Mandolin and Mandola Manufacturers and Makers
www.gibson.com
I
start with Gibson because, in my eyes at least, the Gibson mandolin is
the granddaddy of all bluegrass mandolins. Often copied but never
bettered!
CLICK HERE FOR MORE GIBSON MODELS
It is a "must have" mandolin for the professional musician
and has a distinctive tone that is it's signature. I can listen to
a recording and distinguish a Gibson mandolin from any other. The F5
is
nothing short of iconic in status, and as their website proudly proclaims
"Gibson F-5s from 1922-24 were designed, built, hand-tuned and signed
by acoustic engineer Lloyd Loar and are considered to be the finest
mandolins ever made".
Gibson Service Phone: 1-800 4 GIBSON
email: service@gibson.com
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www.brianmooreguitars.com
Pictured
below is a little beauty from the Brian Moore Guitar Company. Here are
the specifications from this amazing piece of equipment - oh
boy, do I want to own one of these !
The P-5 MANDOLIN is the ultimate instrument for the performing musician.
It features a slimline body with sound chambers. The P-5 utilizes the
RMC piezo pickup which offers the incredible natural acoustic sound of
the strings without the worry of troublesome feedback on stage. The P-5
can also be upgraded with our 13-pin system, giving the mandolin player
endless possibilities.
P5 Mandolin Features
Mahogany body
Acoustic Chambers
Figured Maple Top and Back
Mahogany neck
Rosewood fingerboard
RMC Piezo
RMC 13 Pin
Sperzel locking tuners
3+5 sculpted headstock
13 7/8 scale
Available in all of our translucent colors and bursts
Phone 800-795-PLAY * 845-486-0744 *
Fax 845-486-0745
General Email: info@brianmooreguitars.com
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www.reddiamondmandolins.com
These
are beautiful mandolins - but not just beautiful, they sound amazing.
Here's a brief extract from their website:
"In the early 1980s Don began the work of converting an old building
on his small farm outside of Athens into a makeshift woodshop. Over the
years he has worked with this space expanding it, aquiring equipment,
and developing his personal techniques for creating handmade instruments
efficiently. Three additions later that building is now a one-man production
facility equipped with machinery and tools (many designed by Don himself)
for every stage of instrument production. There are on average 12 Red
Diamond instruments produced in a year - each one created entirely by
Don".
Red Diamond Mandolins
15310 Fossil Rock Road
Athens, OH 45701
email don@reddiamondmandolins.com
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www.phoenixmandolins.com
Mandolins for connoisseurs of handcrafted instruments, and for musicians
who want outstanding volume, tone, and playability.
Rolfe Gerhardt, builder of the legendary Unicorn mandolins in the 70's,
has spent the last thirty years applying new musical instrument technologies
to the 8-string American mandolin. Using the finest tonewoods and forty
years of luthiers experience, he crafts the musicians' dream mandolins
Phoenix Mandolins
159 St. George Road,
South Thomaston, Maine
04858-3023, USA
Telephone: 207-354-0397
e-mail: pxmandolin@aol.com
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www.bacornguitars.com
Roger
Bacorn is not only a nice chap, he also makes some of the worlds finest
Guitars and mandolins, but don't just take my word for it, here's some
feedback from one of his customers
"Got
the mandolin!!! I LOVE IT!!! It's EXACTLY what I wanted and expected.
I love the finish and the painting/staining, it's perfect. Overall it's
perfect. The sound is great too. It has plenty of volume, and a very
sweet tone. The neck width is perfect (nut with). The V shape is perfect.
The depth of the neck is exactly what I asked for. It's a beautiful instrument.
I'm absolutely delighted with it. After playing and owning a bunch of
F-5 and A style mandolins, this instruments embodies all of the desirable
qualities of both, but has a unique quality that I'm thrilled with. From
an engineering point of view, it makes sense! It has the MAGIC combination
of volume and projection and tone! The appointments are perfect for me.
I love the minimalist quality of the instrument. The wood is the hero!
Your craftsmanship is superb! I couldn't be happier. If someone were
to offer me an F mandolin of my choice in trade for this mandolin I wouldn't
do it. " -
need we say more??
Bacorn Custom Guitars
& Mandolins
2230 River Rd.
Nichols, NY 13812
Phone: 607-699-3094
email: reb@clarityconnect.com
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www.rigelmandolin.com
Pete Langdell produced his first instrument in the mid 1960s. Since
then, he has crafted and honed his ideas about acoustical theories, which
led to the development of the Rigel concept in the late 1980s. He combined
his love of music, his innate ingenuity and his attention to detail (from
being a machinist) and arrived at a whole new concept in stringed instrument
development and construction.
The versatility of Rigel mandolins makes them suitable for a wide range
of music, from bluegrass, jazz, country, old time, and Irish, to the
more classical stringed arrangements.
In addition to the models available, custom work is also possible. More
ornate inlay work, custom staining, individual specifications for the
neck of the instrument, or other individual preferences can be arranged.
Rigel Instruments, Ltd.
P.O. Box 148,
132 Railroad St.
Cambridge, Vermont 05444
Phone:
(802) 644-5900, 800-476-1009,
Fax:
(802) 644-2280
Email: sales@rigelmandolin.com
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www.rattlesnakemandolins.com
Olin
Davis is a perfectionist - he designed his mandolins on the famous "Lloyd
Loar" mandolins.
