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Off topic, but exercise equipment especially gets discarded.

I've built myself a mandolin several times so that I would learn to play. Still, I barely qualify as a beginner on mandolin. Why?...

I don't remember that last time I did frets with smaller ones in the upper positions, but there's no reason not to. The thing is, there is no particularly compelling reason to use different fret...

Flat top, guitar-shaped OM for a customer. He doesn't have an OM yet, has not developed a preference. I'm just trying to get all the info I can before making a decision. With a guitar-style fixed...

Graham, perhaps I'm doing something wrong (math and spacial things aren't strong subjects for me), but when I draw the individual string spacing from your bridge drawing my total width comes out to...

True, once it's already built. I'm trying to go the other way; start with string spacing and make the board to "fit" under the strings. I've only built one octave mando and that was years ago so I...

What string width at the bridge do you folks prefer on an octave mandolin? What width as measured from 1st string to 8th string and what is your preferred string spacing?
Do you have an OM that you...

Those of us who have been around for a while remember the days when "thickness sander" meant: (a) spend much more money than we can afford, or (b) make a homemade machine and put up with the...

For a head block we want:

-dimensional stability
-good gluing properties
-easy to carve/shape (especially if using a dovetail neck joint)
-strength
-low density

Any wood that has those...

Violins, with their relatively tall, light, flexible bridges, their bass bars and sound posts, and their bowed playing behave so much differently from carved mandolins that we can fall into various...

I am more convinced that optimal (rather than minimal) mass is important to sound. Part of the characteristic sound of a carved arched mandolin is because of the relatively massive and stiff top. If...

I can't say I spend time wondering about that, but I sure don't know why the decision was made to do them them that way. Gibson archtop guitars were not done that way, so perhaps that decision was...

I sometimes build with arches as low as 14mm when the wood is very stiff and dense. You'll be fine with a little sanding if needed.

Apparently not. Dave Cohen tried different bracing patterns (tone bars, x-brace, his own bracing scheme) and found no particular difference in sound or in laser holography using the same mandolin...

I use them to adjust stiffness. Perhaps that qualifies as "tuning", but I don't try to "tune" them to notes or any of that.



I don't think there is a limit in terms of structure. An arched...

I put a little leather pad on mine.
Also, I do the gauge hole drilling with the outside of the top sanded to 80 grit. After re-sanding with 80, sanding with 120, wetting to raise the grain, and...

No need to build up with glue or epoxy. It would only add mass without adding stiffness of structure.
I agree with Adrian, it's "on the edge" at that thickness, but if the 3" area is far enough from...

The F-5 scroll is misshapen in that the there is not a constant taper between the edges of the scroll all the way from the body to the button. The edges of the mandolin flare out from the rim to...

If we were to poll a bunch of luthiers on what tools they use we would get nearly as many answers as luthiers; especially when we consider shop space, amount of production and many other factors....

Bindings are installed oversize and then cut down to size after they are in place so you just have to make sure they are big enough to start with... and you install them before completing the job of...

“Too many notes. Take some of them out.”

The only way to do it would be to remove the frets you don’t use (if there are such frets).
191261

Could be, but the top thickness may not have much to do with the loudness of the instrument. Loudness significantly depends on coupling between the top and back, so thinner is only better if it...

Yes, redwood will usually end up thicker than spruce when used for similar tops. How much thicker? Depends on the stiffness, density, desired sound and other things that experience tends to teach us....

The '22 is not blonde. Mike Seeger's Blonde F5 was a 1925.
Here's the '23.
191237

Not all of us...

...and tone bars shaved and a wider fingerboard added (to accommodate Mike's big fingers), plus plenty of normal wear and tear.

I once "played" Mike's loar (...said as if I can actually play...