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Thanks Rolfe, for taking the time and effort to make my Unicorn and Bluegrass such great instruments, even if I’ll never be as good as they are.

Using natural linen to wrap the cotton cuts down the lint.

I expect by now you have done whatever you decided to do. How did it go?

Can't argue with that!

Ok, straighten me out. Which part do you dispute? If the first sealing coat is mixed with a very high proportion of a concentrated black dye and/or lampblack I guess it could get opaque with one or...

The advantage to French polish over spraying shellac is that it produces a beautiful finish when very thin, which makes the top responsive, but if you rely entirely on the shellac to provide color...

I haven't done this exactly but if you can get hold of a black wood dye and dissolve it in water rather than alcohol and then French polish (fear not) you should produce a very attractive dark...

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A new photo of the restored top with a bit of antiquing--paste wax applied and removed four times with slightly abrasive terry towel after spiriting off--no oil or final polishing--with a...

For anyone interested in how this worked out I ended up restoring the top myself with StewMac tobacco dye and French polishing (and fitting a Cumberland Acoustics bridge). The result wouldn't fool...

Doh!

I was misremembering the inside of this mandolin when I referred to braces -- I haven't peeked inside it since I determined that all seemed to be shipshape. I was hoping that there is a...

Thanks. It really looks dire, doesn't it? I was prepared to find all sorts of problems when I bought a little endoscopic camera for use with my phone, but despite the horror show on top the camera...

My 1917 A model sounds good but the brown top has lost roughly 70% of its finish and what remains is flaking off, probably the consequence of toasting in an attic for a century. The sides, back and...