Burtenshaw Mandolin #15...

[burt50]

This is mando #15.

Sitka spruce top, black walnut for the rest. James bridge and tailpiece, Tru-oil finish.



https://youtu.be/nW080YIfHxU

Not perfect but headed in the right direction I think...

[billhay4]

That's some striking walnut you found. Nice.
Bill

[Skip Kelley]

That's some striking walnut you found. Nice.
Bill

Like Bill said, that is some nice looking walnut! I know builders that won’t use it. I’ve made one out of it and I sounded great to me.
Nice work!

[burt50]

Thanks Bill and Skip. I really like walnut. This is the 5th mando I've built from walnut and also one "Dobro" and I like it very much. It's easy to carve and very stable and I like the looks and the sound as well. I'm going to make a guitar from walnut one of these days. Just need a little more time...

[Jim Garber]

Nice work and lovely sounding mandolin.

[FredK]

Your mando has a beautiful backside. I really like that walnut.

[Mark Seale]

This looks and sounds great. I like Walnut as an instrument wood, some of my favorite Epiphone archtop guitars are walnut builds.

[William Smith]

I have to say but yeah man that Baby's got back! Looks fantastic-the whole package! Some people have a bad allergic reaction to using Black Walnut, I built a table out of it once and had no issue however.

[Rdeane]

It's beautiful! I'm going to finish my current project with Tru Oil. How many coats did you put on it to get that lovely shine?

[burt50]

Thanks Rdeane,
I put a lot of coats on because it doesn't build very fast. Maybe 30 - 40 coats with level sanding at least twice in-between . The leveling takes a lot of finish off so the final finish is still very thin. I think next time I'll build up with Seal-lac and do the leveling with that and then use less coats of Tru-oil. It's a nice finish with a great feel and nice sheen kind of between satin and gloss.

[MarkusSpiel]

Sounds nice and the back is really cool!

[John Soper]

Great sounding attractive instrument! I like to see (and hear) examples of mandolins that are constructed using tone woods other than traditional maple for the backs and sides (even tho I love Maple).

[CES]

Very nice looking and sounding mandolin, and that walnut is stunning!