#1
|
|||
|
|||
NEW! Mike Vanden Archtop Guitar shaped Octave Mandolin - SOUND CLIP LINK
OK, if in wrong place, apologies, and please move, but its a custom build so thought this would be best place... and its guitar shaped ;-)
Ever since seeing Sarah Jarosz's stunning cover of Dylan's Ring Them Bells' played on her Fletcher Brock Archtop, I have wanted one. The tone she gets is stunning and obviously her playing helps, but I did want something built in Scotland using some local materials where possible. I knew Mike Vanden as a maker of fine arch tops (including for Jazz legend Martin Taylor) and mandolins and his version of a 335. So I sent him a few emails to see if he would be interested. He only makes a few instruments a year now, but I think he was intrigued by the idea and agreed to it. He is such a lovely person, and its a real pleasure when we discuss elements of the build. The spec was left entirely up to Mike, with only proviso for a wider nut width and a sunburst finish... and its now in build ;-) This is really quite exciting: Getting theproportions right 272205344_309842947848825_7022802218550405627_n by frankscousin, on Flickr Making moulds OCT MAN MOLD by frankscousin, on Flickr Lovely old Sitka spruce for the carved top (most likely form the 1980s) oct man by frankscousin, on Flickr Flamed Scottish Sycamore for carved back and sides O M BACK by frankscousin, on Flickr The sides in mould OCT MAN RIB ASSY by frankscousin, on Flickr More to follow for those interested and again to the mods, move if in wrong place butI though this would be of more universal interest to those looking at custom builds than the general other instruments forum? Last edited by FrankCousins; 04-27-2023 at 12:33 PM. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
That's will be a nice Brahms (8-string) archtop, so the thread is perfectly fine where it is IMVHO
|
#3
|
||||
|
||||
Absolutely the right place to post this…. Thanks for sharing…
__________________
A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings… |
#4
|
||||
|
||||
Great to see you doing another build thread, Frank! And this one looks very interesting.
|
#5
|
|||
|
|||
That promises to be a stunner - maybe Sarah will get one too.
|
#6
|
|||
|
|||
No new updates as yet, but for those who dont know Mike's work, here are a coupe of pics of an instrument that is currently for sale - one of his Martin Taylor Artistry models.
I have posted this example as I have chose this sunburst or close to, for the Octave Mandolin which features the same flamed Scottish Sycamore Vanden_Artistry.6 by frankscousin, on Flickr Vanden_Artistry.5 by frankscousin, on Flickr |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
|
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Really interesting looking build and looks like it's coming on a treat.
__________________
Martin |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
The arch top guitar form serves well for octave mandolin. The elephant in the room is often the scale length, which seems to vary a lot in the octave mando world. I'm curious what scale length you decided to use?
Here's my "hybrid" using a old Kay body I had and mating it with a Taylor GS Mini neck (23-1/2" scale length) that I found on Reverb. |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Gone with 546mm which should make it comfortable to play and a nice wide nut at 38mm (I have larger fingers)
I like your 'chimera' ;-) |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
48mm maybe? 38mm isn't exactly what I call wide...
|
#12
|
|||
|
|||
48mm is a reasonable 12 string electric... ;-) 38 is 2mm wider than Sarah's Brock
|
#13
|
|||
|
|||
I think 21-1/2" (546mm) is a really good choice for an octave mando.
|
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Body now complete and bound - quite traditional ivoroid dining and BWB perf.
BODY 1 by frankscousin, on Flickr BODY 2 by frankscousin, on Flickr |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
Are you concerned at all about the F hole apertures?
They look a bit small for the body size, but maybe that's an optical illusion. |