Mandolinetto

[Jim Webster]

I posted a thread on Mandolin Cafe three years ago after seeing a mandolinetto for the first time at a concert. I described it and asked if anyone could tell me what it was and also how the top was braced so I could build one. Not only did I get many helpful replies, but one member generously offered to ship me his recently bought mandolinetto so I could take measurements and make drawings. Here's a link to my original thread:
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...style-Mandolin

Well now I've finally got around to building one--Amazon Rosewood back and sides, Sitka top, Indian Rosewood fretboard, Koa headstock overlay, faux-tortoise binding. I made a few modern updates: a carbon fiber (non-adjustable) truss rod; reshaped the headstock so it could use modern-style tuning machines (with the post below the worm gear); and I angled the neck back so I could use a height-adjustable bridge. Here are some pictures. I can send copies of my drawings to anybody who is interested in building one.

[Samuel David Britton]

Beautiful looking mandolinetto

[Marty Jacobson]

Nice work, and beautiful design. Please keep building!

[Pete Jenner]

Nice work!

[Tavy]

Very nice - I like mandolinettos a lot, and yours does justice to the form very well. Keep 'em coming!

[JEStanek]

Great job!

Jamie

[Jim Garber]

Nice going, Jim. I did check that older thread and see that you copied a Vernon instrument. I was going to ask if you copied a Howe-Orme but I now know. Maybe the next one would be a H-O copy. Nice, job, in any case.

So, other than the mods mentioned above, did you keep the dimensions of the Vernon?

[Jim Webster]

Thanks all for your comments and encouragement.

Jim Garber -- Yes, I built this to the exact dimensions of the "Vernon" (there was no label in the instrument I measured, but it looked like the one I'd seen with a Vernon label). However I did put a 15-foot radius in the top and back. So it doesn't have anything like the arch in the top of the Howe Ormes -- which I've only seen in pictures --but it does have a slightly bigger chamber than a standard Vernon, and also I hope, some extra strength against the downward pressure on the bridge.

I still have a bit more French polishing to do on this one. I put the hardware on with this only partially polished so I could show it and play it at a local festival. I'll get around to finishing the polishing in a month or so, but I first need to finish a koa uke and a repair job that are waiting on my bench. My major building project for the last couple of months has been tearing down and replacing my kitchen ceiling and lighting -- not nearly as much fun, but long overdue.

[billhay4]

Very nice job. I'd like to hear it.
Bill

[Eddie Sheehy]

Very nice, Jim. Does it sound as good as it looks?

[John McCoy]

Very Cool!

[Dusepo]

Beautiful instrument!

[Jake Wildwood]

It's nice to see a new one of these. Classy build, too, and I like that you gave the neck a good amount of back-angle. I'm sure that pops out a lot of volume from it, too.

[Levi]

It's very "turn of the century"

[PT66]

Jim, What are the body dimensions for a mandolinetto?

[Irénée]

... I have one restored by myself, but strung in 10 string
,

... storyboard of the restoration


... It is tuned (low2high) : CC-GG-DD-AA(440hz)-ee (in mind of a larger span music utilisation : mandolin alto + mandolin soprano)
Its scale is a little bit larger : 37,5cm, therefore the gauges must be thiner such as : ee= 0,08, AA= 0.12, DD= 0,18 wound !!!, GG= 0.24w (26 max), CC= 0.36w (38 max)... Be careful with the gauges, it's depend of the top and of the bracing geometry...

For this project I use custom D'Addario electric guitar nickel string (collection composed by myself)