Supermodel Mandos

[Andrew B. Carlson]

I'd like to see what your ideas are on your favorite mandolin "look". Actual sound and playability aside, if you could have your mando look any way, you wanted, what would it look like? Personally, I've always liked Gibson Ferns but only a couple have that "look" that just gets me.

This is my "look". It's a Danny Roberts made F-5L fern with a red spruce varnish finish, aged binding, gold Waverlys and awesome sunburst. I wouldn't mind some light distressing I guess but I spose that just means I'd get to have the fun of doing it myself.





P.S. If this one happens to belong to one of you, let's talk.

[JEStanek]

I've already got mine. I might add a Three Point Black-top with torch and wire as a dream looker.


and mine...


Jamie

[John Rosett]

I can't help it... I just love the whooped-up mutts.

[man dough nollij]

Supermodel twins!

[man dough nollij]

Another supermodel's hairdo:

[Dano Reible]

I had mine but had to give her up. Custom Silver Angel....

[tshetter]

Start off with some nice quilted maple:



I like a natural looking finish and not much color going on. Sunburst really isnt high on my preferred finishes, but a nice golden honey color is just what I want:



Im not too much into herringbone or abalone and fancy inlays but some turtle shell down the sides of the fretboard might look really nice.

Dunno if I would really want binding along the top or back or not. The look of top/back smoothly jointing the side is really clean and simple.

At a loss to find any good images but a carved/engraved headstock I think is a really interesting and unexplored crafting.

From, say, making the head stock look like a dragon head, or just tribal/celtic engravings in the face or along the sides would be really neat.

Best ive seen:




To finish it all off, because this is a no $$ limit fantasy right? I would have inlayed tuner knobs:



The overall style of my perfect mandolin might be described as one looking like a cadre of woodland elves skilled in Tolkienesque craft and magic carved and finished a mandolin for the Gods.

Or something. =)

[Austin Koerner]

Well, I agree with man dough nollij. I love the Clark two point, everything about it is great. This two point is mine, the Monteleone is not. If I could pick any mandolin (if money wasn't an issue) I would get a Monte for sure.

[Rob Powell]

Ok, here are mine (I actually own the Weber)
Left to right - Sam's Hoss, Jbovier Blackface Zebra, Arrow G, Weber Distressed Yellowstone and the back of a Michael Lewis Rosewood...

[billkilpatrick]

i seem to be in a minority but i can't conceive of anything more elegant or more exotic looking than an F-style mandolin with an oval sound hole:

(tried to attach a photo of mine from another thread but ... no dice - just close your eyes ... conjure up the image of this stunningly beautiful instrument and then start grinning - ear to ear - with the pure, unabashed pleasure of it.)

[man dough nollij]

[IMG]
Best ive seen:

Tshetter,

Who made the cool elf headstock? I want one.

[DougC]

I agree with tshetter:

I like a natural looking finish and not much color going on. Sunburst really isnt high on my preferred finishes, but a nice golden honey color is just what I want:

Wood is beautiful and I think painting sunbursts is an odd notion. But Bentrup's black jazz mandolins are on the top of my list. Dreaming is a nice passtime but I should be working on my new tune. Maybe this inspires me, I think it does.

OK lets see if this image upload thing works...

[pjlama]

Here's a pair-

[Bill Snyder]

Tshetter,

Who made the cool elf headstock? I want one.

Looks like a Brian Dean (LaBraid now).

[Andrew B. Carlson]

I think that fern that I posted pictures of at the beginning of this thread is in the classifieds.

http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/...uery=retrieval

Too bad I'm poor.

[man dough nollij]

Looks like a Brian Dean (LaBraid now).

That's what I thought, but I didn't see that one anywhere on Brian's website.

[JEStanek]

Brian doesn't have an exhaustive photo spread of all of his instruments. That is in fact a Brian Dean instrument. Previously, he used the b in the headstock. Now he uses the stylized violin hole as the La Braid logo.

That is Otteryly2K's OM that Brian built incorporating a good deal of Purple Heart. Here is the thread documenting it.

Jamie

[Phil Goodson]

My favorite look: simple and great colors.

[Chris Biorkman]

Dan's Weins has to be one of my all-time favorites. If he didn't live in the UK, I probably would be on my way over right now with a crowbar and ski mask.

[Chris Biorkman]

Forgot I could post more than one pic...

[man dough nollij]

Another nice one from the folks in Logan:

[JEStanek]

From McMurdo is that a Bridger Too Far?

Years ago the Bridger F style was my dream mando. The Bridger A still really appeals to me.

Jamie

[man dough nollij]

I'm just over a month away from my new custom Bridger A OM in Bozeman. Can't wait. Never did get any really good pix, but I'm thinking she's a supermodel.

[JeffD]

Jamie, I love the looks of that mandolin, every time you show it I get MAS bad.

[LeonEvans]

Steve Holst built mine in 2005. The Holst C5.

Leon