selmac Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 this is a solidbody warlock style mandolin under construction. 4-piece spruce body, emg 89, and the neck will be 1 piece maple this is my first attempt at making an instrument so any sugjestions are welcome. the finish is autopaint from rattlecans I don't remember what kind off hand but I'll look and see later. pics at: http://www.freewebs.com/selmac/themeanie.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowser Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 IMO the cuts all around it are much to dramatic, it looks almost like the pickup mount is hanging over the side - but it's your project, and you designed it for a reason, because it's what you liked. So that's what matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sepultura999 Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 (edited) awesome concept, but the pickup location looks bad when falling off the edge imo. Edited March 26, 2005 by sepultura999 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 I agree, I like the idea, but the execution is a little rough. It might be tough to play too, mandolins usually have pretty pretty compact bodies without much in the way of horns. You might have a little trouble with those. I also think that waist is a bit too thin. What scale lenght are you using? All in all though I give you a thumbs up for trying somthing different. Keep us up on how its going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slabbefusk Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 Too small! Warlocks arent skinny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american_jesus Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 that's pretty slick, but i dont think it's gonna work...the pickup looks like it's falling out of the side. if you made a new body, i'd definately say to keep some room on the sides of the pickup route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selmac Posted March 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 13" scale length. the pickup ring is but up with the edge, that happened because my little 8" bandsaw doesn't like cutting thick stock. I had it stringed up and it played well when you were standing, but was a little unwieldly when sitting. I made the neck before I knew anything so it was a butt joint neck-headstockwith about a half an inch thick walnut skunk stripe going through the back for support. yeah the moral of the story is no butt joints. under full string tension the headstock came so far up the strings were popping out of the nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 Is the neck pocket accurate? it looks kinda crooked to me... Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maher Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 hey, what kind of bridge is that, and where can i get one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selmac Posted March 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 the bridge isn't on it in those pics so I assume your talking about the tailpeice. a tailpeice is where the strings anchor, mandolins use loop end strings not ball end. I got it off ebay. I got 2 like that one, a flowery one and a four string one for like $20. theres alot of differnt varieties available. one thing that made it difficult is it had to be off center as if it were centered it would be impossible to play sitting down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selmac Posted September 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2005 ok I've been working on re-doing the neck and while thats been going on I was stupid enough to leave the body just lying around my room. after being bumped about a bit the finish has taken quite a beeting. I think it is because it's made of spruce. so partly because of that and partly because of what everyone has said I've decided to re-do the body. heres the plan so far I have a really bad digital camera so I had to edit the pic to get it to show the outline half decently Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duo2 Posted September 26, 2005 Report Share Posted September 26, 2005 I would shorten the back horns somewhat. they look too long and kind of throw off the design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted September 26, 2005 Report Share Posted September 26, 2005 or just shorten the rear horn cut away, lookin a lot better btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selmac Posted September 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 shortened up the rear drew in roughly the pickup cavity big black dots to the left of the rear horns are where the points used to be i would like to have the electronics, one volume-push-pull pot from humbucker to single coil, one tone, one switch 9v-18v, one switch fiber optic fret markers also some kind of signal boost for the single coil. i would like to put in a battery box for two 9v batteries. does anyone know a local source for them? like if some chain carries them. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoSo_Spencer Posted September 27, 2005 Report Share Posted September 27, 2005 that sketch/template drawing looks good but, make the mando without pickup rings just humbucker route and screw in im thinking of making a mando but in a different light - i wanna do a cigar box mando (with a pickup) as setch was but i dont think he finished his....?? hope all goes well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selmac Posted September 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2005 I like the Idea of rear routing it. i was thinking about making it string through but mandolins use loop end strings so i was thinking maybe doing something like this. the funny angled grey thing is supposed to be a screw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted September 28, 2005 Report Share Posted September 28, 2005 That'd work. You could probably even come up with something better'n a screw, but a screw would work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunkielad Posted September 28, 2005 Report Share Posted September 28, 2005 You could use the claw off a set of trem springs (the one that goes int he back cover of a strat) I'm starting to like this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selmac Posted September 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2005 I don't think there is enough claws, a mandolin has 8 strings, aren't there only 5 claws? I think putting more than one string on each claw would be a bad thing, especially come time to change strings. but something like that would be ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american_jesus Posted September 28, 2005 Report Share Posted September 28, 2005 you could make one out of sheet metal with 8 things like that, if you wanted to. just gotta take the metal, cut out slots, and bend them... just gotta make sure you file everything down and sand them smooth, so they dont cut through the string... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selmac Posted September 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2005 that would work but I'd be worried about string tension un bending the "claws". also thinking about it, using a claw instead of screws would make the rear cavity bigger, not sure how I feel about that. the general plan now is ash body with a curly maple top, rear routed, string through, since i'm going for string through I can change the rear cut out so the middle isn't so flat. or should I leave it flattened? also what I think I want for the top is a white-black burst stain then sand back and blue stain but I'm not entirely sure how this would work/look. won't be able to really get this rolling for about a month, as I broke my band saw so it's in for warranty repair for a month. so I'll be working on finishing the neck and building templates and whatever I can without the band saw. this also gives me time to pick up the rest of the parts I need. think positive, think positive for the string through do you need ferules on the top? also if you're rear routing the body, how much thickness do you need to leave in the top for the mounting screws? also how different is the route for the humbucker? I would assume it's basically the same until you have to route the, for lack of a better word, opening on the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selmac Posted October 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 so I got my bandsaw back today. yay! and I got some curly maple for the top. I got two bookmatched sets. still need to joint them and decide which set I'm going to use. one's got pretty good figure (imho), and the other is more lightly figured. so it should be getting under way pretty fast here. other set Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunkielad Posted October 18, 2005 Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 I prefer the light figure myself - looks really nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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