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Two more Piccolo Mandolins- Cherry and Black Walnut
Here are the latest Piccolo (Sopranino) flat-top mandolins off my bench (Barn Cat Mandolins Kitten model). One has local cherry back/sides and the other local Black Walnut backs/sides. Both have Adirondack Spruce tops and Maple necks. The Asian Pear overlay shown is on the Cherry mandolin, and is from a branch crotch cut from one of my orchards. Next I am building two short-scale mandolins (Moggy model) as matches for these two piccolos. I hope you enjoy the pictures!
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Re: Two more Piccolo Mandolins- Cherry and Black Walnut
Wow, Bob, those are beautiful! I love that you are using local resources. I bet they sound great!
Re: Two more Piccolo Mandolins- Cherry and Black Walnut
Lovely fotoz! What's the tuning on these little guys? Scale length?
Billy
Re: Two more Piccolo Mandolins- Cherry and Black Walnut
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Billy Packard
Lovely fotoz! What's the tuning on these little guys? Scale length?
Billy
Hi Billy,
These are tuned Cgda, a fourth above a mandolin, an octave above a mandola. The scale length is 10.35". They are small and a lot of fun to play. Sort of like driving a two seat roadster compared to a regular car!
Re: Two more Piccolo Mandolins- Cherry and Black Walnut
Neato! I like the Walnut backed one :)
I beat they sound just as good as they look!
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Re: Two more Piccolo Mandolins- Cherry and Black Walnut
I had trouble uploading the photo of the headstock overlay on the Cherry mandolin, and I just figured out the problem and fixed it. I needed to shrink it a bit. So, here it is. It looks a bit more dramatic in person.
This overlay is from a pruned out scaffold limb crotch from an Asian Pear tree in one of my orchards. The training of these trees results in tortured grain patterns that I figured would look good as overlays. I hope others here like it as well as I do. I managed to get a few overlays out of this one crotch and will put one on the cherry mandolin I will next build to match this piccolo.
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Re: Two more Piccolo Mandolins- Cherry and Black Walnut
Those are both very cool, and the pear overlay is great. I am totally loving that walnut.
Re: Two more Piccolo Mandolins- Cherry and Black Walnut
That headstock with the pear overlay is just awesome. Thanks for showing the closeup.
Re: Two more Piccolo Mandolins- Cherry and Black Walnut
Bob, I’ll bet you remember when Weber made piccolo carved top mandolins. They were a neat idea, but one of the first things that went when Two Old Hippies took over and started cutting things from their line up.
Re: Two more Piccolo Mandolins- Cherry and Black Walnut
Beautiful ! Would love to hear one !
Re: Two more Piccolo Mandolins- Cherry and Black Walnut
Quote:
Originally Posted by
multidon
Bob, I’ll bet you remember when Weber made piccolo carved top mandolins. They were a neat idea, but one of the first things that went when Two Old Hippies took over and started cutting things from their line up.
I sure do, Don, that's what started me down this path. I think they called theirs a Sopranolin and I was immediately smitten. Eva Holbrook recorded a Bach piece on one and it was just so cool I had to give one a try. Mike Black made an A4 style piccolo for me and it's great. I view my flat tops as a gateway drug for the Piccolo curious.
Re: Two more Piccolo Mandolins- Cherry and Black Walnut
Re: Two more Piccolo Mandolins- Cherry and Black Walnut
I love the color on that cherry! Great work.