Hey Richey, I got my Nylgut mando strings from Elderly Instruments. After checking their site, it appears they no longer have them. I bought 6 sets last time and I'm down to 2 now so I hope to find a way to get more. If I do I'll let you know.
Beautiful job on the mando Richey! Yes, I use Nylgut strings on all of mine but I buy their mandolin set. For a couple dollars more than the 5ths uke strings you get a double set and I think thy're slightly lighter guage so even on 15" scale I can bring them up to standard GDae tuning. The thing with Nylgut is they will break pretty easily if there are any bridge or nut slots which haven't been nicely rounded at the bottom. If this is a new tuning for you I think you'll appreciate the extended range of notes when you start picking out melodies. I'm glad it turned out so well.
Thanks for your comments Richey,never seen brass fret wire for sale,it would finish one like no.41 off.Thought I better get a few ready to go to Hexham,though I'm not sure about 41,might keep that one.I have a short scale one handy to plonk while watching the telly,this one might take its place.The short scale means you're less likely to poke the wife's eye out.
got my gitty today !!!! its more than awesome. Thank you Rick . you have just become a part of my family heirloom handdown collections. all my favorite hand made things. which i can count on two hands. thank you my friend. this guit is a beaut . i love the sound. so now there are two things i really dig of yours. well you know i love me some rk bridge. and those pups awesome. thanks
I've made several with 15" scale but only for nylon strings. Steel strings have more tension on them than I like on 15" but that's what Uncle John has and he seems to like it. I thought I noticed that string taper in some of your photos but wasn't sure. Very nice builds you have btw! Yes, the tapered neck has a nicer, more traditional look to it. A friend of mine makes beautiful tapered legs for the funiture he makes using only hand tools. I'll have to get him to show me his method.
Oh, I also think you could keep the 1 1/2" with no taper and space the strings a bit closer at the nut. A little extra on the sides shouldn't be a problem. Then you'd have tapered strings on a straight neck. I haven't done that yet but in my head it works!
Hey Richey, I taper my necks on a bandsaw. If I did it with hand tools I think I'd draw the taper lines and then rasp my way down to them starting with a coarse rasp, then a fine one as I got closer. Now I'll have to give that a try to see how well it works! The main reason for the taper is to give a wider spacing for the picking/strumming fingers. Many CB gits have no taper and they are still perfectly playable.
I think 1 1/2" should work. Most of mine taper from 1 1/4" at the nut to 1 3/4" where the neck meets the body. I've made some with skinnier necks since a regular mando is only about 1 1/8" at the nut and some mando players are more comfortable with that. Another way to look at these instruments is like a ukelele tuned G,D,a,e. The first one I fooled around with started as a uke and all I did was put nylgut mando strings on it. Some mando chords are a little hard to play with wider string spacing but still very do-able. Also, I use a 13" soprano uke scale on many of my mandos rather than the standard 13 7/8" That's because I didn't know any better and already had some soprano uke fretboards made. Good luck and keep me posted about your progress.
I thought we'd already friended Richey! I'd be happy to offer whatever help I can about mandos. My personal favorites are 4 string mandos with nylgut strings. The one I sent Uncle John had that and he switched to steel strings. Whatever one is more comfortable with!
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Thanks Richey! Now I've gotta learn The Beatles song "When I'm 64"
Hey Richey, I got my Nylgut mando strings from Elderly Instruments. After checking their site, it appears they no longer have them. I bought 6 sets last time and I'm down to 2 now so I hope to find a way to get more. If I do I'll let you know.
Beautiful job on the mando Richey! Yes, I use Nylgut strings on all of mine but I buy their mandolin set. For a couple dollars more than the 5ths uke strings you get a double set and I think thy're slightly lighter guage so even on 15" scale I can bring them up to standard GDae tuning. The thing with Nylgut is they will break pretty easily if there are any bridge or nut slots which haven't been nicely rounded at the bottom. If this is a new tuning for you I think you'll appreciate the extended range of notes when you start picking out melodies. I'm glad it turned out so well.
Thanks for your comments Richey,never seen brass fret wire for sale,it would finish one like no.41 off.Thought I better get a few ready to go to Hexham,though I'm not sure about 41,might keep that one.I have a short scale one handy to plonk while watching the telly,this one might take its place.The short scale means you're less likely to poke the wife's eye out.
Love your happy customer photo.
Michael
Good work Richey. Just started and am still using piezo pickup. Next build hope to use humbucker and tone and a volume knob.
Thanks for the birthday wishes!
This is my site:
http://humidorguitars.com/previously-sold-guitars/zeke-deadwood-guitar/
Thanks Richey, that could be quite handy! I'm in Wetherby, West Yorks.
Cheers, Matt.
I sent you a friend request on here so we can use the email thing a little easier to talk that way.
I've made several with 15" scale but only for nylon strings. Steel strings have more tension on them than I like on 15" but that's what Uncle John has and he seems to like it. I thought I noticed that string taper in some of your photos but wasn't sure. Very nice builds you have btw! Yes, the tapered neck has a nicer, more traditional look to it. A friend of mine makes beautiful tapered legs for the funiture he makes using only hand tools. I'll have to get him to show me his method.
Oh, I also think you could keep the 1 1/2" with no taper and space the strings a bit closer at the nut. A little extra on the sides shouldn't be a problem. Then you'd have tapered strings on a straight neck. I haven't done that yet but in my head it works!
Hey Richey, I taper my necks on a bandsaw. If I did it with hand tools I think I'd draw the taper lines and then rasp my way down to them starting with a coarse rasp, then a fine one as I got closer. Now I'll have to give that a try to see how well it works! The main reason for the taper is to give a wider spacing for the picking/strumming fingers. Many CB gits have no taper and they are still perfectly playable.
I think 1 1/2" should work. Most of mine taper from 1 1/4" at the nut to 1 3/4" where the neck meets the body. I've made some with skinnier necks since a regular mando is only about 1 1/8" at the nut and some mando players are more comfortable with that. Another way to look at these instruments is like a ukelele tuned G,D,a,e. The first one I fooled around with started as a uke and all I did was put nylgut mando strings on it. Some mando chords are a little hard to play with wider string spacing but still very do-able. Also, I use a 13" soprano uke scale on many of my mandos rather than the standard 13 7/8" That's because I didn't know any better and already had some soprano uke fretboards made. Good luck and keep me posted about your progress.
Jim
I thought we'd already friended Richey! I'd be happy to offer whatever help I can about mandos. My personal favorites are 4 string mandos with nylgut strings. The one I sent Uncle John had that and he switched to steel strings. Whatever one is more comfortable with!
Thanks for the birthday wishes!
thanks I didn't know it either
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