Another Noob, mando questions

[sebastiaan56]

Firstly an introduction, father of 2 in the Blue Mountains, amateur (really amateur) fascinated by musical instruments, particularly mandolins. I started off with pretensions of Baroque flutes and recorders but really cant afford the lathes and tooling. I completed an A Style Kit from Int Violin Co, am halfway through an F Style kit (I'll wait till my binding techniques improve, I dont want to totally blow it), and almost finished a classical guitar kit from Mal Ohlsen in Queensland. I also visit the Aust Woodworking Forum. This is just a the best ever hobby!

Im having recurring fantasies about an archtop mandolin shaped like a Gibson L5. This is partially based on a Mandolin described here http://mywebpages.comcast.net/rjones19/ I like the sound of the MP3's and to my eyes the L5's is one of the most attractive instruments ever. Im not interested in the cutaway.

Questions, I have plenty, I am thinking of Huon Pine for the top, Queensland Maple for the back (these are pieces I already have) and looking to some Qld Maple veneer for the sides. So who sells Qld Maple veneer? I have a strong preference for Aussie timbers mostly for environmental considerations.

I am waiting on the Benedetto book from Amazon but do these instruments scale? I was going to use the Mandolin scale length (based on F5) and proportion the body to suit. Im also going to do a cross tone bar rather then the more typical twin tone bars.

Do people stain their fingerboards? Ive been leering at the timbers Tim has for sale and it would seem a pity to cover the nice grain up.

My thanks in advance for your input

Sebastiaan

[Hesh1956]

Hi Sebastiaan and welcome to the ANZLF!!!

I'm not a mando guy here being a steel string guitar builder myself but I am sure that others who are mando people will be able to help you.

I just wanted to welcome you.

[graham mcdonald]

A scaled down L-5 body should work fine. There are a number of people who have built mandolins like that.

I would be wary of Huon for a soundboard. It could be a bit to heavy to work really well and you are in a bit of an unexplored area with the graduations. It would have to be thinner that a spruce top, but working out how thin would be the tricky bit. Give a piece of Sitka from somewhere (Gilet Guitars in Sydney should be able to help) and carve it in a similar way to your other two.

Any of the veneer suppliers will probably have Qld maple if you wanted to glue laminate them, but it would seem as easy to bend them from solid.

cheers

graham

[Serge]

Hi Sebastiaan! Welcome here mate, looking forward to see what you will build, i'm a manolin player and wannabe mando builder but i have a shop to clean before i resume my guitar building so good luck in that fantastic hobby!

Serge

[Serge]

Oh and just would like to offer you this lil treat bud!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff1hSDnCw9c

[kiwigeo]

i'm a manolin player and wannabe mando builder but i have a shop to clean before i resume my guitar building
Serge

Come on Serge,

Youre never going to get your shop as clean as Hesh's. Just pick up those tools and get busy on a guitar Mate!!

Cheers Martin

[sebastiaan56]

Thanks for the responses and welcomes guys. I know the archives arent deep yet but I bet they will be soon.

Graham, what about timbers such as Bunya, Kauri etc, The imported timbers seem frightfully expensive. Also a recommendation for veneers, PM me if you dont want to be seen to be advertising.

Serge, check out http://www.davidgrisman.com/acd_html/acd62.html, an original Lloyd Loar F5 and a Martin OM-45, classic stuff.

Sebastiaan

[Bob Connor]

Hi Sebastiaan

Of the local woods I would imagine King William Pine would be the most appropriate.

Peter Coombe sings it's praises as a tonewood for Mandos.

http://www.petercoombe.com/

You'll find plenty of info on local woods there.

Having said that, it's not that plentiful, in fact it's quite rare nowadays.

If any one can get hold of some King Billy it'd be Tim Spittle.

Bob

Bob

[graham mcdonald]

Bunya or Kauri would be fine. It is a matter of finding a quartersawn bit big enough for a mandolin - 150mm wide x 40mm thick x as long as your body plus 50mm. Trend Timbers at Richmond might be your best bet, and even if you don't find anything it is always fun poking through the stacks. Again they work differently from Spruce, though Bunya sems pretty similar. Kauri tends to be a bit harder, so again some thinking about how thick to carve it.

I don't know any good suppliers of veneers. I just don't use much so I don't know much about who sells it. A couple of phone calls/emails to folks who advertise in the woodworking magazines would be my best suggestion. It just seems a lot of work to glue laminate mandolin sides. Most of the classical guitar builders who do it use epoxy and rig up molds with lots of clamping pressure, like using car jacks. A propane torch and a length of pipe is a simple cost effective way to do it, or a silicon heat blanket with a mold for a slightly more effective approach. I always worry about sanding through the top layer of veneer. I suppose that is why they invented the sunburst finish

cheers

graham

[Serge]

Martin, you're right, it is futile for me to think that i could ever come close to such neatfreaknessness, i give up, gonna mess up that shop some more and i'll feel normal again!

Sebastiaan, that is so cool, thanks mate!

Bob, thank you for this link too, there are nice sound clips to download there mate!

Serge

[sebastiaan56]

Hi everyone,

Some progress picks of #1. The design for the mando came together easily enough. The top is King Billy Pine, the sides and back are Plantaton Mahogony and the neck laminated New Guinea Rosewood and Mahogony.

Finished the fretboard today, all the bits fit together, so its time to start shaping the neck. My work is not as neat as some and there have been few mechanical tools used to date. Im looking forward to the next bits. My thanks to all for your input.

Sebastiaan

[Tom Morici]

Sebastiaan,

I like the look of that mandolin, makes me want to add one too my own building list. Should be cool when you get it done.

Tom