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Re: Regal mandolin

Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 2:54 pm
by MaineGeezer
I got it together enough to put a couple of strings on it. It sounds pretty good!

Still left to do: Make a new nut, raise the bridge to get the action right, and put the binding around the back. I discovered a dumb mistake: I neglected to allow for the thickness of the fingerboard binding when I figured the width of the fingerboard, which has resulted in a neck 1/8" wider than "normal." Oh well -- I have big hands....

Re: Regal mandolin

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 6:36 am
by MaineGeezer
And here it is with a better saddle and a complete set of strings. StewMac is having a 60% off closeout sale that includes some Strukture mandolin tuners for the sale price of $15.95. I have no idea what the quality is, but for 16 bucks I'll give them a try. The original tuners seemed okay, but when put under string tension they're pretty bad.

Re: Regal mandolin

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2016 5:59 pm
by MaineGeezer
Well, the Struktrure mandolin tuners, on sale for $16, are IMO worth about .... $16.00. They're pretty bad. I would be REALLY disappointed if I had paid the alleged regular price of $40.

StewMac seems to have a liberal returns policy, so I think I'll take them up on it and send these back. A set of Grovers looks like a better idea.

Re: Regal mandolin

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2016 7:39 am
by MaineGeezer
StewMac took back the tuners, no problem. Carter found a set of suitable used-but-not-abused tuners in his "random collection of tuners" box that are just about perfect. Big improvement!

Final step was to make a decent case for it. I had the bright idea of making a bent-wood case instead of my usual rectangular/trapezoid approach. It worked, eventually, but it was a lot more bother. I made it as a closed box and then sawed it apart to create the top and bottom, as usual. Unfortunately, residual stress in the bent wood made the free edge of the sides distort slightly so the top and bottom no longer matched. I eventually pulled everything into shape and glued a strip of reverse kerfing along the top edge, which stiffened it enough to hold its proper shape. If I ever do this again I'll glue strips of reverse kerfing along the line where I'm going to saw before I close up the box, so when I do saw the top and bottom apart the edge doesn't distort. (In theory....)