Post a picture of what's on your bench?

[TheMandoKit]

That's a good idea, or maybe a round soundhole drop-in carving that contains a cat silhouette. I'll give it some thought and see what I can come up with. I have to finish this mandola first.

I like the way you think.

I'll send my sound hole's dimensions... 😹

[Patrick Toole]

Varnishing the latest mando

[Walt]

I'm almost done with this electric octave mandolin. It will have four single strings and a relatively short scale (18"). Shooting for something in an octave mando range in a mandolin/mandola-size package. It will have heavier gauge strings to push it down into the octave mandolin range. That last photo is next to a standard mandolin for scale.

[Rjayh]

Octave mandolin in sitka spruce and claro walnut. 21" scale length, lacey sheoak fingerboard and Queensland maple neck.

[soliver]

Worked out all of the set up on #5 and took some detail shots; check the Flickr link for all the goodies:https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAUKZT

Its been done and ready for a couple weeks now and I've been playing it and I am just as thrilled at how it sounds as I am about how it looks!

[Dave Cohen]

A couple more high-modulus neck experiments/data points. An A-model w/ WRC top, quilt figure bigleaf maple b/s/n. Neck looks conventional, but has a surprise inside. A C#-model;, w/ another CF/composite neck, redwood top, maple b/s/n. Both instruments strung up in the white now for play-testing. The A-model sounds a lot like Frankie Jr, so good to prepare for finishing. The C#-model also sounds strong, maybe a little more treble-y. I may thin the back a bit and play-test again. Or not.

[Jeff Mando]

Maybe a minuscule carved mouse on the inside back for the cat to see.

You can call it the Tom and Jerry model...

[Dusepo]

Surely not a "normal" mandolin as a break from your usual more exotic instruments, Jo! Looks really lovely. Will you post a sound clip of it when you have it strung up, please?

Ha! Yes, one of my less 'weird' builds.

Here, as requested is the sound sample:

[tree]

Neck looks conventional, but has a surprise inside.

If nobody else is gonna bite, I sure will. What's the surprise? It's hollow? It's really CF but looks like maple?

[Dave Cohen]

Close. There's not a lot of the wood neck shell left, but some CF and a lot of empty space inside. The all-CF necks are difficult to work with, so that A-model is one of several experiments (to follow), aimed at finding simpler and cost-effective ways to make high-modulus necks.

[Alfons]

Hey Steve! I'm an avid science fiction reader - just bought a copy for my kindle.
Sure do like that kevlar/carbon. Do those have a temperature range guarantee like the Lava Music instruments?

[Steve Sorensen]

Alfonse,

1. Thank you so much for taking the leap with The Rift. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing!

2. While the Kevlar/Carbon fiber + molded chopped carbon composite that I am using is more stable than wood for humidity and temperature change, I DO NOT recommend treating the instruments any differently than you would treat any other high-end instrument.

Steve

[Magnus Geijer]

No idea what this thing will sound like when it's done, but I'm pretty confident that the back will look alright.

[Jim Garber]

No idea what this thing will sound like when it's done, but I'm pretty confident that the back will look alright.

I can’t tell much of the size of it but the shape resembles a nyckelharpa. More pics, please.

[Charles E.]

Jim, see post #1711 on the previous page.

[Jim Garber]

Getting close to done with this monster. A few minor tweaks, and then disassembly, final sanding, stain and finish.

I can’t tell much of the size of it but the shape resembles a nyckelharpa. More pics, please.

Ah! Thanks, Charley. It was a nyckelharpa. Monster indeed!

It might be interesting to build a mandolin family instrument on a nyckelharpa style body. Maybe an octave mandolin or mandocello?

[Bob Clark]

Here's my Barn Cat Mandolins Tomcat model prototype, in the white. It's a ten-string, five course mandola, cgdae. 15.5" scale length. More photos as it comes along. I tried a bunch of different things on this prototype. Some are working OK, some aren't. Those that do will appear in later versions, those that don't, won't. I guess that's the point of a prototype. Still, the instrument seems good at this point. We'll see how it sounds. I have high hopes.

[/I]

[TheMandoKit]

Here's my Barn Cat Mandolins Tomcat model prototype, in the white. It's a ten-string, five course mandola, cgdae. 15.5" scale length. More photos as it comes along. I tried a bunch of different things on this prototype. Some are working OK, some aren't. Those that do will appear in later versions, those that don't, won't. I guess that's the point of a prototype. Still, the instrument seems good at this point. We'll see how it sounds. I have high hopes.

[/I]

Well, obviously, the cat soundhole is working.😸

Kit
Guitars, Mandos, Violins, Dulcimers, Cats

[Bob Clark]

Well, obviously, the cat soundhole is working.��

Kit
Guitars, Mandos, Violins, Dulcimers, Cats

Oh yes, you'll definitely be seeing more of those!

