This instrument floats like a butterfly and stings… No wait a minute, that’s something else. This instrument is strung, tuned, and played like a guitar that is capoed at the 12th fret, and it sounds like a mandolin. In fact, the body is built from my Ambassador mandolin form. As always, my instruments are made entirely from straight grain wood, and no instrument plywood. The sides, back, and neck are pecan, with a western red cedar top. This mando-guitar has a 15” string length, it is 1 5/8” at the nut, and at the bridge, it has a string span of about 1 ¾”. The bridge and fret board are both rosewood. This instrument is wired with a piezo pick-up that is hard glued to the inside of the top and connected to a jack in the tail block, which also has a strap button made onto it. Also included is a 7 band Danelectro EQ that can be had as either a belt pack or a floor mount. And then there is a strap button on the other end of the body. The neck of this instrument is fitted with an adjustable truss rod. It comes with a strap, and in a very nice, thick, padded gig bag.
As with the Rogue guitar I have in this section, this mandolin is not one that I built. I think Rogue is the house brand name for Musician's Friend. As far as the wood work goes, the Rogue instruments are very well constructed. However, they fall way short of being functional instruments. I get these mandolins and give them everything they need. Every Rogue mandolin I've ever seen needed the frets leveled. Also, the bridge, even when adjusted to its lowest point, still leaves the strings entirely too high. So I severely work the bridge over to get the action low. Also, I spread the strings out on the bridge. They come bunched up into the middle of the fretboard. The action is too high at the nut, so I work down the heighth on that end also. I put a strap button on the heel and a piezo pickup inside, under where the bridge is placed. This piezo pickup is the same electronics that are in my instruments that are played by Caedmon's Call and Andrew Peterson. In the tail block, I install the jack. Also included is a floor mounted 7 band Danelectro EQ. I have put this mandolin in a very nice padded gig bag and it comes with a strap. Even though I'm the lowest priced hand builder on the planet, I know that the prices on my instruments are still sometimes out of reach. So if you want a good instrument that is not handmade but will give years of good service and will provide good sound, then this mandolin can be had for $250, plus $50 for shipping. If you're inclined for a mandolin without electronics, this one can be had with everything else that I mentioned for $150, plus $50 for shipping.
After doing a bit of checking on the websites of other guitar builders, I think I've found that I'm about the lowest priced hand builder on the planet. Having said that, I still know that folks sometimes still can't afford the prices I charge. I try to keep something in stock that will be helpful to folks, even if it's not something I've built. Here's one example. This is a Rogue six string dreadnought acoustic guitar. I buy them from Musician's Friend. Most production guitars need what's called a final set-up once you have received it. So, here's what I do to these guitars. I level the frets, lower the action, make a new nut for these guitars, put a strap button on the heel, improve the bracing, put counter sunk bolts in the bridge and pearl dots over them so that the bridge will never come loose, and I install two piezos on the inside of the top near the outer edges of the bridge, and a jack in the tail block that is also a strap button. I have it in a very nice padded gigbag and it will also come with a floor mounted 7 band Danelectro EQ. All this can be had for $250, plus $50.00 for shipping. If you're inclined for a guitar without electronics, this one can be had with everything else that I mentioned for $150, plus $50 for shipping.
Here's my newest offering. What it is is a laminate pickguard. The top is rosewood, glued to a very thin piece of maple. The image I want is routered all the way through the rosewood so that the white of the maple shows. Also, I put a 45 degree angle around the edges, so the maple shows there.
This guitar is a bit of a Frankenstein, I guess. I acquired a B.C. Rich recently. It was definitely a trashed out guitar, and you could tell it was intentional. Somebody was lookin' to get that mean and nasty Addam's Family sort of look goin' on. I determined that the neck was a total loss, so I just pitched it. Most of the electronics in the body were good. Everything except the jack. I replaced it. I repaired the body, filled in with wood the area where the tremelo bridge used to be, and refinished it. At this point, I decided I could really go any direction I wanted to. So I turned this guitar into a baritone. It has a 28" string length, 21 frets, and a quartersawn beech neck. It will come in a very nice thick padded gig bag and the total, including shipping, will be $400.
If you don't see something here that you are after, it's always okay to inquire and see if maybe I am working on something in between my custom jobs - I generally am. If, perhaps, I'm working on something that you are interested in and you want to lay claim to it before it makes it to this lineup, then you'll be able to make considerable savings.