Hi
My name is Alf, live in the Niagara Falls area in canada. I am in the process of building an Octave Mandolin from a kit. I chose the kit because I play left handed. Hard to find a lefty OM. I got intrigued by the cigar box nation and decided to "practice" build a lefty cigar box mandolin. Now I bought the kit without a cigar box. Had to reverse the nut and file it down. I built the box from scratch, cedar top, rosewood sides and mahogany back. I upgraded the tailpiece, and bridge. Here it is, its intonation and tune are fine, it sounds somewhat tinny but very much a country vibe...Fun, now onto the OM.
Thanks for viewing,
Replies
Looks good, is that the MGB kit? That's too bad about the lefty shortage, you'd love it over here in NorCal, there's tons o' instruments for lefties!!
jealous. Yes an MGB kit, for the price cant beat it. I upgraded the tailpiece and strings, otherwise it was fine. The neck drank lots of fretboard oil, it was soooo dry.
Actually, that's a good sign? It tells you that the neck wood was dried within the desired range of moisture? Wood that's dried to 6%-8% moisture is ideal for building because of its strength & stability? Cheers 🍻