Originally Posted by
(giannaviolins @ Nov. 17 2006, 06:33)
1. 15 fret standard shape A model, F holes
Yes, 15 frets, yes, close to standard shape.
2. Sugar maple (?) birdseye body
Sugar is good, Red is a little easier both working the
wood, and controling the sound. "Any" maple species can
make a good mandolin.
3. Maple neck (what's the best?)
Sugar is very stiff and doesn't give much trouble from
string tension, but it's about the heaviest. It's harder
to get the mandolin to feel balanced. Red is lighter,
and still plenty strong and stiff.
4. Red spruce, Engelmann, or Sitka top? (What does the market really prefer???)
I think the market prefers Red spruce, but mostly just
because they've heard it's best, not because of any real
sound difference that they've observed. All three
species can yield excellent wood.
5. 1 3/32" nut (or would 1 1/8" be more marketable?? I'm probably influenced by dinky violin necks)
1 1/8". I tried other sizes, and when I got to 1 1/8",
people started saying; "I like the neck".
6. Snakehead variation peghead
yes
7. Unbound fingerboard
I think bound is more marketable
8. No extension, just a nice truncation
minimal extension
9. Single color stain
A little harder to sell than a burst, but much less time
consuming, and therefore, less expensive.
10. Single line wood binding (or is going dark - light - dark really that much of a big deal for the market? Is imitation Tortoise attractive to the market? I like it.)
Single wood is OK, people like tortoise, a lamination
adds enough elegance to attract more attention.
11. No name on the headstock, just an inlay, probably of my mandovoodoo logo
Name and/or logo seem important. I tried no name on my
early instruments, and people complained.
12. Tuners. What a range of opinions! I like the Waverly tuners. Will players really pay the extra for these? The Schallers seem so inconsistent. Would top end Gotoh, Grover etc be OK? This is for a production mindset, so dinking around with tuners isn't really going to be a feasible thing. They just have to work.
Waverlys can be a selling point, but so can a well
balanced instrument than feels good to hold. The heavy
Waverlys make that harder to do.
13. Shaped case. Or do players really want big rectangular boxes?
Shaped case, not a big rectrangle. Players want light
weight, lots of storage, and weather proof. you can't
really get all that in one case.
14. Kurt's walrus nut & bridge. Or is this an excess? I really like what they do.
My guess is it's an excess, depending on price and
availability. Bone is standard for high quality nuts,
and ebony is expected for the bridge.
15. Thinking tone bars are more acceptable, but I like some of the modified X bracing better. Is this a sticking point in the market for A model mandolins?
Yes and no. Bluegrassers lean toward tonebars, (not
always) others aren't so concerned with how you get the
sound, just whether or not they like it.
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