You might find this useful - it's got good images and text: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/national-resonator-neck-reset/
The extra strip under the fingerboard is a bit of a mystery, but it...
You might find this useful - it's got good images and text: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/national-resonator-neck-reset/
The extra strip under the fingerboard is a bit of a mystery, but it...
If you already play then at that price point I'd say you'd be taking minimal risk if all these check out:
1. Does it play nicely without buzzing?
2. Straight neck.
3. Action height at the...
Hacksaw the protruding screw off and tidy up with a file - can't look or feel uglier than a protruding screw head!
And if the screw pulls out over time, drill right through as I suggested and use...
I think you need to go thinner. For ukulele sides (similar bend radiuses) in tricky wood I thickness to nearer .070 inches (1.8 mm). Unfortunately that's a bit late for these sides.
My other...
To answer the question,.011 strings work on my tenors. I think .010 would be too light to drive the soundboard.
However, mine are very lightly built, so .011 strings might sacrifice some volume...
CGBD is really close to Chicago tuning, DGBE.
if you know the guages you like for Chicago, just go up one gauge on the 1st and 4th to compensate for the lower note. So if your E would be a .012,...
Also note that the high A of CGDA tuning is close to the limit for steel strings. You might find that there is no usable nylon A string (ie they all break before you get up to the A).
A little...
That wouldn't bother me, I'd use it. Much of the warp will be glued to the tail block anyway.
I leave more like 2mm and haven't had problems, so somewhere in the 2-3mm range seems about right.
Zero fret is the same size as the others, but I tend to level just the other frets leaving the...
It's stable but crushes quite easily (or can do - it's as variable as all other species). The risk is probably the bolt pulling into, but not through, the block. If I had to use it I'd laminate...
I suspect it's more an issue of technique than strength.
I don't play octave mandolin, but on the instruments I do play I initially had trouble getting clean notes with my pinky finger. Now they...
I've never seen a mahogany top on a mandolin, but it would surely make music. However, it would sound quite different.
My guess is the differences would be similar to those on all mahogany guitars...
I think the lowest string is going to need 3mm or so compensation, maybe a little more. A 3mm saddle should get you there on the highest strings, maybe the two lowest might still play 10 cents sharp...
Thick strings on a short scale need a lot of compensation. If you adjust the bridge according to intonation, so that the 12th fretted note is an octave above the open note, your bridge might end up...
I'm primarily a uke player, and have even been paid to perform on a few occasions! So I'm quite experienced in the UK ukulele world, and my guess is it's similar elsewhere.
The biggest grouping is...
That's pretty much what I do for guitars and ukes, except I brush a little more glue (diluted) into the joint to reactivate the glue already there.
Once clamped I warm the joint with a heat gun...
I've made spruce kerfing, but it's very brittle so tends to snap rather than bend. Hardwoods tend to behave better.
Solid spruce linings work well though.
I've made cases for ukuleles and guitars (I build oddball shapes). I've settled on 3.6mm hardwood ply, which is lighter than birch but still strong enough. With care it can be bent over a hot pipe to...
I'm only an amateur builder of ukes and guitars, but what you show seems pretty trivial.
The crack at the F hole is tight - I'd just work in some hide glue and call it good after clean up. Should...
Split rivets lie flat inside the case, under the lining - worth investigating them (I get mine cheaply in lots of 20 or so via eBay).
Open up the rivet inside the case using a blade, press each...
Let me try to answer your 'surprised' point. You come from guitars, which is a useful starting position.
With acoustic guitars, the big step up is a solid top. You can buy one of those somewhere...
In case it helps, this is the inside of the soprano ukulele resonator I built a few years ago.
Your mandolin cone, biscuit and saddle should look very similar.
201318
The saddle is just a piece of maple, notched for the strings.
It fits into a 'biscuit', which is a circle of mahogany (probably) attached to the top of the cone, slotted to take the saddle. It's...
I'm guessing these are 1:1 tuners? My 1931 tenor has 2:1 ratio 'pancake' tuners, and tension on those is adjusted via the tuner button screw.
On my 20s tenor banjo I improved the friction using...
CGDA on a 23" scale tenor has worked for many players over the years, so it's certainly do-able. I have no problem with CGDAE on my 23" tenor banjo.
However, as others have said, that A string is...