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It's been a while......

Boots Imperial
11" wide lower bout
Engelmann top, hard maple back and sides, compound radius ebony fretboard. Nitro finished in aged amber and chocolate brown.
199823

It's been a while.
Boots Imperial strung up in the white.195944

Neck fitting on an Imperial. There is something very satisfying when the joint snugs up tight.
The mallet is there to help me "un-snug" it.
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Actually their business models are honed precisely to put food on the table, the fact that they are based upon Gibson designs from the 1920's is besides the point. Building instruments that are...

Scott,
The information came directly from Pete Langdell. As I remember there were a lot of Rigel dating questions at that time so this was a way to head them off.

My Rigel is #1266, made in the...

Marty,
Vega archtop guitars of the 30's & 40's came with the "Adjustone" tailpieces that functioned in the same way. Definitely related to their banjo tailpieces.

It has been a while...
Carving a couple Imperial top and back plates.

I think you might have that backwards, the original name of the company was the "Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Company"
The L-5 was a very large mandolin.

Congrats Bill! Marty's work is second to none.

Not all failures are tragic, some can be amusing- I drew a set of body mold templates that I sent to a friend with a laser cutter to cut out of 1/4" plexi. The file scale wasn't set correctly so in...

While you are at it, do you want me to get off your lawn too? :(

Bill,

Outside of all that acoustics stuff, the body simply provides nifty places to attach your strap.:grin:

I guess the question is whether you are just interested in the look or do you want the sound too?
I want both. It was the sound of the Selmers that first attracted me; somewhere "in-between" an...

Wow, harsh crowd.
Frankly, given Gibson's history of mixing and matching from the "parts bin" in the 20's and 30's, I would have been surprised if there weren't a snakehead mandola. All we need now...

I, on the other hand, am not at all sad that Marty is letting this one go. :grin:

It looks like you have one penciled in, but I would definitely add a cross brace above the sound hole. This area is a notorious weak spot on oval hole mandolins.

In the case of a slot head mandolin, a volute is really the only way to elegantly transition from the thicker head stock to the neck. As stated, it is important that the volute not interfere with the...

Presently my bench is covered with glitter. Trying some new bracing patterns and I want to see what the tea leaves have to say..............

Dang, has it been a week already? My mind is so packed with information that I don't know where to begin.
There is not much I can add to Bill's post, but I wanted to say that this GAL Convention was...

Building flat-top instruments is a bracing experience.:grin:

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Also answering the question: "How do you brace a Selmer-style mandolin?"

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There will be a lot less wood here...

CeeCee, glad you are OK.
Your cautionary tail applies to everyone, especially the pros. Familiarity breeds complacency and that leads to accidents.
We often forget how powerful these machines...

Bill,

You might want to check these out. Easily holds one of my 15" scale Selmer style mandos.

http://www.elderly.com/accessories/items/AMCS3.htm

Don,

Is the fretboard glued to the top? That usually helps prevent the neck from twisting under normal conditions.

It's called a "belleview" washer. The washers I have used in the past are basically potato chip shaped. The belleview washer acts as a spring and keeps the bolt (or nut in this case) under...

After a lifetime of playing mandolin and tenor banjo, my wife's grandfather decided at the the age of 79 to teach himself upright bass. Why? "My group really needs a bass player."

You are never...