I just spent 3 days studying with James Condino in Asheville NC. Day one, we made a neck featuring his dovetail sanding jig. There's an existing thread where James discusses the jig if you want to know more. Using the jig, we took an all day job an cut it down to something that can be done in 20-30 minutes with a very tight, clean fit.
The remaining 2 days we spent making a top and voicing it on a working mandolin that can be played as you make the changes. Want to know what a mandolin without f holes sounds like? How about what happens when you change from parallel to X braced tone bars on the same mandolin? How different does a ziricote back sound vs. a maple one? I found out quickly and easily on a mandolin I could play 10-20 minutes after the changes were made. With the changes I did, it was the equivalent of building about 6 different mandolins within 2 days. I rough carved the outer profile of a top and brought it with me. In about 6 hours, we had the top glued on the rim, tone bars attached and shaped, and strung up ready to play. I didn't have to wait 200 hours to find out what that top is going to sound like. Being able to make changes on the fly and hear the results immediately in some cases is priceless to me. I've got over 20 instruments builds, (about half F5s and half guitars) under my belt. Being able to work this way is a game changer for me. I can dial in the tone I want with no guesswork. In addition, it's a valuable tool for experimentation that's quick and easy to do.
We also talked at length about vintage guitars as I got to look over James' extensive collection of hand drawn plans and notes from exceptional vintage and historical instruments he's worked on and studied throughout his career as a luthier. I only wish I could have studied with James 10 years ago so I didn't spend so much time beating my head against the wall to figure things out.
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