Your dog looks like a Luck Dragon! (80's kid here...)
So glad you were able to get it back together without having to do anything more invasive, looks great!
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Your dog looks like a Luck Dragon! (80's kid here...)
So glad you were able to get it back together without having to do anything more invasive, looks great!
How can I get in touch to order an armrest?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jVCW6MpKUs
Sorry for the delay getting this out there, but its all back together an back to normal!
It's always great when a story has a happy ending :mandosmiley:
Glad it's back and sounding great!
Love the playing, nice lilt!!
Good on ya! I am impressed with how you have accomplished this first build. I am sure there will be more.
Thanks guys, and yes Hank it shall not be the last.
Finally finished #002 now!
I didn't want to start a whole new thread, but I did want to share that I have completed #002:
Attachment 194566
I had some preliminary discussion with Marty about some things I wanted to try and do differently and he gave me some sound guidance. So what's different? Well to start with, I veered from the original plans (again utilizing Terry's flat top plans) by making the body deeper by roughly 3/16", and by making it with f-holes rather than an oval. The cool part IMO is that I traced the f-holes form my daughters violin. In order to fit the f-holes, I did this mandolin X-braced rather than the traditional A or H shaped bracing that is standard in most A/N pancake mandos like this. Furthermore, Terry's plans call for a 10' Radius induced arch, but I did a 7' radius making it still deeper to a degree. I also took this opportunity to learn to make my own bridge. Originally I had intended to do the typical adjustable bridge, perhaps even another CA bridge like #001, but after some encouragement from some of the other builders here, I opted to go with a single piece fixed bridge. I used the Red Henry page to accomplish this and am pleased with the results.
This instrument is also a little unique because the back and sides are made of Redbud wood. This wood came from a tree that was likely planted in the front yard of my house when it was built in the 60's (we bought it in 2003). It was the largest redbud I have ever seen and many arborists that came to look at it said it was the biggest they had seen as well. Despite how much cared for it, it was dieing, so I had to cut it down. All told I made this instrument to keep forever.
I learned several things with this one as well, not only was this the first time I did inlay, but it was also the first time I had to pay attention to bridge compensation ... something you don't think about if you never make your own bridge. I also learned more about finishing. In hindsight, I should have pitched the varnish I had and bought more. I was using the leftovers in a can from my last build and it had thickened and created some issues. That said, I will have to pay better attention to finishing in future builds.
I was able to finish it last week in time to my local jam and it really performed well. It projects like a monster and it sounds really nice tonally (at least that say opinion... but I may be biased).
so here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0SiQDp6ZbE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0SiQDp6ZbE
Wow, Spencer, kudos to you. That is a fine looking and sounding mandolin. I really like the way it turned out, the redbud is really something. It's very creative, you have alot of talent. How cool to make your own instrument just the way you want it :mandosmiley:
Congratulations, a very nice job.
Nice job Spencer! Congratulations on a beautiful build.
Spencer,
Think #002 sounds great. Big improvement over #001. Keep it up and #003 should be special.
Regards,
Niice.:mandosmiley:
Its been a little over 2 weeks now, and I have played #002 at my local jam twice and in my church orchestra once an it has performed quite admirably! It has the volume to really stand out in a Jam and the sustain and tone to perform well in orchestral settings. Frankly, its just a peach to play tremolo on. It has a very sweet tone when played gently, but is poppy and loud when you want it to be. The neck is a little chunkier than my SA and I am finding that to actually be very comfortable, particularly with the light gauged strings. With what happened to the top of #001, I am watching it like a hawk, making sure nothing is going on there,... so far, so good!
All of that being said, thanks for humoring me, and thanks for the compliments and encouragement. It means a lot :grin:
I really like the mandolin, Spencer. And I am envious of your picking. Folks, I am proud to say that he was a fellow Newbie a while back. He graduated. I'm still working on it.
Lovely job, Spencer, and a great-sounding instrument too! Sounds well-balanced across all the courses.
Looks and sounds great! :mandosmiley: