The Flatiron 1N, upgraded
Hello mandolin people,
So I recently acquired (maybe a month or 2 back) a Flatiron 1N. I bough it because I wanted an oval hole mando and because I was intrigued by flat tops, mostly because they are very budget friendly and I wanted a really different sound than my Eastman. My intention all along was to custom order a pancake from Crystal Forest, but I was having trouble raising the full amount and someone made the good point that I could purchase this for less and see if I even liked the flat top style, then I could possibly sell it at a profit and order a custom... I really like this little guy, so we'll see if that happens down the road.
The bridge that came with it was a little squirrelly. I'm not sure if someone replaced the original or just jacked it all up, but the slots on it seemed WAY too big, so I replaced it with a CA bridge. For those of you who haven't worked with Steve Smith over at Cumberland Acoustic, I can tell you that the guy is top notch!... The existing fixed bridge was only about 3/8" tall which is well below the lowest bridge that CA advertises. I emailed him and he was able to work up his lowest possible bridge and it all came together swimmingly. I made my own bridge fitting fixture similar to what he sells and after sanding the bridge a little beyond it being well seated, it matched the height of the old one perfectly. Steve was a great resource in helping to guide me all the way and cheered me on while doing so.... Thanks Steve.
I also replaced the standard clamshell style tailpiece. Not only did i dislike the look of it, but it was also a royal pain for string changes, so I ordered a standard style stamped tailpiece from Stew Mac. Of course the holes didn't line up so I had to drill them out and fill with dowels.
All together, I am pleased with the results... take a gander:
https://youtu.be/29FNMI-W6w4
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