Quote from: edwardofhuncote on June 06, 2026, 06:20:11 AM

Quote from: Nova Constellatio on June 06, 2026, 06:14:44 AMWhat is that, a four inch radius?!? Now I have to find a mandolin...

If you hadn't asked, I might have remembered. It's extreme. And it's compound too. Jimmy liked it so well that he had his next mandolin, a classic Paganoni modified so it had the same setup. I hadn't heard that one before.

*anyone who is just casually reading/following... this is very unusual, mandolin fingerboards are typically flat, no radius at all.

I'm a huge fan of compound radius boards that start out low.

Here's a humble looking "mandoline" that's got a fun story:

Snakehead! A-1...? Cool provenance too.

I was always amused that the A-2 was followed by a Z, making it sound phonetically like; A-to-Z. Lloyd (or somebody) had a sense of humor.

I don't have it right now, but the '23 A-4 (ahem) "inverted headstock" is out on loan. Here it is with my aforementioned 1919 A-model "Uncle Charlie". Most people never notice, but the snakehead Gibson is really just an inverted and trimmed version of the standard paddle. Note the position of the center notch at the top end. It results in lessening the mass of the headstock and allows the strings pull straighter across the nut. It's simply flipped. The snakeheads are somewhat sought-after by collectors and players.

That O'Brien looks really nice; and that radiused fingerboard is pretty cool.

I love snakeheads and I love A-3s, and those bastards discontinued the model a year too early for me to get both.

 

Here's what I spent my day working on:

Quote from: Nova Constellatio on June 06, 2026, 10:53:09 PMI love snakeheads and I love A-3s, and those bastards discontinued the model a year too early for me to get both.

 

A white-top A-3 came in the store last month with the client wanting to sell as-is. (I didn't look it up, but the finish option narrowed it down to a pretty tight window...) It was pretty rough so they declined it. If I'd had a need or desire in the world for another A-model I'd have bought it myself to fix. In spite of the repair work needed, tailblock cracked and sprung open, neck joint and button letting go, frets plumb shot, it had really nice finish, the top had not sunken, the original hardshell case was clean, even the cream pickguard was intact and still attached. These things have a way of turning up again, and you just can't save them all. That mandolin needed serious repair, and retail shops aren't interested in sinking money into restorations. Hopefully somebody will fix it.

I'm with you on that point though, an A-3 with that little squiggly wreathy thing inlaid on a snakehead would've been way cool. Especially in ivory white.

*looks like you're binding sumthin' there... with a spruce top? Or izzat redwood?

It's redwood — since Fender is being infantile, I designed a simple body for my future builds that won't upset anybody.

Body number two in ash, unbound.

nice!

Here's a fun electric — a first-batch 1960 Les Paul (these wouldn't be called SGs for a little while). Note the rectangular goof plate above the neck pickup, which has been seen on five or fewer instruments. This also has an ink-stamped serial number, which was used on the first few racks they made.

A bass post, since things have gone pretty far afield:

Birds, in other words! 

Nosir, no T-birds for me, but if I was gonna', well... that one would make a good dog break his leash. Very nice. 😍

I've posted this one elsewhere on the Club here... I don't think on this thread. It's a weird one. Kind of a Thunderbird Studio take. Gibson called these their Thunder Series basses, either IV, or V. Mine is an '87. I read there are <1000 of these. Rare. Not necessarily in a good way. Mine has a lot of sentimental value. I don't gig it out much, but I certainly have. 

Are the humbuckers in it basically Thunderbird pickups?

Here's a little practical joke I played some years ago using a 1959 Gibson cherry-burst. Wait... what?!

Yeah, not that kinda' '59 burst. This thing left Kalamazoo Michigan as an A-5, like Jethro Burns played. It had enough lumber innit for two mandolins. It might as well have been a solid-body. Anyway, the poor thing got crushed. So I made a class project out of it. New top, carved and cut for f-holes. Graduated much lighter than the original. I made a new rosewood fingerboard for it, and because I had them and the smartass to match, the bowtie inlays from a '50's Gibson TB-250 banjo went right in. The keystone knobs... hell, I couldn't not do that. The cherry-burst top I airbrushed to match the original sides and back. I played this one for a while before sending it along to confuse the world of Gibson snobs. Shame on me.

Quote from: Nova Constellatio on June 15, 2026, 03:23:35 PMAre the humbuckers in it basically Thunderbird pickups?

Yessir, TB+, with black covers. I suppose to match the black hardware. Very tight string spacing for a 5-string. These are set-neck as opposed to true neck-through 'Birds. Officially I think only available '86-'88, but they flopped pretty fast. You'll see them in natural, white, red, or black. The ad copy said something about "Back To Bassics" with lightning streaking across the Nashville skyline in the background. They aren't terrible, they just didn't deliver.