kestrel
Feb-08-2009, 1:05pm
Well, the mandola I've been working on for the last month, or so, has finally been borned, so I thought I'd post a few pics.
Bill Snyder
Feb-08-2009, 3:34pm
You do nice work. That looks really good.
kestrel
Feb-08-2009, 5:16pm
Thank you very much, Bill
Gene
Steevarino
Feb-08-2009, 8:17pm
Fantastic looking mandola, Gene! I have had a customer or two that I would have liked to give the bird to. Looks like you give three or four with your instruments!
All kidding aside (which is hard for me) this is a very fine looking instrument. I like the details on the bridge, the fretboard, the tailpiece, the shape of your peghead, it's all very nice. I get ribbed about the v-shape on the back of my Gibson MM by those who are not used to this contour. It looks like a fellah could just about shave with what you have going on there. Just the way I like it...
Steve Smith
Ivan Kelsall
Feb-09-2009, 1:34am
Very,very lovely indeed. The inlay work on the tailpiece cover,looks especially good & as for your bridge,that's as elegant as it could be,beautiful workmanship,
Saska
mandolirius
Feb-09-2009, 2:53am
The tailpiece does look great. Did you make it yourself?
Skip Kelley
Feb-09-2009, 7:58am
Nice Dola! I love to play that! I love your bridge design as well as the bird inlays!!
kestrel
Feb-09-2009, 8:51am
Jeeze, guys, you're makin' me blush. :redface: This ol' man could wake up to such nice reinforcement every morning. You've made my day.
Steve - Yeah, and ounce for ounce the Kestrel is one baaad little bugger. I, also, really like that sharp "V". I like the way it maintains my thumb position, when going for chords as you move up the neck. Sort of a guaranteed centerline.
Saska - Thank you very, very. Glad you like the bridge. I've agonized, for months, over my bridge design, and have quite a pile of rejects. One that I particularly disliked, I still can't find. Got disgusted after sitting staring at it for an hour, I tossed it over my shoulder, and don't know where it went. Think it's under my band saw. When my daughter, and wife, both reacted effusively, over this one, I figured I had a winner. They're tough.
mandolirius - Yup. Well, I didn't make the tailpiece, but I did make and inlay the Ebony wafer, then epoxy it to the cover. I'm not a fan of the square Gibson style tailpiece, but I had bought a few, they were on hand, and this is the way I decided to make the best of what I had. Now, I actually like them, but they still don't suit my desire for "curved things on curved instruments". A very small portion of my very small brain is working on a design which I would like to, eventually, have Brian Dean (Labraid) cast for me.
Skip - Thanks. I'm hoping that, today or tomorrow, I can coax my old fingers to loosen up enough that I can put a short sound clip together. Don't expect virtuosity. I'm more of a builder than I am a player, and what experience I do have, has been all mandolin, and a little bit of OM. This is my first dola, so I'm not used to this in-between scale length, yet.
Thanks all, for your kind words. They are much appreciated.
Gene