First adventure in building: mandola
I recently finished up my first instrument, and thought I'd post some pictures. It is a mandola with a 16" scale length, built to plans drawn by my friend James Curtis and with his assistance to keep it all from going horribly awry...
Top is Engelmann spruce; back, sides, and neck are maple. Western bigleaf I believe for the sides and middle of the back, and white or sugar maple for the rest. It's triple bound on the body with ebony binding (fun times...), and I laminated the same veneers I used for the pufling under the fingerboard and peghead for visual continuity. (I included a close up of the side to show the binding scheme). The finish is water-based acrylic lacquer, except for the back of the neck which is French polished shellac.
Starting with a one-piece bridge, so far so good. Allen tailpiece and Rubner tuners, which by the way work beautifully. I have Waverly tuners on my main mandolin, and comparing them has been interesting. Pretty comparable quality, at least in the smoothness and complete lack of slop or play in the worm gears. Beautifully machined, and considering their price I'm very pleased with them. Much higher quality than the Schallers that I initially put on the mandola.
Anyway, thoughts and feedback are most welcome. Thanks for looking!
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