International Violin F style build

[ryderlane]

Good morning. I Thought i'd post a couple of pictures and a small review on my recent International Violin F style build. This was my second mandolin build, my first being a SAGA (A style) mandolin.

For the price, the quality of wood was much better than the SAGA kit. The only thing that was sub-par was the tuners (terrible) and the tail piece although cheap, was not bad. The binding was extremely cheap and found it difficult to apply and i would recommend upgrading all the hardware.

This is s great "Intermediate kit" for anybody with a little bit of experience working on instruments and would recommend purchasing the book as well.

If you consider yourself handy and have experience working on mandolins, i would spend the extra money and purchase a siminoff or Stewmac kit. With the money it's going to cost upgrading the hardware, you might as well.

[fscotte]

Bridges, tuners, tailpieces, binding - all the places where kits can go cheap - and good stuff isn't cheap. For this reason, I have no idea why people buy kits.

[ryderlane]

Agreed fscotte. I will eventually upgrade the tuners and the bridge was of good quality. As i stated before, the wood was immaculate and i don't have access to the proper tools to start from scratch. It was still a very fun project.

[Northwest Steve]

Looks nice. How about a review of the instrument (playability and sound)?

[ryderlane]

Absolutely, i'm just tweaking the setup and i'll put one up. Steve, i also have some videos of the SAGA kit i built 6 months ago.

[pianoman89]

Ryderlane, looks great! I would be sure to let them know at International that you were disappointed in the hardware. Be sure to speak with Ken, as i'm pretty sure hes in charge of QC type things. They are very nice folks to work with, and I bet they would look to improve the quality of the kit. I do agree with fscotte that kits are not necessarily needed, and am in fact an advocate of starting out building completely from scratch, but I guess it would be nice for the beginner to have everything you need arrive in one box and all the work that requires power tools done. I ordered the wood for my first violin build from IVC and was very impressed. Being my first build, I got the cheapest wood and it was very nicely patterned. Keep up the great work!

[Steve VandeWater]

I like it. The back of the scroll and absence of back binding are reminiscent of my Eastman 515. I hope you're happy with the sound. I'm sure it's gratifying to have built it.

[ryderlane]

Thank you for the kind comments . I do agree with fscotte's comment above where he mentioned how expensive it was to acquire quality hardware for a mandolin. Putting together a kit at a reasonable price would be very challenging as a company. The wood alone was worth the price at International Violins, i can't express how nice it and ready to sand it was. The customer service they provided was top notch.

Stay tuned for a video!

[ryderlane]

Also, i had my wife leave the room and listen to me play my "LOAR LM600" and my international violin kit build "A taste test of the ears if you will ". I asked her what instrument sounded better and she chose the new build. She found the LOAR to be very "tinny". It has a nice bark to it.

[Bernie Daniel]

Nice work! I think you did a great job on the kit. I agree IV customer service is great --they always get back to you pronto and are very friendly and helpful.

On the hardware. Sure they could supply better hardware but then obviously the kit would cost more.

A better recommendation (IMHO) would be to offer the kit without hardware and at a reduced price. That way you could provide your own tuners, tail piece, bridges etc.?

[Pete Jenner]

Kits are great - not that I've ever built one but I can really see the educational value in them. If they turn out really well, then you can upgrade them at your leisure.

Scratch build next?

[bennyb]

You could try this. I put a couple of the IV(probably Saga) kits together some years ago. The machines were balky before I installed them, so I "reconditioned" them. Mix up a small amount of toothpaste and baking soda to make a polishing compound, then (with the tuners off the instrument) smudge it into the gears, and "spin" each tuner fore and aft with a peg winder(find one with slots that fit mandolin buttons). Then thoroughly wash out the toothpaste mix with hot tap water. Let dry. Lubricate according to this web page from Paul Hostetter. You'll know a lot more about tuners after reading that page and doing the above process. Hope this helps, benny

p.s. Re the peg winder. I bought a cheap plastic one with larger slots for guitar buttons ..and smaller slots for mandolin buttons. I play my kits regularly, and the tuners work reasonably well.

[pianoman89]

You could try this. I put a couple of the IV(probably Saga) kits together some years ago. The machines were balky before I installed them, so I "reconditioned" them. Mix up a small amount of toothpaste and baking soda to make a polishing compound, then (with the tuners off the instrument) smudge it into the gears, and "spin" each tuner fore and aft with a peg winder(find one with slots that fit mandolin buttons). Then thoroughly wash out the toothpaste mix with hot tap water. Let dry. Lubricate according to this web page from Paul Hostetter. You'll know a lot more about tuners after reading that page and doing the above process. Hope this helps, benny

p.s. Re the peg winder. I bought a cheap plastic one with larger slots for guitar buttons ..and smaller slots for mandolin buttons. I play my kits regularly, and the tuners work reasonably well.

Even better, in place of the peg winder, make a jig that slips over the peg head and chucks into your hand drill. Makes quick work of smoothing out any geared tuner.

[pianoman89]

Well, I should have read your link before posting that. Its got it covered there

[Paradisemandolin]

I know this is an old thread but what tools were needed to complete the kit. Thanks Brandon

[Jacob Hagerty]

I know this is an old thread but what tools were needed to complete the kit. Thanks Brandon

Well...kinda depends on how much you wanna do.

Chisel set
Scrapers
Sandpaper
Glue. (Hide or tightbond red label)
Clamps lots of them
Ruler
Caliper to measure thickness
Dremel
Drill

I’m positive you will think of tools as the project moves along.

[Paradisemandolin]

Thank you!

[Br1ck]

Don't forget nut files. Not familiar with that kit. Frets pre installed? Even if they are, you'd do well to level them, so that would be a file or sanding beam, a machinest's straightedge, and fret crowning file. Likely the tuner holes will need reaming for the bushings, so a reamer is advised. A needle file set is pretty handy too.

I would recommend buying the best kit you can find, which now is pretty much the StewMac. To me it is not wort the time building with anything but good quality materials.