Specifications

All instruments

 

Note that all instruments come with a case included in the price, but the actual case supplied will depend on availability.  Presto cases has closed down, so a high quality shaped flight case for a reasonable price is impossible to source.  Quality costs money, and with custom cases made in the USA, a lot of money.  Cases have always been a problem, most of the Chinese made plywood cases are way too big and the quality is poor.  There may be some price adjustments from time to time to take into account the cost of the case.

Update 1 - The cost of the custom made Cedar Creek mandola case has escalated into the ridiculous (>$2000).  However, Crossrock cases now have a mandola case available that fits my mandolas.  It is quite a substantial case, rectangular, so is bulky, but is available for a reasonable price.  That is until it becomes unavailable,  In the mean time I have reduced the pice of the mandola assuming this case will be available.

Update 2 - I was using TKL cases for archtop mandolins.  These are now not cost effective due to increasing price, cost of postage, and the exchange rate.  The bottom line on cases is you get whatever is available at the time, and availability can be a problem.  Note that the cases come at the cost of what I pay, and occasionally there will be adjustments to the price due to the cost of the case.
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Made from native or imported solid wood
You choose what woods you want on custom made instruments, but I can advise you on what i think best suits requirements.
Wooden bindings.
Radiused fingerboards.
Bone nut.
Paua Abalone shell, or opal fingerboard inlays.  Paua Abalone or wooden (European Maple) headstock logo inlay.
Varnish finish.  I believe varnish gives a slightly looser and warmer sound that I prefer over nitro lacquer finishes.

All instruments are tuned using Chladni plate tuning techniques to get the best and most consistent sound.  These techniques were developed by Peter Coombe for mandolins and the guitar tuning techniques were developed by Alan Carruth and Trevor Gore.  Thank you Alan and Trevor.  Note that the flat top mandolins use the principles of guitar design as outined in Trevor Gore and Gerard Gilet in their guitar design/build book.

Mandolins and Mandola

Carbon fiber neck reinforcement.
Dovetail neck joint.
Fingerboards radiused to 12".
Crosspiece at the 12th fret for the oval hole mandolins, at the 15th fret for the A5 mandolin.
Fingerboards are Ebony (usually quarter sawn Macassar Ebony) except for the Goldfinch models which may have an Australian native hardwood fingerboard.
Modified Ebony Brekke bridge (the saddle is modified), except for the two point Classical model and all flat tops which have a one piece Ebony bridge.
Engraved gold James tailpiece, or a custom made black engraved tailpiece (Classical Flattop models).  The classical models have a custom made tailpiece and the Pancake mandolins have a cloud tailpiece.
High quality Schaller GrandTune tuners with Ebony knobs for all new archtop and Classical Flattop mandolins.  Rubner tuners for the pancake mandolins.
Nut width 30mm, except for the Pancake mandolin which is 29mm, and the mandola which is 32mm.  I can do 28mm nut width on any custom mandolin if required.
Wooden pick guards, except for the flattop mandolins which have a clear Mylar pick guard.
Pickups are not included.  Pickups can be installed as extra, but some mandolins cannot have a pickup internally installed once the box is closed (e.g. Classical).  I install McIntyre feather pickups, but for best sound recommend Schertler.  Note that McIntyre feather pickups require a preamp.  Schertler are less convenient and a lot more expensive, but in my opinion have the best sound on the market.  Please note that the latest fan bracing pattern (3rd and 4th generation flattop instruments) of all flat top instruments (mandolins, mandolas and Octave mandolins) do not allow for an internal pickup.  Please do not try to install an internal pickup on these instruments, damage can occur, and you will void the warantee if you do.

Octave mandolin

Flat top fan braced with carbon fiber reinforcement.
Top and back with 15ft radius.
Body depth (internal) 65mm, 57mm for the 2 point OM.
21 or 22 inch scale length.
34mm wide nut.
Two way truss rod in the neck.
Dovetail neck joint.
Solid ebony one piece bridge.
Schertler GrandTune tuners.
Nickel plated Allen tailpiece, or Gibson style with Ebony cover
Clear Mylar pick guard.
Internal pickup cannot not be instralled.

Guitars

Two way truss rod in the neck.
44mm nut width for the guitars, 32mm nut width for the tenor guitars.
Bolt on neck joint (greatly simplifies neck resets).
Mahogany neck, either African or Honduras mahogany.  Queensland Maple or Blackwood are other options.  Australain Red Cedar for the classical guitar.
Quarter sawn Macassar Ebony fingerboards radiused to 16".
Top radiused to 25ft, back radiused to 15ft.
Steel string guitars the top is X braced, but bracing is symmetrical similar (but different) to Larrivee.  The classical guitar is traditionally fan braced similar to the Houser guitars
Wooden rosette.
A frame brace in the upper bout to stop movement of the neck block (reduces need for neck resets).
Tuning of the top is adjusted with side weights if necessary as per Trevor Gore and Gerard Gilet.
Tasmanian Blackwood bridge (lighter than Ebony or Rosewood bridges), Ebony bridge pins, and bone saddle.  Classical guitar has a rosewood bridge.
Superb quality (Swiss made, very smooth and accurate) Schertler tuners with Ebony knobs for the OM guitars, Schaller GrandTune tuners for the small guitar, and gold Gotoh tuners on the Tenor guitars.
McIntyre Feather pickup is installed as standard on all guitars (except the classical guitar).  Note that this pickup does require a preamp.  I do not install active electronics in my guitars.  Over the long life of a guitar, any active electronics are very likely to fail and cannot be repaired because of changing technology.  The McIntyre feather can be easily removed if it ever needs to be replaced (unlikely because it is a passive device).

I have pretty much settled on Adirondack Spruce (i.e. Red Spruce) for the top wood of my steel string guitars, and European Spruce on the classical guitars, although I can use other species of Spruce, Redwood or King Billy Pine on request.  Most customers like the bigger headroom of Adirondack, and I am getting excellent results with it.  After all, it is the same topwood that Martin used in their pre war guitars that are so highly regarded.

My main influences have been Martin (of course), Gibson, Jean Larrivee, Alan Carruth, Jim Williams, Trevor Gore, Gerard Gilet, and others.  I also do repairs which has given me a good idea on what can go wrong over the life of a guitar and how to avoid most of the problems.

I make guitars that will sound great for many years into the future, not guitars that sound great when brand new but then later develop structural issues or the bass starts to sound flabby.  That creates a marketing problem in that my guitars do tend to feel and sound a bit "stiff" when new, and that can put uninformed customers off.  Adirondack Spruce is the stiffest of all the Spruce species so brand new instruments do tend to feel stiffer than with other Spruce species. However, don't believe the rubbish you can read on the Internet about how Adirondack Spruce takes 20 or 50 years to "open up".  If it takes that long then the guitar is too heavily built.  My guitars (and mandolins) will "open up" in as little as 6-12 months of solid playing and will improve for around 5 years afterwards and continue to give many years of enjoyment.