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Old 08-21-2022, 03:44 AM
FrankCousins FrankCousins is offline
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Default 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.
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Old 08-21-2022, 04:42 AM
RJVB RJVB is offline
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That's will be a nice Brahms (8-string) archtop, so the thread is perfectly fine where it is IMVHO
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Old 08-21-2022, 06:31 AM
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iim7V7IM7 iim7V7IM7 is offline
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Absolutely the right place to post this…. Thanks for sharing…
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings…
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Old 08-22-2022, 02:25 AM
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Great to see you doing another build thread, Frank! And this one looks very interesting.
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Old 08-27-2022, 12:39 PM
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That promises to be a stunner - maybe Sarah will get one too.
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Old 09-03-2022, 09:21 AM
FrankCousins FrankCousins is offline
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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
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Old 09-07-2022, 10:17 AM
FrankCousins FrankCousins is offline
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The box gets closed

OCT 3 by frankscousin, on Flickr
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Old 09-07-2022, 02:54 PM
MThomson MThomson is offline
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Really interesting looking build and looks like it's coming on a treat.
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Old 09-11-2022, 08:42 AM
Rudy4 Rudy4 is offline
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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.

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Old 09-11-2022, 01:04 PM
FrankCousins FrankCousins is offline
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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' ;-)
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Old 09-11-2022, 01:14 PM
RJVB RJVB is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankCousins View Post
a nice wide nut at 38mm (I have larger fingers)
48mm maybe? 38mm isn't exactly what I call wide...
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Old 09-11-2022, 01:38 PM
FrankCousins FrankCousins is offline
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48mm is a reasonable 12 string electric... ;-) 38 is 2mm wider than Sarah's Brock
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Old 09-11-2022, 08:42 PM
Rudy4 Rudy4 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankCousins View Post
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' ;-)
I think 21-1/2" (546mm) is a really good choice for an octave mando.
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Old 09-30-2022, 02:34 PM
FrankCousins FrankCousins is offline
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Body now complete and bound - quite traditional ivoroid dining and BWB perf.

BODY 1 by frankscousin, on Flickr

BODY 2 by frankscousin, on Flickr
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Old 10-03-2022, 06:48 PM
Rudy4 Rudy4 is offline
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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.
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