Search:

One correction: Jean Paul tells me that this cedar is actually Spanish Cedar, not Red Cedar. Details here:

http://www.thewoodbox.com/data/wood/spcedarinfo.htm

I recently received a made-to-order hybrid: a cavaquinho designed to be tuned GDAE like a mandolin. The neck is longer than a standard cavaco, and the tuners are non-slotted. It's a red cedar body...

Thanks, Jake and Ted. I'll check out all these options.

I'm not a luthier and I think the issues I'm dealing with need a luthier's knowledge. I have a wonderful 5-string emando made by Kevin Schwab. I'm looking to find an acoustic instrument which would...

I have two tube amps that work great with my Schwab 5-string. One is an old Music Man 210-Sixty-five from 1974 which I bought on Ebay, had recapped and retubed, and installed new Weber speakers. ...

If you're willing to consider modifying the instrument, a new pickup is probably the best option. #I put a Carvin twinblade in my Mandoblaster with good results. #There are lots of pickup choices. #I...

I'm liking the D'Addario Half Rounds. #I use .009, .012, .022, .030, .046. You can buy the individual gauges at www.juststrings.com.

OK, here's a conceptual question: What's the best thing to call a 5-string solid body electric tuned in 5ths? It has the scale of a mandolin. But it doesn't have doubled strings. It has the extra low...

Does anyone know what the body of the standard mandoblaster is made of?

I've had good results with a Carvin twinblade humbucker, around $36. I didn't install it myself, but they have the wiring diagram availble on the Carvin website. It's a very good pickup for the money...

My 5-string Mandoblaster had a nice Kent Armstrong lipstick pickup in it. But I wanted to try something different and dropped in a Carvin twinblade humbucker. It's excellent, with a nice thick...

I took the sensible suggestion of contacting Bruce Herron and found out that the Mandoblaster pickup is a Kent Armstrong.

Does anyone know what the stock pickup is on the Blue Star Mandoblaster? Apparently it's a single coil, and it has a lipstick-type cover. I'm the owner of a new Mandoblaster and I'm wondering. Thanks...