Blog
I’ll use this space to talk about what I’m doing, why I’m doing it, and how I’m doing it… Expect infrequent updates
New Octave Mandolin incoming
A conversation at last year’s Ceol Aneas Irish traditional music festival in Nelson ended up with a bit of a challenge for me. I was talking to an excellent local musician and tutor, who loved my mandolin but wondered if I could make an octave mandolin. I said I’d give it a shot.
Once…
I was absolutely bloody thrilled to see two of my instruments up on stage at the Court Theatre’s production of Once. I went down to the show with my daughter and we loved it! The performances were great, the story is lovely, and the mandolins were up nice and high in the mix.
Two point evolution
I’m currently developing a new model based on the classic Lyon and Healy models of the 1920s. These were high-end instruments - carved tops and backs, scroll headstocks and even fairly contemporary (for a mandolin) things like radiused fretboards. For me the main thing is the asymmetrical two point shape however. It’s a tricky thing to get right - two small and the points are stubby little nubs, two big and they give the instrument a weirdly gothic heavy metal look… to my eye at least.
Spraying
I’ve French polished all my instruments until now…