 was also available. It was the only Ome F style ever made, also built by Mike and it was all black, body, neck , everything. It also didn't sound as good as #2.
I did make one black on blond several years ago. I think it may have influenced several others to build with similar colors but that's just a guess.

[Andy Miller]

Oh my, that is nice Jim, I bet you've made another customer very happy with that. I hope I get to join the ranks of Hilburn owners in the not-too-distant future!

Andy

[Chuck Naill]

Jim,

I am so impressed. The headstock has to be one of the all time most beautiful I have seen. One word, exquisite. ;)

[Mike Bunting]

That's a fine looking mando. Jim, I went to your webpage and was strolling through the picture and when I saw #28 I nearly fell off my chair! Wow!! I had to get back here to post and so didn't notice if there are any soundclips. Are there any? Again, wow!

[Jim Hilburn]

Hi, and thanks again.
My website is one of the most pathetic on the internets. I built it myself on my old ISP when I had dial-up but changed providers when I was able to get DSL. I haven't been able to access it for years to update it but so far they haven't taken it down.

[Gail Hester]

Beautiful work Jim.

[ShaneJ]

I haven't been by the ol' Cafe in a while, but it's sure great to see that Mr. Hilburn is still making absolutely STUNNING mandolins. Wow! That is gorgeous, Jim. Congrats!

If you need help posting audio files, let me know. I'd be happy to help.

Shane

[Lane Pryce]

I am so accustomed to seeing you A's that I did a double take on this F5 ---- really top shelf. Lp

[Agustin]

Fantastic, love your sunbursts.

Agustin