Mandolins in progress

[GKWilson]

Lauri. When you're diving in the 'Deep Blue' going ever deeper.
Often your buddies air bubbles dance in front of your
eyes as you strain to see the first signs of the bottom of the
abyse and all her mysteries.
I think this mandolin had to be blue.
Please let us see her when she's done.
Gary

[lauri Girouard]

Thank you all for the kind words about my mando. I will post pics and a video when she is complete. As of now, she has had all of the coats of water based lacquer (KTM 9) applied and now will need to cure a bit before I can buff her out and string her up.

Steve: What you said is what I think as well and I have to tell you that I almost chickened out and went with tobacco brown, red mahogany and vintage amber stains. Then once I did it, it was so blue that I almost put her in a closet and pretended it didn't happen. But then reason set in and I decided to continue on anyway. Now with finish and the way she looks under it, I am glad I took the plunge into Gary's abyss (that was pretty cool Gary, thank you). The sound being what matters and not the color ... this mando is loud, has great tone and has an overall great sound. Though that blister maple was the toughest piece of wood that I have ever carved. When tapped and then played it was very distinctive and powerful. I am hoping whoever purchases her will play around with some jazz, rock and alternative music.

Ed: Thanks! You have been with me right along on this

[Chris Oliver]

Speaking of deep blue... I got a few pics of my latest while on vacation.

[GKWilson]

This is Mike Black's #11.
Strung for the first time this week.
I think it's going to be a very good New Year.
Gary

[Jill McAuley]

looking forward to seeing the end results!

Cheers,
Jill

[Jim Garber]

Speaking of deep blue... I got a few pics of my latest while on vacation.

Hey Chris: I just noticed that this is an A5 but with a shorter neck. Very unusual. What kind of bracing is inside?

[Chris Oliver]

Jim, thanks for noticing.

I wanted to see how moving the bridge back to the fat spot of the mandolin would affect the tone. I kept the near parallel bracing and profile like an A2 (I did carve the top to accommodate the shifted bridge). I used a 13 7/8" scale and, of course, f holes instead of an oval.

I did this for two mandolins. This one has a Sitka top and the other, which should be complete after the holidays, has a Lutz spruce top.

[Keith Newell]

Wow there are a lot of nice looking mandolins being made. Here is a blacktop (face not shown yet) with natural color body gonna be shipped out soon.
Keith

[oldwave maker]

Astronomers have recently discovered more earth sized planets outside our solar system, wondering if they have life forms that exhibit chatoyance when made into mandolins and sealed with shellac.......

[Chris Oliver]

Astronomers have recently discovered more earth sized planets outside our solar system, wondering if they have life forms that exhibit chatoyance when made into mandolins and sealed with shellac.......

You darn well know there is. The biggest barrier is knowing how to interpret the alien law... Lacey Act and all.

[imleath]

You darn well know there is. The biggest barrier is knowing how to interpret the alien law... Lacey Act and all.

I think it'd be way cooler of the planet was just covered in a massive ancient forest. I'd hate to hear Gibson got raided by aliens to recover illegally imported alien fretboard blanks(or whatever it was they got in trouble for here on earth). Seriously though, I bet if there's trees out there anywhere there's some pretty cool woods.

[lauri Girouard]

My mandolin looks like it may be from another planet with some new alien wood for the back.... Thats ok with me though. My first build is complete.

[John Hill]

Alright...anyone else have to google "chatoyance" but me?

[Chris Oliver]

Luari,
Wow. Pandoran.
Chris

[Ed Goist]

Lauri:
Striking...Fantastic...Congratulations!

[buckhorn]

looks cool.....I want to try that in pink for my granddaughter....

[GKWilson]

My granddaughter plays a purple fiddle.
Lauri, someones going to love playing that little beauty.
Very unique and classy.
Gary

[Don Grieser]

Anyone else notice all those backs in the white in Chatoyance Wave's post. Woah.

Lauri: I fear that's made with unobtanium.

[Steevarino]

We took a bit of a "Traveler Holiday" here at the RedLine shop during a major portion of 2011, while we further developed our line of acoustic guitars and resophonic guitars, and moving into our bigger and better shop space. I thought about not making them anymore, but customers kept asking for them, even when we weren't building them. So, now that we have more space, and an awesome apprentice added to the team, we are back to making the intrepid RedLine Travelers.

Here's a shot of a few recent builds. The one in the front has its back made from a book-matched section of Claro Walnut. We have nicknamed this one "The Shroud of Turin", because if you look just right, you can see a face, sort of...

[Steevarino]

Oops! Sorry about that second picture. I grabbed the wrong picture at first, tried to edit it out, but it's still there. Oh well, that was one I took for our Facebook page. Deck the Halls, and all that...

[Carleton Page]

Congrats Laurie! Looks great!
Carleton

[Charles E.]

Laurie, that is beautiful. I am curious about the carved ridge (ripple?) in the top, below the fingerboard. Is that for acustic reasons? Or is it part of the aquatic theme? Either way it is nicely done!

[lauri Girouard]

Laurie, that is beautiful. I am curious about the carved ridge (ripple?) in the top, below the fingerboard. Is that for acustic reasons? Or is it part of the aquatic theme? Either way it is nicely done!

Thank you all. That is the recurve. It was an experiment to have the recurve go all the way around.

[lauri Girouard]

Congrats Laurie! Looks great!
Carleton

Thanks Carleton! Happy Holiday to you and your family.

[fatt-dad]

Love the blue mandolin!!

Really want to try an Old Wave oval one day too. Nice photo!!

I also would love to play one of the Redline pancakes. I get a lot of play on my pancake and really hope that these Redlines live up to the Flatiron performance.

What a fun thread!

f-d