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Board index » Mandolin - Mandola - Ukulele Forum

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J De Rocher
PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 8:22 pm 
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This one is going be heading off to Colorado after it has had a chance to settle in for final tweaks. In terms of the woods used, it's a twin of the prototype I built last spring. Sitka spruce top; claro walnut back, sides, headplate, and rosette ring; khaya neck; Indian rosewood fingerboard, bridge, and binding. The scale length is 20". The body is similar in size that of a baritone ukulele. The lower bout is 10 1/2" across.

I lightened up the bracing a bit on this one compared to the prototype. I tapered the lower x-brace arms more and scalloped their ends further back from the rims. Also reduced the height of the tonebar a bit. It sounds a bit louder. I like how it sounds. At least as good as the first one. I'll see how much it changes over the next few days.

The most significant change I made was to use standard guitar fretwire (LMI FW74) instead of smaller mandolin fretwire. The taller height of the wire improved the playability enough that I plan to refret the prototype.

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Last edited by J De Rocher on Fri Nov 20, 2020 8:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

These users thanked the author J De Rocher for the post (total 2): Durero (Wed Mar 17, 2021 3:52 pm) • Michaeldc (Tue Dec 01, 2020 8:05 am)
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J De Rocher
PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 8:23 pm 
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Two more:

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Octave mando 012 9rr.jpg

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Octave mando 012 10rr.jpg


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Chris Pile
PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 12:26 am 
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Yeah, man.

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bcombs510
PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 10:44 am 
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Seriously a beauty! Do you have a sound clip of either one? This is the instrument Sarah Jarosz plays?


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BradHall
PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 10:53 am 
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Superb workmanship and design. I too would like to hear a sound clip.

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Chris Pile
PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 1:00 pm 
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Quote:
This is the instrument Sarah Jarosz plays?


Sarah is quite the multi-instrumentalist.

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J De Rocher
PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 1:19 pm 
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Sarah Jarosz does play an octave mandolin (among other instruments), but hers has an archtop guitar type body.

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J De Rocher
PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 3:03 pm 
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bcombs510 wrote:
Seriously a beauty! Do you have a sound clip of either one? This is the instrument Sarah Jarosz plays?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


Here are a couple short videos of how the prototype sounds. I recorded them using my iphone so take that into account. In the second video playing single note stuff, you can hear bit of string buzz that was caused by using the short mandolin fretwire I used on that one. The short height of that fretwire means that if you place your finger any distance away from the back of the fret, the string bottoms out on the fretboard right away and you don't get enough downward string pressure on the fret to prevent some buzz when picking with a thick pick. The higher fretwire I used on the new octave mando solved that problem.

https://youtu.be/8XDbUfs_JC8
https://youtu.be/K6fdX6FO4Eg

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Chris Pile
PostPosted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 4:05 pm 
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Very nice.

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Ruby50
PostPosted: Sun Nov 22, 2020 9:22 am 
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Nicely done

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Ken Mitchell
PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 4:27 pm 
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Beautiful instrument! I did something similar awhile back, but used a tailpiece bridge. The down force was way more than I expected, and the top didn't hold up well. I want to repeat the build soon, but make it like you did, with regular pinned bridge. Thanks for sharing your experience and the pics and clips!

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Bryan Bear
PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 6:04 pm 
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Beautifully made! Nice work!

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J De Rocher
PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:25 pm 
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Ken Mitchell wrote:
Beautiful instrument! I did something similar awhile back, but used a tailpiece bridge. The down force was way more than I expected, and the top didn't hold up well. I want to repeat the build soon, but make it like you did, with regular pinned bridge. Thanks for sharing your experience and the pics and clips!


Just in case you didn't run across it, there's a previous thread on the prototype I built for this instrument early last year that has a lot more detail if you're interested.
https://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10128&t=53129

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WudWerkr
PostPosted: Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:57 pm 
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I really like that bridge design idea !

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