DIY Network

Handmade Mandolin, Part 12: Setup and Finishing Touches From "Handmade Music" episode DHMM-107

The maker's mark. Lynn Dudenbostel signs his name to the plate that's mounted inside the instrument indicating who made the instrument and the date of completion.

With the completion of the French polish, the mandolin is complete with the exception of set-up and stringing. Those steps are covered in this final segment in the handmade mandolin series.

Materials:

Mandolin tuners
Mandolin strings
Hand saw
Tap-hammer

Safety Alert: Always wear safety goggles or safety glasses when
working with wood, power-tools, saws, drills, routers, etc.

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Set-Up and Finishing Touches

• Lynn's first step in stringing -- or setting up -- the mandolin is to clean the fret slots and add bushings to the tuner holes. Fret wire is cut and shaped to fit each individual fret-slot on the fingerboard (figures A and B).

  Figure A

  Figure B

  
  
• They are tap-hammered into place and the fit is secured without glue (figure C).

• Each fret is trimmed along the fingerboard so a player's hand can glide along the edge without snagging on protruding metal (figure C). With 22 frets installed, trimmed and filed, the fingerboard is complete.

  Figure C

  Figure D

  
  
• Before the mandolin can be strung up the tuners have to be added. The tuners are inistalled in the pre-drilled holes in the peg head (figure E) and are fastened with matching brass screws (figure F). Cocobolo buttons on the tuners were added to match the rest of the mandolin.

• The inlayed cocobolo tailpiece adds a decorative touch but it's also vital because the strings are hooked inside this base. And then they'll cross over the bridge.

  Figure E

  Figure F

  
  

  Figure G

• The cocobolo bridge is positioned precisely (figure G) but isn't held in place with glue. Instead it essentially "rides" on the top under the pressure of the strings.

• Lynn notches gaps into the edge of the bridge to allow the strings a smooth path on the way to the tuners.
  
• Likewise the nut, made of fossilized ivory, must be notched (figures H and I) because it too guides the strings and keeps them in their proper position. The position is critical, but another consideration for both the bridge and the nut is the depth of the gaps.

  Figure H

  Figure I

  
  
• The adjustment on the depth of the string channels (figures J and K) will affect how high the strings rise above the fingerboard. Put another way, the depth effects the action of the strings. Action is purely a personal preference so Lynn has to communicate with his customers regarding what they want from their instrument. Delivering the right action can take time.

  Figure J

  Figure K

  
  
• With the strings properly located, Lynn is on the home stretch. He makes final fine-adjustments to the strings (figure L), bridge and nut.

  The mandolin's tuners.

  Figure L

  
  One of the last steps is the installation of the pick guard (figure M). With those final steps, a new mandolin has been born (figure N). In putting these finishing touches on this instrument, Lynn completes his thirtieth handmade mandolin. But that kind of output has by no means bred apathy. "Building instruments is just a great joy," Lynn says. "I've often said if I never sold another one, I guess I'd have a house full of them. I would just continue to build. It's a great sense of satisfaction building an instrument all the way through to completion. I've built about 75 instruments at this point, and still, to this day I have that same feeling of excitement when I string up an instrument for the first time. It's just like that very first one I built. To be able to take a pile of raw materials that look like not much more than firewood, and transform them into something that not only looks beautiful, but sounds wonderful also, is just one of the greatest experiences you can have."

  Figure M

  Figure N

  
  

  	Lynn Dudenbostel says that, after having built more than 75 stringed instruments, he still gets a sense of satisfaction and excitement each time he strings up a new one and hears it play its first notes.
  	Mandolin virtuoso Andy Leftwich gives enthusiastic approval to the sound of the newly made Dudenbosel mandolin.
  	Andy prefers a mandolin with a lower action (i.e., string height), making it easier to play faster, although there is some trade-off with the volume and projection of the sound delivered by the instrument.

• As Lynn said, we started with little more than scraps of firewood. More specifically, we started with two prime pieces of West Virginia Adirondack red-spruce and joined them to form a top.

• That top and a solid piece of curly maple were carved into the shape of a mandolin with the aid of a computerized router.

• High tech yielded to low tech with the use of finger planes making the final graduations to give the top and back perfect tone.

• The sound was accentuated with perfectly carved tone bars. The purpose of the tone bars is to create an environment inside the instrument where air can create vibrations or sound waves that emit perfect sound.

• The top and back needed to meet with sides and we created a rim of maple by bending strips around a heated metal pipe.

• With all those pieces joined and decorative binding added Lynn completed the construction of the mandolin body.

• Neck construction was a challenge but Lynn was up to the task. Cut from four by four stock and carved over several hours with a variety of tools Lynn added a cocobolo fingerboard and attached it all to the body with a dovetail joint and hide glue.

• The finish was achieved with a mix of stain, shellac and varnish and created a non-traditional take on a vintage style instrument that expresses the creativity of its maker.

RESOURCES :

Kentucky Thunder
For more information on the band that appeared in DIY's Handmade Music, Kentucky Thunder -- and to hear streaming audio and download samples of their music -- visit the website for Skaggs Family Records, www.skaggsfamilyrecords.com.

Stewart MacDonald's Luthier Supply Shop
Website: www.stewmac.com

Luthier's Mercantile International, Inc.
Website: www.lmii.com

Pioneer Valley Luthier Supply Company
Website: www.pioneervalleyluthier.com

GUESTS :

Lynn Dudenbostel, Luthier
Dudenbostel Stringed Instruments
Knoxville, TN