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Thread: why no carbon fiber mandolins?

  1. #51
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: why no carbon fiber mandolins?

    Quote Originally Posted by Richard500 View Post
    @Sue
    Way back in the 1890’s, this problem was solved, witness ads for the Hutchins and Merrill all-aluminum, waterproof, rot-proof, take canoeing, and pretty unsuccessful models. My black one, illustrated, even has an all aluminum fretboard. Sheet aluminum was a brand new, and exciting product, finally in production and not exotic priced (like, say, CF). Stamping allowed for low cost fabrication too.
    Of course, aluminum doesn’t sound like spruce, a trivial matter of stiffness/density most likely. But I’m pretty sure that, given a magical erasure of tradition and love of all things wood, a really good mandolin, low cost and durable, could be engineered!
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    Interesting post Richard. All of the aluminum Merrill mandolins & guitars that I have ever seen had wooden necks and spruce tops glued to the aluminum backs.
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  3. #52

    Default Re: why no carbon fiber mandolins?

    Should have mentioned that: both were built by Hutchins in the manufacturing hotbed of Springfield, and the primary difference was exactly that. Merrill was an entrepreneur of sorts and almost immediately got into trouble, so the whole episode was brief. He wound up not paying the manufacturer. There actually is a bit of wood stuffing in the neck of the Hutchins that can be seen from the sound hole with a mirror, and I think stuffing the headstock, but one of the interesting things is that the fretboard is die-stamped, frets included. How’s that for thinking production?
    I’m not certain it’s the same material as the body - hopefully something a little stiffer, maybe German silver. Another tidbit is the decoration on the black ones, which looks excised, not stamped and must have been all handwork, and pretty deep too. The finish is still shiny, with no crazing, so I’m thinking baked enamel. Something one can do with an all metal mandolin!
    Looking inside, it appears that the top is riveted to the bowl very nicely as nothing appears on the outside. Really high tech for 1898, very deep die stamping that bowl.
    In my minimal research, haven’t found production figures for any of these, and I think the plain unpainted models probably predominated.
    Although I’m not a collector, I am a techie, and when I identified this on Goodwill, I went after it as an very curious artifact of manufacturing history.
    It is playable, but had they access, a nice stiff titanium alloy would have been better.
    Did any of the aluminum basses come factory painted?

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  5. #53
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: why no carbon fiber mandolins?

    The majority of the 500+ ALCOA aluminum basses were painted. That is part of why I get suck a good price for the polished & pimped out models. The Pfretzschners were the opposite. Most were unpainted; only a small percentage were painted. A big part is the paint technology of the day. ALCOA had a 50 step patented process in order to get it to both look good and adhere.

    Here is another Merrill:
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  6. #54
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: why no carbon fiber mandolins?

    Somewhat of a dabbler in aluminum-bodied instruments: I own a Merrill mandolin, with engraved aluminum bowl but a spruce top, wooden neck and fretboard -- and an aluminum bass, which I thought was a Pfretzschner, because it was riveted and not screwed together and has a wooden neck. However, it's painted faux figured "maple" (?), I guess.

    So, maybe an Alcoa after all? Live and learn, at least I hope so.
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  7. #55
    Administrator Mandolin Cafe's Avatar
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    Default Re: why no carbon fiber mandolins?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mandolin Cafe View Post
    Prudent to exercise some caution in dealing with them. The Cafe has recently fielded two complaints about them per usual, because, well, they were discussed on this forum and therefore at least one of those folks think we're personably culpable for the behavior and response time of every builder on the planet. Of course we are.

    The specific issue is downpayments or payments in full have been made and the company is no longer responding to inquiries. I personally sent an email inquiry to Synergy about acknowledging and taking action on this, and email is the only avenue I'm aware of to get ahold of them. No response. I'd say if they want to sell their instruments through retailers, that'd be the way to acquire one. I know there are often reasons why builders don't respond, but there comes a time when you have the customer's money that a simple reply is in line. Right now they are not that organization.

    Further, to be clear, they were never listed in the builder database.
    Just received a third complaint about Synergy of an order placed late summer, full payment made and now complete silence for several months. Contact with businesses in the area appears to indicate the business address in question is no longer in use. Can't confirm that but where there's this much smoke, this much money paid and no communication, there's trouble.

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  9. #56
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: why no carbon fiber mandolins?

    This is such disheartening news. I hope it all turns out well and these folks either get their money back or get the instruments they paid for.
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  10. #57
    Administrator Mandolin Cafe's Avatar
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    Default Re: why no carbon fiber mandolins?

    Unfortunately, there's a bit of grousing on other music forums about this company's lack of attention to communication and customer service. I anticipate since nothing seems to be happening publicly that it's only going to increase.

  11. #58
    Registered User Dan Forney's Avatar
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    Default Re: why no carbon fiber mandolins?

    I bought a Mix ten years ago when I deployed to Afghanistan. It was great for traveling around, but I sold it when I got back. It was a fine mandolin.

  12. #59

    Default Re: why no carbon fiber mandolins?

    <Violates forum posting guidelines>

    - Refrain from using the forum as a market place, ie., a resource for selling, purchasing or trading. Please limit selling, buying and trading activities to the Classifieds section of this web site or other external locations.
    Last edited by Mandolin Cafe; Feb-10-2023 at 4:26pm. Reason: violates forum posting guidelines

  13. #60
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: why no carbon fiber mandolins?

    PattersonBarrett: you probably don’t know that it is against the rules here to do any trading on Therese forum. I am sure your post will be deleted soon. If you want to sell place a free add in the classified ad sections and if you sell donate 2% of the selling price to Mandolin Cafe.
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  14. #61

    Default Re: why no carbon fiber mandolins?

    The Ovation Adamas has a carbon fiber top. It is - hands down - the loudest and best sounding mandolin ever.
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  15. #62
    Registered User Steve Sorensen's Avatar
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    Default Re: why no carbon fiber mandolins?

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  17. #63
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: why no carbon fiber mandolins?

    Steve I followed with great interest your recent thread. Had to wipe my chin a few times.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

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    funny....

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