A Look Into the Workshop
= Instrument Serial #15 ===
This instrument was commissioned by Dave Dekker.
Actually, this is not a Mandonator™, though it was inspired by one. It's an experimental resonator instrument with 6 strings, tuned like a guitar with a short scale, as if a standard guitar had a capo on the 5th fret. From low to high, this will be: A, D, G, C, E, A. There is, in fact, a traditional instrument with this tuning called a requinto. Who knows? If all goes well, this may be the first "Requintonator™," a resonator requinto!
The options he chose are:
- 6 strings; scale 19.2"
- Khaya ("African mahogany") body with Indian rosewood binding
- Ebony fingerboard
- Curvey, paddle shape headstock with khaya veneer
- Stamped tailpiece
- Fishman Passive Resonator Pickup
Standard features include:
- Spherically arched back
- Khaya mahogany neck
- Radiused fingerboard
- Cutaway
- Spider bridge and resonator cone
- Traditional F-shape soundhole
The khaya wood for the body is nestled with binding and tuners in the shelf drawer dedicated to instrument #15. Before the wood can be used, it will be stickered (stacked to allow air maximum access to all sides) until the moisture content of the wood has reached equilibrium. Then I'll sand it to the proper thicknesses. I'll need to design a new neck and fingerboard for this instrument to accommodate the 6 strings and different scale.
The joined top and back, showing the inside bracing of the back.
The sides are held in a form to help maintain their shape. They have end blocks and linings on the front edges, and I'm ready to install linings on the back edges.
I fit the lining along the edge and cut it to fit. Then I remove the lining again and apply glue along its length.
The side of the lining with the glue is repositioned along the edge of the side and held in place with O-ring clamps.
Using a dental pick, I remove excess glue that has oozed out into the kerfs of the lining.
With the top and sides attached, the opening for the resonator cut, and its ledge installed, the next steps are to cut the soundhole and attach the back. Blue tape marks sound hole and centerline. The neck blank is ready and can be worked separately for now.
These are the necks, in progress, for instruments 8, 12, and 15. I've installed the graphite truss rods, created the tenons for the body joint, and attached the headstock veneers. The head and heel shapes have been roughed in. Meanwhile, I've been slotting the fretboards for these necks. Next in the process is to inlay the headstocks and fretboards. After that, I'll complete the fretboard shaping, install frets, and prepare to attach them to the necks.
This is really starting to look like an instrument! The assembled body has soundhole and binding, the headstock has inlay, and the fingerboard is ready to install.
And the verdict is ...
This instrument sounds very cool, and is really fun to play! Here it is, strung up "in the white," using a spare gold-colored coverplate that I'll replace before delivery.
I've tested it -- that's the "fun to play" part, speaking for myself as a guitar player. It was hard to put it down. The sound reminds me a little of a cross between an electric guitar (played in the high range) and an electric mandolin. Very cool for Western Swing.
Next I'll disassemble it, make some final adjustments, then apply the tung oil finish that Dave requested. Now I want a Requintonator™ for myself!!
Requintonator™ 15 has been completed! The experiment was a success! You can see photos of the finished instrument on its Gallery page.