Number Two

[AaronVW]

Just finished my second mandolin.
107955107956107957

[OldGus]

Impressive, nice work! Your first F?

[SWS]

Looks really really good. I dig the finger board. Back wood is awesome, nice touch with the burst. What's the top species?

All the best

[AaronVW]

Thanks, guys! Yes, this is my first F style. Top is Colorado Engelmann spruce, the red maple sides, back and neck are from Old Standard Wood.

[Randi Gormley]

I like the Roman numerals -- I thought I was the only one who actually counted them out to find which dots were on which fret!

[Bob Clark]

Beautiful job! I, too like the Roman numerals. Congratulations to you.

[Denny Gies]

Beautiful work, how does it sound?

[William Smith]

very nice man! First build, wow impressive quality.

[mandoenvy]

I have never seen roman numerals as fret board markers. That is really cool. I like that a lot. Very nice job on the mando.

[HoGo]

I think Mike Kemnitzer used the roman numerals on one of his black top A's a decade or so ago.

[Pete Summers]

Very nice. I'm also a fan of the roman numerals on the fret board. I'd make that a standard feature of mandolins if I could. It really assists in learning the upper positions.

[AaronVW]

Yes, I got the idea from Nugget #219. I thought it dressed it up a lot without being too fancy. Thanks for all the compliments, everyone! Here are a few more photos in better light.

107986107987107988107989107990

[Skip Kelley]

Aaron, that mandolin looks amazing! I can't imagine how you can get any better than that! Nice work!!!

[Pete Jenner]

Great work.

[mandolinlee]

Hi Aaron -

Like the color and the 'burst - very tasteful.

Roman numerals are a neat touch, no question now where the VII fret is.
Lee

[JEStanek]

Great job!

Jamie

[JeffD]

Seriously fantastic. How's it sound?

[AaronVW]

Thanks! It sounds and plays great. I will probably keep working on the set-up to get it dialed in but I am happy with the results so far.

[Avi Ziv]

Beautiful!

[Stephen Cagle]

Wow! #2 is really really nice but 1 is my fav!! nice job. ~o)

[billhay4]

Nice looking instrument. Can we hear it?
Bill

[Mike Conner]

Really, really cool!

[AaronVW]

I post on the song-a-week social group from time to time. I will make sure my next one is on the new hatchet and post a sound clip here as well.

[Mike Snyder]

We all want to hear that. Many, many builders small and large struggle with the proportions of scrolls and points and headstocks. You've hit on correctness very early on. Well done! Very nice traditional scroll.

[AaronVW]

Thanks, Mike. I used the Minarovic plans from Elderly and also Andrew Mowry's .pdf templates as references. I wasn't really trying to build a Loar copy but it is very close in many areas.

[amowry]

Nice work, Aaron. It came out great!

[AaronVW]

Nice work, Aaron. It came out great!

Thanks, Andrew. And thanks for all the tips along the way, your binding article in AL was very helpful!

[steelhead1950]

How can I access Andrew's article on binding?

[Pete Jenner]

Subscribe to American Lutherie and get the back issue.

[AaronVW]

Getting a jump on the SAW tune this week. Here is a video with the new mandolin. I have a hard time getting the mic set to where it doesn't clip at times but should give an idea of the sound. Turns out I may be better at building than playing mandolins....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVgZ76b2wD4

[billhay4]

Thanks for the sound clip, Aaron. That one will play in nicely.
Bill

[OldGus]

That's a fine sounding mandolin! I like it a lot, thanks for sharing.

[Pete Jenner]

Thanks for the sound clip, Aaron. That one will play in nicely.
Bill

Play in? Sounds pretty played in to me.