I recently did a full 'rewire' of my picking hand technique after developing golfer's elbow. I took maybe three months out from playing to really focus on using my wrist correctly (up and down,...
Type: Posts; User: Davy Simpson
I recently did a full 'rewire' of my picking hand technique after developing golfer's elbow. I took maybe three months out from playing to really focus on using my wrist correctly (up and down,...
@tavy do you have any feeling on how fan frets effect intonation on instruments with double courses? I know these things are always a compromise, but it strikes me that at points where the angle of...
It's lovely to carve! I wish I had more of it.
Hmm, looks like I've kinda posted in in the wrong channel. Sorry, my bad!
Kia ora,
Thought I'd pop up some pics of the mandolin that just left my wee workshop. Was a commission for a local player's son, who has a thing about otters, so I made a wee copy of his otter...
Wow, that art decco mando is beautiful!
Here's a video of the instrument in action with a cover of Dougie Maclean's wonderful Ready for the Storm.
https://youtu.be/MxY9tgt7YmM
https://youtu.be/8cfKOeyajxc
Here's the instrument in action in Edinburgh in the hands of Kevin Mcleod. And in NZ in my considerably less skilled hands.
https://youtu.be/pcz8DKThSKk
A couple of videos of the OM being played. All recorded on a phone, so sound quality is what it is.
https://youtu.be/-NEfuUvJvMw
https://youtu.be/NFYRyz8_4Ng
Thanks Rob Roy! I'll try to post a recording soon if I can get one. And yes, the bridge is designed to be shimmable (is that a word?) when required. Puriri is fantastic timber - information about...
Thanks so much - glad you like it! She was sounding good when I sent her off but still had to open up. New owner has put heavier strings on the G and top D courses and seems very happy - apparently...
'brimming with bohemian artists,cafés, quirky shops and restaurants' is I think marketing speak for overpriced and gentrified ;), but as a relatively recent blow in to the area myself I've got to...
It's a hare. A few pacific cultures talk about a rabbit or a hare in the moon as opposed to the man in the moon generally seen from the northern hemisphere. I grew up in Scotland and I've never been...
Thanks! Yeah, I'm a big fan of using materials that speak of the place they come from. The tawhai I'm using here is really tawhai raunui, or red beech, which is endemic to New Zealand. It's similar...
I saw them in Edinburgh a week or so ago and they were great! Beautiful playing and very funny. You'll have a great night!
I recently finished up the octave mandolin I've been working on (with huge thanks to the various members of the cafe who helped me work through some questions about top thickness and arch heights)...
Thanks everyone, and sorry for the delay in responding - I was hiding from the news by going camping. This is all really good information and hugely appreciated! I've taken the thickness down a...
Thanks Marty, I think I'm currently sitting about 8.5 in the centre, so good to hear I'm not a million miles away, but with room to shave a little more...
Wish I'd thought of asking the 'cafe...
That'd be brilliant, thanks John. Much appreciated!
Kia ora everyone,
I'm currently building a carved top OM for a friend. He's specified 575mm scale length as he already has an instrument that he's loved to death at that scale. I've settled on a...
I've struggled with this question too. Problem I find is that if you do drill a stepped hole, it's nearly impossible to get the bushings out again, so stringing the instrument up in the white becomes...
Damn, that looks fantastic! Lovely curves.
Nicely said @sunburst. I watch my 5 year old son struggle with being a perfectionist - something he has definitely inherited from me. I can see it frustrate and limit him as he makes and creates, and...
Thanks Jim! Appreciate the kind words. It is amazing timber. Looking at various web sources it looks pretty close to a sugar maple - nearly as hard, and theoretically more stable once dried. It was...
Posting a few pics of my latest build. Western Red cedar top, flamed Tawhai (New Zealand Red Beech) back, sides and neck, ebony fingerboard and headstock overlay, handmade brass tailpiece and black...