I’ve been getting more and more requests for oval holes in walnut. American walnut is a wonderful tone wood, but softer than maple and I’ve had to learn how to carve these backs a bit differently. Lately, with these, I’ve been combining the walnut backs with the stiffer Red Spruce tops, yielding a magical combination..focused tones with a crisp edge that seem to pop, but with the sustain and fat, low end of a true, vintage oval hole. This mandolin features:

 

  • Red Spruce top, X braced
  • American walnut back, sides and neck
  • Relic Golden Age tuners/matching tailpiece
  • 1 3/16″ bone nut
  • bound top, back, fingerboard and headstock in ivoroid
  • traditional rossette
  • Shop made ebony adjustable bridge/saddle
  • Adjustable truss rod and 3 piece laminate neck construction
  • Soft “V” neck profile
  • 10″ Radiused fingerboard with MOP dots and side markers
  • oil varnish finish