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- Part 1 - Preparation
- Part 2 - Support Blocks
- Part 3 - Jig
- Part 4 - Bending Sides
- Part 5 - Neck & Soundboards
- Part 6 - Glueing Sides
I've been contemplating building a mandolin for quite some time now. I am currently restoring an old violin, on which I plan to fiddle, and I recently got an old mandolin as a gift which also needs some work done on it.
Being a big Gibson fan, I decided on building an F5 style Gibson mandolin, quite like a "real" distressed model:
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Divisions/Gibson%20Original/Gibson%20Mandolins/Distressed%20F-5%20Master%20Model/
I ordered some "guitar parts megastore" catalogs online, which they were happy to send to the Netherlands free of charge; Stewart McDonald is one of the biggest. They offer thousands of instrument parts, woods, tools, and a bunch of stuff you don't really need. You can buy instrument kits for various guitar models, mandolins, banjo etc. in which the parts are prerouted, sanded and almost ready for assembly.
A kit doesn't sound like much fun, so I just ordered the building plans for the F5, which set me back $24 US including shipping; nice big envelope with huge technical drawing; all measurements in inches. I will be building this instrument from scratch: but not alone. I found an instrument builder who runs a workshop where people can build an instrument using her expertise and tools; I will start around september 2008.
Of course, the first step will be talking to my luthier-coach how to address this project, because I've never done anything like this before; I reckon the selection of wood will be one of the first steps; meanwhile I'm studying the drawing every once in a while. There are many websites on luthiers (instrument builders) and videos online.
I will make a series of videos on this building project which I will post on YouTube and on this blog; I will keep track of my expenses as the project progresses, so we can see how much it costs and what it takes to build an F5 style "Gibson" mandolin without any prior experience whatsoever.
Comments are welcome, keep posted for the parts to follow and the videos!
Happy Pickin'! -ThickShag.
Buy ThickShag & Marty music in iTunes!
Project total:
1. Stewart McDonald F5 building plan - $24
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