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PostPosted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 4:31 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood
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Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:12 pm
Posts: 3290
First name: Bryan
Last Name: Bear
City: St. Louis
State: Mo
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
I had a chance to meet up with a friend of a friend who plays the mandolin and shoot a few short videos. Unfortunately, I had decided to play around with the saddle arrangement the other day. It currently has a wood saddle with a bone cap and I haven't gotten the intonation perfect yet. Even worse, both e strings and one of the g strings buzz at the saddle slot. I hadn't had a chance to fix it when I met up with him. . .

I'd say all in all, it sounds pretty good for a first mandolin. I figured it would have less volume than a carved top , but the player seemed to think it was just as loud. It seems to ring forever which I was not expecting. I'm still hoping the low end (can you call it bass on a mando) will come up as it breaks in. To my ear, it is treble heavy, but that could be just how mandolins are for all I know. In my opinion, it really shined when he was playing fiddle tunes. Unfortunately I only recorded one of those and I did it audio only. I intended to do a video of construction pictures with the fiddle tune for the sound track. When I got home I realized the mic barely picked anything up.






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PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 9:44 am 
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Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:46 am
Posts: 1247
First name: Beth
Last Name: Mayer
City: Tucson
State: AZ
Country: United States
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Looks and sounds awesome, Bryan! I don't know much about mandos but that sure sounds like one. The intonation sounded right to me [clap]


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 10:14 am 
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Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:36 am
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Location: Southeast US
City: Lenoir City
State: TN
Zip/Postal Code: 37772
Country: US
Focus: Repair
I thought it sounded real good - just like a mandolin laughing6-hehe [:Y:]

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 1:57 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood
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Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2009 12:12 pm
Posts: 3290
First name: Bryan
Last Name: Bear
City: St. Louis
State: Mo
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Thanks all! I still haven’t gotten around to making any adjustments since the video was done. The intonation was reading off on my tuner but the battery was getting pretty low and I was having a hard time getting readings especially on the 12th fret measurements (it is just so darned high) so I stopped working (I had no batteries handy). Honestly, it is close enough that I can’t really hear a problem but my ears are not all that well trained. The buzzing es and g string drive me nuts every time I listen to the videos, but it is nice to know that it is an easy fix once I get a chance to sit down and do it.
I love the size, it really makes me wish I could play. It is the perfect size to hold while sitting in the recliner. Only problem is I don’t really get to sit down anymore. I haven’t even managed to sit down and upload my pics to the official the official thread yet.
I’m starting to like the shape well enough to want to do a full sized instrument. I mentioned earlier that a 12 string with the same woods would be fun. Now after seeing Filippo and Todd’s thread, I’m kicking around the idea of an octive mando. This little gal is roughly based on an OM shrunk down to 2/3 size with a 14 inch scale. If I used a full size OM outline and a 21 inch scale the proportions would be identical.

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2012 9:33 pm 
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Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 9:01 pm
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First name: Tony
Last Name: C
City: Brooklyn
State: NY
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Excellent job Bryan. It sounds nice too!

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 1:34 am 
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Cocobolo
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Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:42 am
Posts: 433
First name: micah
Last Name: medlong
City: parma
State: ohio
Zip/Postal Code: 44129
Country: usa
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Great job man! It sounds like its stupid loud.


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 5:07 pm 
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Walnut
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Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2013 7:39 pm
Posts: 3
City: St. Louis
State: MO
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Nice work on this mandolin. Love the body!

David


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