If you are looking at this somewhat infernal looking machine and wondering what it might have to do with making mandolins, guitars, and banjos, let me explain. This is a Gravermeister and this one happens to be an older model which means it’s built like a tractor, and is just about as pretty. It’s used …
For years, I made do with an instrument rack that was good for holding full size guitars in a safe location but not much else. It kept average size guitars I wasn’t working on at the moment off my bench but it barely held a parlor guitar and mandolins were right out. In addition to …
While some people might consider owning multiple properties or having a fat portfolio what it means to be rich, for me, and I suspect for most luthiers, having lots of beautiful woods is the true meaning of feeling rich. Here are the woods I’ll be using in the next batch of five mandolins I’ll be …
Ever since I began using bound fret boards in place of unbound fret boards that leave the fret ends exposed , I’ve had to remove the small amount of fret “Tang” or barb that normally grabs onto the sides of the fret slot from both ends of each fret. That leaves only the small amount …
Continue reading “The challenge of fretting a bound fretboard”
