Some sanding done today which doesn't look at all exciting, the fretboard glued onto the pew guitar...



and a start made on fitting the pickup to mando #42.

the strap jack is screwed onto the tailpiece......



and the new bridge is made, with the slot for the pickup and bone saddle, and a hole in the top to allow the cable to feed through. the hole through the bridge is big enough to allow a little wiggle room to allow for adjustment for intonation

Once the tape comes off, it's over to the sander to cut down to the bevel angle.



side view



and here's a family photo!!

mando, ready for sanding

two zouks, binding on, ready for tidying the binding & sanding

church pew guitar ready for sanding



then a bunch of necks to make!!

mando arm bevel progress...

top glued on...



then I worked out where I'd cut it and made a routing guide.....



binding channel routed....



routing guide clamped in place...



bearing cutter lined up for same depth as binding channel



and routed...



binding to follow!!

so zouks.....

binding channel in top cut...



step cut for herringbone purfling



and then binding & herringbone bent & glued in place on both zouks

1st zouk top braced and fitted......





two necks glued up... simple two piece for strength & stability.



and the back of the closed box bound with the matching rosewood.



the church pew guitar is closed too.....





and bound, again with rosewood.....



and the mando?

well, I had a brainstorm today.

in the future I plan to build a guitar for myself with a fanned fretboard and a bevelled armrest.

the fanned fretboard I've built a jig for, but the bevelled armrest? well I decided to have a dry run on the dread mando, so first I removed the linings from the top edge.....



then cut a block of mahogany to match the curve.....



add a veneer of rosewood....



and glue it all up



no idea how it'll turn out, but I reckon I'm going to loose less if I screw up a mando than if I screw up a guitar!!