Musicmaker "Dakota" Mando Kit

[JLT]

I recently put together a Dakota mandolin kit from Musicmaker's Kits, at their request. As kits go, it's one of the easiest ones to build, particularly since the neck comes already fretted and drilled for tuners. The instructions are pretty clear, and the assembly is as straightforward as any kit I've seen.

The sound, however, was not as good as I'd hoped. I took the back off twice and redid the bracing, with good results. (I also got rid of the rosette, which is a real sound killer with this mandolin.) I hear from the manufacturer that the kit has just been redesigned, with a bigger body and a bracing pattern that looks a lot like the one I used. So if anybody builds this kit, I'd appreciate hearing from them.