mando #51

neck fretted & attached, heel block glued on.....



then after a bunch of final sanding, a few coats of varnish.....





and then a bridge.....

#49 Mandola is done too......

Mahogany neck, Back & sides,
spruce top,
maple binding,
rosewood fretboard
maple bridge

# 50 is done!!

my mate & former collegue Paddy who is a semi pro player with a stable of guitars to DIE for was in for a days supply teaching today.

I invited him down to have a look as he's never played a fanned fret guitar and was intreagued.

He LOVED it

far more bass than he'd expect from a small body, and apart from a few fret buzzes that are only to be expected as I hadn't done any set up on it, & the stings had only been on it for half an hour, he got some great music out of it.

standing in front of it there was no difference from what you'd expect from a guitar with a soundhole, and Paddy said that playing it the tone was great from the sound ports.

I spent a bunch of time on the setup this afternoon, and I just WISH I could play the blasted thing!!!!

ah well, maybe by the middle of the summer......

of maybe after we get back from France in mid August.......

then, this evening I had another user report on it. Al who leads opposite me in church (and a Lowden & Takamine owner) dropped by earlier.

on opening the case "oh my word"

on seeing the twin soundholes "Oh my WORD"

on playing it for 10 minutes... "that's got really crystal clear tone and loads of bass. that's incredible"

yup, I'm REALLY looking forward to being able to play it myself!!!!

dread mando progress:

neck carved



fretboard profiled & dotsa added



neck mortice opened up



and this wont be glued til the frets are in and the body is sanded, but this is how it looks.......

busy few days on various bits & pieces.

Mandola #49.......

varnish complete, tuners in, tailpiecs in, bridge rough cut, nut rough cut then strings on. once its sat a day or two under tension I'll do final set up.



#50, the tuners on,



and then after a lot of humming and haaing, I got the bridge sorted and glued in place. the preamp will go on the top edge so I was able to use that hole to reach in with the clamp.



and the two mandos are now bound (with walnut)If I get the mandola & guitar finished before the end of term I'll be delighted.

Mandols #49 had the heel cap shaped then a whole bunch of sanding before starting on the finish coats.





and then #50..... OK, OK, I said I was going to leave it.....

I didn't!!

lots of sanding and the neck is glued in place.





and the cherry mando is ready to have the binding channels cut, but I'll maybe wait til the dread shaped one is at the same stage and do them together......

two weeks til the end of term......

I'm not going to get #50 done for then, and even if I did, my finger wouldn't be up to playing it anyway, so I'm putting it on hold....... well, sort of. I might do bits & pieces......

anyway, other work.....

the mandola needed a new neck. the one I had made died as I was carving it and went too deep and found myself looking at the trussrod from the underside.......

ah well, the new neck is carved, fretted and fitted.









a maple heelcap is on, so a load of sanding before varnish.

the mandos.... well I got a back braced, attached to the sides, then a rosette fitted to the top, the top beaced and fitted.

the walnut/cedar dread is in the post and gone.

HOPEFULLY Simon will like it as much as I do. the tone is lovely, both acoustically and through the Ibeam. Unfortunately I didn't get to play it properly because my injured finger still sisn't right, but such is life!!





the volume control for the Ibeam....



I've started a pair of mandos, both cherry with spruce tops, mahogany necks & rosewood fretboards.

one dread shaped one.....



and a mandonaught S



fretslots cut......



and ears on the headstocks....

the zouk is in the post, so no more pics of it!!

slope dread has the strings on and settling under tension.

some set-up still to do, then fir the Ibeam pickup, and it's done too.





lots of sanding done on the mandola.....



and a bit of sanding on the body of #50 and a bit of work on the neck too.

#50

top braced....



and fitted



neck planed flat on top.....



slots milled for carbon fibre supports on cantilever section....



and epoxied into place



trussrod slot cut (and headplate glued on (ovangkol from the back offcuts)



and fretboard glued onto the neck



binding slots cut....



leopardwood bindings glued in and soundholes cut.



I LOVE this time of year!!!

loads of free time in school, and the heat dries the glue really quickly!!