Mandolin

stunning. Musical instruments are pure art and you’ve got a masterpiece here. Thanks for sharing

-- Scott, Irmo SC

Beautiful instrument Bill. Sweet looking wood and stunning build. Well done.

-- Rod - Oregon

That is a real beauty Bill. The blog was a great read as well.
You do some very nice work and you take nice pictures as well.

“Soloman Blackwood” rang a bell for me so I looked it up and my suspicions were confirmed. I’ve been using it for a while under the name Tubi or Queen Ebony. I love the stuff and it is apparently sustainably harvested.

Beautiful things to look at are one thing but when they make beautiful music to listen to as well …... that’s a whole other level. Congrats on this one and thanks for the inspiration. You might have a contribution for the arty photos thread here somewhere???

-- Paul M ..............the early bird may get the worm but it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese! http://thecanadianschooloffrenchmarquetry.com/

Stellar job on this mandolin, Bill…I commented on your blog, so I won’t repeat it here…I followed closely on this one, and it’s a beautiful piece…..Thanks for sharing your knowledge of mandolin building…...

-- " There's a better way.....find it"...... Thomas Edison.

Really enjoyed the series! A few years ago, I helped a young man of my acquaintance build a solid body electric guitar, now his sister and her sweety are touring the country in a van, paying their way by playing music, and are saving up for a new mandolin.

I don’t really have the shop bandwidth right now to try it, but I fantasize a bit about building one for them. You’ve both satisfied some of those urges vicariously, and whetted my appetite for doing an acoustic stringed instrument build at some point.

-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/User:DanLyke

What a beautiful result! I enjoyed the blog.

-- Steve - Impatience is Expensive

really nice work – very impressive

-- Greg Simon

Thanks for the kind words every one. For those thinking of doing this sort of thing, half the battle is a sharp tool. You have to build one to find out how to do it and learn where the tricky bits are. What I’m trying to say is take the perfection pressure off and just plow through the first one with low cost materials. Like so many of the detailed woodworking things we do we’re much more knowledgeable after a practice run.

-- Mama calls me Texcaster but my real name is Mr. Earl.

Great project and blog. Very inspirational.

BJ

Marvelous Bill.

Thank you for the blog as well.

-- ~Tony