[PT66]

I have found it difficult to cut fret slots after the fingerboard is tapered and glued on the neck Bob. Do you have a special jug for that? What wood is the fingerboard?

[Bob Clark]

I have found it difficult to cut fret slots after the fingerboard is tapered and glued on the neck Bob. Do you have a special jug for that? What wood is the fingerboard?

Hi Dave,

Good questions, thanks for asking.

I agree that it's easier to cut the slots prior to tapering and affixing the fretboard, but I have a specific reason for doing it this way. I've had intonation issues with these odd scale-length instruments I build, when I use standard measurement fret spacing, so I developed my own way of doing this. It's entirely possible that there are better ways of doing this, but here's what works for me.

I attach the FB, install the 12th fret at the neck join, string up one or two strings in the middle of the instrument (on this 5-course instrument I will use a 'D' string) and tune open and 12th fret, so I have my octave in tune. Then I attach a movable fret I made which is simply a fret with the tang removed, that extends beyond the edges of the FB. It is held in place by a rubber band extending around the back of the neck. I can move it up and down the neck very easily.

I use a good tuner, not a cheap clip-on but a nice Korg that seems more accurate. I move the movable fret until I have an accurate, in-tune position for the 1st fret, mark that and then find the position of the second fret, and so on. I check my 12th fret tuning every few frets. When I have done all the frets, I re-check a few, un-string, and cut the slots perpendicular to a line I have made down the middle of the FB. Intonation issues between strings are ultimately corrected at the bridge.

Actually, I have also done this for all four courses and found that individual frets are more accurate at very slight, nearly imperceptible angles. You really don't notice it when playing, but for some players, it looks a bit odd, and they don't like it. For that reason, I don't do it anymore, but instead determine fret position with just a middle-of-the-nut string.

I use no tropical hardwoods in my builds. Maybe I'm a bit over the top, but I try to tread very lightly on the planet. My woods are typically from the Northeast US region, and some are cut quite local to my farm. Up to now, I've had a good local source for well-aged cherry and black walnut, and my maple all comes from a tone wood supplier who cuts in the Northeast. This fretboard is oak and will probably be stained black after the slots are cut but before the frets are installed. I sometimes use bamboo for this purpose (a grass, not wood) and probably like it better than the oak, but I used oak here, none-the-less.

Best wishes,

Bob

[PT66]

Have you ever compared your fret positions with those using more traditional calculations? I have noticed that the tuner reads that some frets are slightly out of tune with traditional fret spacing but my ear can’t hear it. Besides even tempered scales sound “off” to some people that can hear the true tempered harmonics. But you would need a different fretboard for each key if you tried to use true tempered scales.

[Bob Clark]

Have you ever compared your fret positions with those using more traditional calculations? I have noticed that the tuner reads that some frets are slightly out of tune with traditional fret spacing but my ear can’t hear it. Besides even tempered scales sound “off” to some people that can hear the true tempered harmonics. But you would need a different fretboard for each key if you tried to use true tempered scales.

Hi Dave,

Right you are, my friend. I've gone in the opposite direction and examined fret-to-fret intonation in instruments from builders I really respect and found their intonation to be measurably off, but producing sounds that are wonderous and magical. So, not only does perfection not exist, but it doesn't matter, either. All that really matters is that we like what we hear, and that will differ person-to-person.

I'm just a hobby builder, not a true Luthier. I've built a dozen or so instruments and learned something new on each one. I've learned that I can make a better sounding instrument by positioning the fret slots in this slow, methodical manner than I can by measurement, at least at this stage, and especially on prototype builds. This is the first cgdae 15.5" scale instrument I have built. On my prototypes, I use no jigs and build by eye/ear. Later, when I learn what I like, I build jigs.

I can pretty reliably set the frets on a piccolo mandolin now without this method, but I've built more of them than anything else. And I still use this technique on the first 6 or 7 frets, even on them. We'll see what happens when (and really, if) I build a bunch of these mandolas. I probably will, too. I'm liking this one so far. We'll see.

My instruments don't represent high art, as some Luthiers' instruments truly do. Mine are more folk art and are meant to be. Otherwise, I'd not be using the whimsy I incorporate into them (really, cat ears on headstocks, or a cat in the sound hole. . . whimsy/folk art for sure). I'm never going to approach a high level of perfection, especially with the few tools I possess. I really do build them in the corner of the various barns here on the farm, with barn cats looking on. I'm just an old guy who likes to build flat-top mandolins in this quirky style. They sound good. I play them out and about to appreciative audiences. I like them. Some people will, others won't and that's OK.

Jeez, did I give more explanation than is warranted? Sure, but this is who I am and what I am doing. And it's OK. I feel good about it.

[PT66]

Bob, my instrument are not high art either. I have been building folk instruments for 60 years starting with dulcimers when I was in high school. If it has strings and frets I have built at least one. I design my own instruments and most are one of a kind. Soon to be finished tenor “harp” guitar.

[Dusepo]

A renaissance cittern nearing completion.