New Build

[Br1ck]

Well the day finally arrived, I strung my Arches kit build up, after making a nut and fitting the bridge. Spent all afternoon setting it up, and I can say, this thing is alive. I had it in my lap while talking on the phone and it was resonating from the sound of my voice. Dampening the strings behind the bridge with a leather strip was a must. As I set it up, it just got better and better. Huge dynamic range and sustain. Somewhat of a canon.

It is a shame Chris Baird will not be making these anymore, as he announced that even before the fire destroyed his shop. Really a first rate kit. Cumberland bridge and Allen tailpiece, and the Schaller tuners are fine.

Going to have to learn to post pictures.

Is there any rush to varnish other than getting it dirty? I might thin the neck more too.
Worked hard to get the frets perfectly level and it paid off with no buzzing. Took me ten months. Probably two actually working and eight getting up the nerve to tackle the next step. It is quite the feeling of acomplishment, and a big shout out to Frank Ford who steered me right during the final phases. What a resource to have close by.

[fscotte]

Give a week or more before you pull the strings off and start staining. I find that the sound changes considerably, and not always for the best. At least for me, it sounds fantastic the first 2-3 days, then starts to sound tight, with loss of bass. Then I make adjustments.

May not happen with your build, but just saying there's no rush to hurry up and throw stain on it.

[Br1ck]

Adjustments being thinning the top at outer edges?

Right now it could us a bit less vibration if that makes any sense. But it is easier to dampen than liven it up. I was playing it all night long and it was becoming more focused, and the G string was warming up. Really remarkable.

Makes me wonder how factory instruments get shipped sounding anything like their final voice. One of my mandolin lessons I've not yet learned is what something like a Kentucky 900 might sound like after a few months. I've not played on any Pac Rim instrument with any age on it.

Wood is a wonderous thing.

[fscotte]

I can't really answer what to do, if anything at all. I most likely build differently than Chris Baird so it's possible you may not have to do anything.

Just suggesting to wait.. there's a significant change that happens to a brand new mando in the white.

[Marty Jacobson]

What do you mean by "easier to dampen than to liven up"? Dampening would mean adding more mass, varnish won't do enough on a plucked instrument that you could measure a difference (though many people swear they can, which is tricky since hearing is a notoriously unreliable sense).

I'd say go easy on it, work on the neck as you want to for ergonomics but other than that just do a good setup and get to know it. If there's nothing wrong with it after playing it for a few weeks, don't expect to get miraculous changes by doing what most people are tempted to do... and which amounts to "random hippie sanding" (no disrespect to hippies intended).

I guess what I'm trying to say is that unless you have data to go off of, and a measurable goal in mind, then you shouldn't be making too many adjustments at this stage.

Congrats, now for the hard part... finishing.

[Steve Sorensen]

Congrats, now for the hard part... finishing.

A great truth right there.

Be prepared to invest even more time and care in this next, second half of the build.

Steve

[Br1ck]

Well, I could drink more beer so I had greater contact area with the mandolin. I'm pretty happy with it as is. On a scale of my expectations, I'd say a seven out of ten. I'm going to thin the shoulders of the neck a bit and play iy for a couple of weeks. A friend has already paid me for painting a strat body, so I need to focus on that, plus I have maple boards to practice on for the staining and varnishing.