Can you supply pics please , much easier to help when i can see it
And we all make dumb mistakes , dont worry about it . Back off catch your breath and take a fresh look at it .
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You ONLY lose if you QUIT trying !
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| McDonald octave mandola. Help needed http://mowrystrings.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10128&t=32736 |
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| Author: | cgal_1 [ Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:45 pm ] |
| Post subject: | McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
Built the body as from the plans. It has a width at the neck joint of 55mm as on the plans. After following the instructions for making the fingerboard with a nut width of 34mm and a width of 44mm at the 12th fret, it is way too narrow to fit the body. Stupidly I never thought to check the body width when I made the fretboard. Having looked at it again, It looks to me that to use this body width with a new fingerboard t match it would give a very wide string spacing at the bridge. Have I just misread something or done someting very stupid (again)? All help gratefully received. |
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| Author: | WudWerkr [ Sun Jul 03, 2011 3:42 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
Can you supply pics please , much easier to help when i can see it And we all make dumb mistakes , dont worry about it . Back off catch your breath and take a fresh look at it . You ONLY lose if you QUIT trying ! |
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| Author: | sebastiaan56 [ Sun Jul 03, 2011 3:50 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
As Wud says, sow some pictures and that will help. From my own experience if you are building the pear shape the fretboard does appear a bit thin but you have only four courses of strings. I assume you are joining the neck to the body at the 14the fret? It appears like it will be too wide at the bridge but it works. BTW Graham hangs out on the cafe a bit and Ive always found him very personable and knowledgable. Ask him directly. |
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| Author: | Graham McDonald [ Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:59 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
It depends a bit of what kind of neck you are using. For the neck with a heel, the body can be either be the same width as the neck at the join, or it can be the width of the bindings wider, about 2mm each side, which allows you to have the vertical bindings at the end of the body hide the neck join, which can be useful. For a heel-less neck the body should have twice the width of the bindings extra width at the neck join - about 4mm each side - to have enough room to install the bindings, and so there is something for them to be glued to. Hope that helps. Feel free to contact me directly graham@mcdonaldstrings.com if you need any more assistance cheers graham |
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| Author: | cgal_1 [ Tue Jul 05, 2011 9:39 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
It is a solid neckblock. The pic should show the difference in width. I intended the neck to be the full width of the body joint. |
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| Author: | WudWerkr [ Tue Jul 05, 2011 11:07 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
If its a solid neck block , then cant you simply trim and taper the neck block down to fit and go ahead or am i missing somthing ? from the pic it appears you would have room to do so . |
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| Author: | cgal_1 [ Tue Jul 05, 2011 1:22 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
The fingerboard is too narrow by about 4mm on each side. I'm not sure what you mean by trimming the neck block. the only way to make it match the neck width would be to cut into the sides of the body. The pic is a vertical view from the bottom with the fingerboard upside down. I know I'm not describing this too well! |
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| Author: | WudWerkr [ Wed Jul 06, 2011 7:06 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
I guess i meant how far back into the body does the solid wood block go? is there room to trim the body down to match the neck ? If no , I would continue the build and put a binding on either side of the neck heel . or second option , put that fretboard away for a future build and make new fret board . |
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| Author: | cgal_1 [ Wed Jul 06, 2011 3:11 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
THanks for the suggestions. Trimming back the body would make it wider rather than narrower. I thought of making a new fretboard, but at 54mm wide at the neck joint , it would probably give me a very wide string spacing at the bridge for a four course instrument. Any thoughts on making it a Cittern with 5 courses? |
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| Author: | WudWerkr [ Wed Jul 06, 2011 3:41 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
I mean trimming in on either side of the block , in the curve of the mandolin making it Narrower , not shorter ! Attachment: DSCN1124.JPG
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| Author: | Graham McDonald [ Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:20 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
I thought I did mention somewhere that the neck block width was dependent on the width of the neck where it met the body. I have not had anyone else report having the same problem. I think the best thing you can do is to continue the binding along the sides of front edge of the neck block and perhaps veneer the front of the block with a piece of ebony or other decorative veneer. It might be an idea to shape the heel of the neck into a guitar-like tapered shape, which I have seen done before and that can look quite effective. I hope you can sort it out. You may have taken the measurements from the 5 course neck block diagram and turning it into a 5 course cittern may save you some problems, As long as you want a 5 course that is... cheers graham |
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| Author: | cgal_1 [ Thu Jul 07, 2011 4:06 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
Thank you all for your suggestions. Graham, it is almost certainly my mistake in reading plans/instructions. My son has often said he fancies a cittern, so I think I will go down that route. P.S The 4 flat top mandolins made from your other book have been really good. I want to try a carved top next. Best regards, Charles. |
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| Author: | Graham McDonald [ Thu Jul 07, 2011 5:42 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
Charles, I am glad the books have been useful. I always worry that I haven't explained things clearly enough and feel dreadful when someone puts all that time, energy and materials into something which doesn't work out right which could have been because of my lack of attention to the detail in explaining what was involved. Anyway, citterns are fun and they mean you have to get your head around that extra course of strings... Carving soundboards is fun  Its not as much fun carving backs out of hardwood, but very satisfying when they are done. cheers graham |
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| Author: | cgal_1 [ Thu Sep 15, 2011 4:45 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
Finally got it sorted by making a new fingerboard to convert to a cittern! Just binding the body and starting to carve the neck. Anyone any advice on what machine heads to use. Looking at small Grovers, but they work out expensive if I've got to buy two sets of 6 and then not use 2 of them. Can you buy single tuners? Also what about a tailpiece? are they made for 5 course instruments or can I attach two seys of strings to one loop on a mandolin tailpiece? Here in the UK there doesn't seem to be the choices as in the USA. |
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| Author: | Shaw [ Mon Sep 19, 2011 12:45 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: McDonald octave mandola. Help needed |
Graham just want to say that I own both your books and enjoy both of them. Just got the bouzouki book and I think it's great. Thanks for this book since there isn't any other books out there on the subject of building them. Well that I know of at least....Mike |
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