jpiperson2002
Aug-11-2009, 9:25pm
Hello everyone, this is my first post.
I bought my first mandolin two months ago and just completed 8 weekly beginner classes. I’m not really sure where it will take me in the long run but after finishing the next 8 weeks of mandolin classes I'll be able to join a Bluegrass Ensemble class. That will finally give me the chance to play some mandolin & banjo (got my first banjo at age 54 last year) in a structured give-and-take with other instruments.
I’ve noticed that musicians don’t usually personalize the appearance of their instruments very much. The owners might add an armrest or a fancy strap or maybe a nicer bridge or a Tone Gard for improved sound, but the instrument still looks much the same as before.
Lower cost entry-level instruments are good test beds for adding artistic embellishments or for trying out those budding Luthier skills without too much financial risk. I had fun adding a fret board scoop to my Deering Goodtime banjo last year and kast week I decided to add a scoop to my Kentucky KM380S mandolin. Projects like this inspire me to learn more about the way the instruments are constructed and it allowed me to produce something a bit out of the ordinary.
I’d seen some pictures of old stringed instruments with scalloped fret boards and decided that scalloping would add some visual interest to a fret board scoop. This turned out to be a very simple job which only took a couple of hours using a ¼” cylindrical hand file and a power drill with some conical grinding stones. The grinding stones were used to make a couple of shallow indentations into the scoop to hold some small stone ornaments for visual appeal. A light coat of urethane varnish wiped smooth with a paper towel finished the job.
The scoop doesn’t really make the mandolin any easier to play but that wasn’t the point. I mostly wanted to give the mandolin I'm learning on a unique appearance which sets it apart from the crowd of similar A style sunburst mandolins.
John Piper
I bought my first mandolin two months ago and just completed 8 weekly beginner classes. I’m not really sure where it will take me in the long run but after finishing the next 8 weeks of mandolin classes I'll be able to join a Bluegrass Ensemble class. That will finally give me the chance to play some mandolin & banjo (got my first banjo at age 54 last year) in a structured give-and-take with other instruments.
I’ve noticed that musicians don’t usually personalize the appearance of their instruments very much. The owners might add an armrest or a fancy strap or maybe a nicer bridge or a Tone Gard for improved sound, but the instrument still looks much the same as before.
Lower cost entry-level instruments are good test beds for adding artistic embellishments or for trying out those budding Luthier skills without too much financial risk. I had fun adding a fret board scoop to my Deering Goodtime banjo last year and kast week I decided to add a scoop to my Kentucky KM380S mandolin. Projects like this inspire me to learn more about the way the instruments are constructed and it allowed me to produce something a bit out of the ordinary.
I’d seen some pictures of old stringed instruments with scalloped fret boards and decided that scalloping would add some visual interest to a fret board scoop. This turned out to be a very simple job which only took a couple of hours using a ¼” cylindrical hand file and a power drill with some conical grinding stones. The grinding stones were used to make a couple of shallow indentations into the scoop to hold some small stone ornaments for visual appeal. A light coat of urethane varnish wiped smooth with a paper towel finished the job.
The scoop doesn’t really make the mandolin any easier to play but that wasn’t the point. I mostly wanted to give the mandolin I'm learning on a unique appearance which sets it apart from the crowd of similar A style sunburst mandolins.
John Piper