I have a bug for a carbon fiber mandolin for back porch use and especially to take camping with me. No worries about leaving cf in a sweltering hot car or having it damaged by drastic temp and humidity swings. Also great for when I travel for work and need to leave it locked in the car when it's often freezing cold out (I live in Western NY).
I see that Z Mandolins had built a batch and they look pretty incredible but it was a limited run and I can't find any info on whether or not they plan on making more. I also saw that another company (the name of which escapes me) was posting here about building some cf mandos but I guess it never came to fruition.
I own a full carbon fiber travel acoustic guitar made by a company called Klos for the situations I described above and it's terrific for a small body guitar. This same company makes other cf instruments including a full-size acoustic guitar and ukuleles. I had inquired with them about a cf mandolin and recently received notification that it's a go!
Not a lot is known at this point, I guess they're still designing it. But it should be out in a few months and sounds as though it'll be reasonably priced, too. Much less expensive than Z mandolins although pricing hasn't been announced yet.
If this sounds interesting to anyone, check out klosguitars.com and look under the "coming soon" dropdown. There's a brief survey where you can sign up to get notifications when it's released. I'm excited to see what they come up with and I fully intend to buy one. My travel guitar is very well made and I would love a worry-free mando even if it comes with some compromises compared to a fine wood instrument.
Does this excite anyone else?
Edit: I realize that this being my first post on this forum this could be suspected of being a thinly veiled ad but I promise it's not! I have nothing to do with this company. I just want a nearly indestructible mando to enjoy along with my guitar.
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