random hippie sanding?

[Dave Cowles]

I know it might strike some cafe members as unusal, but I have more than one mando. My primary is a handmade F5 that has an incredible voice, and volume that blows my eyebrows back. Whenever I pick up my knockaround/practice mando, a MK Firefly with walnut back and sides, it sounds so thin and voiceless that I keep thinking that the thick, acrylic finish on it must go. If I were to undertake some of that now-famous "random hippie sanding" on it, what suggestions might the knowledgeable builders and repair/mod people here give me? Also, the thickness of the spruce top on it (as seen at the f-holes) looks to be about double that of my handbuilt. Is there hope?

Dave

[SternART]

In the old Mandolin World News, they redid a 50's Gibson F5
Took the finish off, regraduated the top, carved the tone bars etc.
You could probably buy those specific issues from Dix Bruce. As
I recall they were written by Bob Alekno.

[AlanN]

I remember that issue, I think Bob Alekno (R.I.P.) took his Washburn to the rack and did all that work.

[kudzugypsy]

if you start on it - you better be willing to keep it and accept the results, because the value will be hardly nothing.
i did this to my gibson f5-l, and honestly, the tone really opened up - but i have been thinking of selling/trading the mando and i probably couldnt get 1/2 of what a non-altered one would bring.
i used a new razor blade to *burnish* the top layer (this did a really good job at taking off the top coat), then worked with 00-000 steel wool - you will need to find someone with a good buffing wheel (most repair shops have one) to get it really smooth.
i dont know i'd even bother on a MK - unless you are going to keep it.

[Rob Grant]

Hello Arthur. How's life by the Bay?

I've got an almost complete collection of the old "Mandolin World News." If anybody can give me a date for that issue, I may be able to dig up the article and attach a copy to an email (if that's legal??).

[Ragamuffin]

I've done this on two MK's with siginificant results. These instruments are strangled with lacquer. One I stripped completely, the other I removed the finish from the top only. I was amazed at the tonal difference. I re-colored and finished with a product similar to KTM9 in a satin finish.

Ragman

[Dave Cowles]

Ragman, what process did you use to remove the thick lacquer? Are any solvents needed, or just that hippie sanding? I know that on some of these pacrim instruments the finish comes off in sheets if done a certain way.
Dave

[Joe F]

OK ... at the risk of sounding like like a total ignoramus, I have to ask: #What exactly is "random hippie sanding?"

[Eric F.]

Joe, it's what Norman Blake called what he did to "Hoss" when he owned it. He and John Hartford took the finish off the back and Blake just kind of randomly sanded the top.

[tree]

I must confess I have wondered the same thing. #Somebody on this board has that reference in their signature line (one of my all time favorite signature lines). #To flesh out the story a bit, go here:

http://www.gibson.com/whatsnew/press...04/may14a.html

[Joe F]

Thanks for the info and the link!

[otterly2k]

yes, I was wondering if this process required hiring random hippies with sandpaper, or randomly sanding hippes (though I couldn't figure out how this would help a mandolin).

[sunburst]

If you're a wood worker, you've certainly heard of a "random orbit sander". The play on words is the funny thing about the phrase to me.

[Tim Saxton]

I must confess I have wondered the same thing. #Somebody on this board has that reference in their signature line (one of my all time favorite signature lines). #To flesh out the story a bit, go here:

http://www.gibson.com/whatsnew/press...04/may14a.html

Yes....that would be me....

I heard Sam tell the story in a workshop a few years back. Someone asked him about it, "So can you tell us what the story is behind the random hippie sanding?"

The look on Sam's face was priceless. He had this confused look on his face like no one ever asks that. It was a funny moment.

The above mentioned linked story nails it on the head by all accounts.

Tim Saxton