A fine pair. GW matching Mando and Octave mando

[Dave Bucher]

Here are a matched set of Golden Wood Celtic style Mandolin and Octave Mandolin. Husband ordered the Mando and wife the OM.

Named Zookoblaster jr. and Zookoblaster.

Indian rosewood backs and sides, sitka tops, African mahogany necks, grained ivroid bindings with herringbone purflings, bound ebony pickguards with ebony fittings and matching "Celtic dog" headstock inlays, finished in high gloss nitro!

Dave Bucher
The Golden Wood stringed Instruments


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[Jill McAuley]

Gorgeous looking instruments and awesome peghead inlay as well!

Cheers,
Jill

[Gail Hester]

Stunning pair Dave.

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

Really pretty! I also reminds me how much I like the tapering sides you do. Really accentuates the curves of the instruments.

[Chris Oliver]

Excellent choice of woods.. I especially like the bound holes and tapered sides.
Where did you source your tailpiece?

[Dave Bucher]

Excellent choice of woods.. I especially like the bound holes and tapered sides.
Where did you source your tailpiece?


Oh I make everything except for the tuning machines and frets (well strings now that I think of it!) The tailpiece has evolved from some initial ideas inspired by the cittern "comb" attacher. from 500 years ago or even longer. . Most of the tailpieces I make now are floating tailpieces. THEY began as hinged wood and ivory/bone tailpieces which usually simply broke when brought up to pitch. I then began trying the same thing with brass pins and plates (inspired by my associate Steve O. Smith) set into the wooden parts but I gradually began incorporating violin and cello guts onto butt plates and now really just let the guts wrap around the end pins. For mandolins this is still the way I do it. I AM going to begin casting tailpieces. Truth is I don't like the several cast tailpieces available that I've seen. Admittedly I have not seen that much just the usual suspects. I don't like die stamped things though I can make the dies easily enough and have presses to do the work. I've just made the purchase of a centrifugal investment caster and I will also be making sand castings of my own tailpiece designs I got it for jewelery). The investment caster will be used for tuner buttons One tree of buttons can yield enough buttons for three mandos. I will be casting the tailpieces in multiple parts for hinged operation mostly for Zooks from sand molds,

I've made the tooling for the wooden ones. My mountain dulcimers use a very similar design as well. These make string changing a breeze and discourage breakage as well.

Thank you for the compliments!

Dave

[Chris Oliver]

Dave,

Not what I was expecting but am glad to read it....

I have a local blacksmith willing to work with me for my Celtic tailpieces but yours looked as though we might as well just use you... or your source... which seems to be you.

Keep up the good work and let me know when you have a reproduce-able product.

thanks,
chris

[JEStanek]

That is a lovely family photo. I'm sure the owners are pleased too!

Jamie

[Randi Gormley]

I think I'm in love. I stared at that picture of the two of them in awe for I can't tell you how long. Outstanding instruments.

[CES]

Great looking work, Dave!

[Dave Bucher]

Really pretty! I also reminds me how much I like the tapering sides you do. Really accentuates the curves of the instruments.


Well my friend, you've seen me making them!! You also know why I make them that way. I was inspired by several things. I really liked Rick Turners solid bodied electrics and his line of neo classical acoustics. Lindsey Buckingham played the electrics for years. they had arched tops and backs and rotating pickups. These instruments are arched top instruments but they are of the so called "induced" arch type. easier to make then carved topped instruments they are undoubtedly the HARDEST to assemble and bind. When I set out to do this I wanted multiple curves and intersecting planes. The idea was architectural. I AM a building contractor and designer. Every curve has been designed to blend. The top and back curves are different, the string break angle (inverse aquare law) is designed to complement the neck angle and headstock angle and produce a carefully blended mix of tone and volume. What do I mean buy all of this stuff? Assembly of these instruments involves some difficult steps. The first one I made, a pic of which I include, I modeled the shape from the Archduke Ferdinand Cittern from about 1585. The curve of top and back results in the geometry of the sides. to make the top and back fit the ribs must be scribed. The linings must be shaped to match the curves. My first one I left the linings at right angles leaving a triangular space tight on the inside (tangent) and I filled the resulting space with binding which hid it but did NOT support it, the top anyway. About a six months later this instrument, one I was justifiably proud of, came back with BIG problems! The pressure exerted by the strings on the top had forced the bindings and purflings outward and left them high. You can picture it. Well, I had already figured that this would happen and I had taken steps to hand shape the linings along top and back of the sides and install body quarter sawn Douglas fir or carbon fiber braces under the bridge and brackets to support the brace ends. I repaired the instrument by removing the top and cutting the sides down just a bit and the back was alright especially since the radius of the backs are always less then the tops.

To assemble this type of instrument I designed a rocking spool clamp with sandpaper faces to conform to the changing angles. Binding these instruments is very difficult as there is no easy way to route a regular rabbit or ledge. No machine will do the whole thing without adjustment ( though I am working ion one the WILL!). Also, each binding must be shaped to accommodate the sweep of changing angles along the seat of the ledge. I will try to illustrate this concept in the near future.

Anyway, you were there for the construction of many of these instruments~

Dave Bucher
The Golden Wood Stringed Instruments

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