Lloyd Loar. That name makes a bluegrass mandolin player's
neck-hairs stand on end. For more than 70 years now, these instruments
have been the most sought-after mandolins for serious bluegrass players.
But, not many folks are finding
them. Many of them still exist, but most of the ones that are still around
are going to waste in glass display boxes.
That's why Olin has spent so much time looking at and playing
every one that he could get near. He used a Loar owned by Tony Williamson(
serial #75941 )as the model for
his mandolins.
Precise measurements were taken to draw the blueprints he used. That
research and those blueprints are the basis for his F-5 mandolin.
Rattlesnake Mandolin Works
114 Lake Harbor Drive,
Lexington, SC 29072
Phone:
803-808-0609
email: odavis@sc.rr.com
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www.sjryder.com
Steve makes some truly amazing musical instruments that
are made to be played by the best. Here is an excerpt from Steve's website:
"Steve Ryder Stringed Instruments has been in operation since 1987 and
has grown
from
basic
instrument
repair
into
professional
refinishing, repair, and designing/building of custom stringed instruments.
The shop is located in South Portland, Maine. Steve's electric mandolins
and services have been used by musicians and other makers for the past
twenty three years".
Member of the GUILD OF AMERICAN LUTHIERS since 1983
Finishing and final assembly for DANA BOURGEOIS GUITARS in Lewiston,
Maine for 3 - 1/2 years
Finisher and toolmaker for SBS Guitars (under the Schoenberg label) for
2 years
Guitar and mandolin player since 1967
Finishing and final assembly for DANA BOURGEOIS GUITARS in Lewiston,
Maine for 3 - 1/2 years
Finisher and toolmaker for SBS Guitars (under the Schoenberg label) for
2 years
Guitar and mandolin player since 1967
Ryder Stringed Instruments
93 Washington Ave.
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: 207 939-4848
email:sjryder@midmaine.com
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www.petercoombe.com
Handcrafted mandolins, built for tonal quality.Made in Canberra, Australia.
Each instrument is carefully crafted from top quality native and imported wood,
and finished with a high quality varnish finish. All fittings are best quality
gold plated (Schaller tuners), with pickguards, tuning knobs and bindings
of wood. These really are sweet mandolins. Tonally perfect and a joy to own.
Peter Coombe Mandolins
27 Goldfinch Crt
Theodore ACT 2905
Australia
Phone: from Australia: (02) 6292 7094 (home) or (02) 6216 4051 (office)
International: Dial your International access code, then 612 6292 7094
Fax: From Australia (02) 6291 2164 International +612 6291 2164
email: peter.coombe@bigpond.com
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www.dearstone.com
These really are great mandolins with a big heart and a wonderful tone.
Here's what people are saying about these remarkable instruments:
"One of the best practitioners in the art of mandolin and guitar construction
today is Ray Dearstone, who has been making mandolins and guitars for
over eighteen years. Ray's approach to building these instruments is
not radical. He adheres to time-proven methods, with great respect for
the classic designs. Ray builds mandolins, archtop guitars, and violins
in the traditional way, applying great skill to carefully hand-carve
the arched top and back, a process that tunes the instrument's body to
its most resonant pitch. This critical step is required to deliver volume
and tonal complexity. It is one of the main reasons that the mandolin,
archtop guitar and violin, have never adapted well to mass production
or assembly line methods. Machine precision alone cannot create a great
sounding instrument. Variations in wood density and flexibility require
minute adjustments in the arching graduations that are best achieved
by skillfully applied hand methods. Carving the top and back graduation
is the true test for a luthier and it is here where Ray Dearstone's skills
really shine. His mandolins and guitars possess a deep, woody tone, with
a pronounced bass timbre that retains, amazingly, a sparkling bell-like
brightness in the higher treble range. Ray's growing reputation, however,
doesn't rest only with making an instrument with great tone. What is
most striking is the consistent quality of tone from one of Ray's instruments
to the next"
Dearstone Mandolin Works, Inc.
P. O. Box 447
Blountville, TN 37617-0447
Phone: 423-323-3173
email: rdearstone@juno.com
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www.andymanson.co.uk
This is one amazing guy making some of the finest and most unusual hand-made
quality instruments anywhere in the world. He has made some fantastic
multi-neck instruments, you just have to have a look on his website at
some of his instruments.
Look at this little beauty he made for Martin Barre of Jethro Tull
To
use his own words "Creator of world-class acoustic guitars, basses,
mandolins and multi-neck instruments. You dream it - I'll build it" -
and boy is that true!
Andy Manson
The Ark
18 High Street
Crediton
Devon
EX17 3AH
England
Tel/fax: +44 (0) 1363 773119
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www.silverangelmandolins.com
Each
mandolin is a work of art in itself, not only for its aesthetic value
but for its sound and playability. Naturally a mandolin cannot only be
a work of art to be viewed, but is a utilitarian object as well. It must
perform. Each instrument is as individual as one person is from another.
On the first day, bending the sides for a mandolin, he can tell that
this mandolin has its own personality already. It looks different.
It has
its own spirit, its own character. This individuality in his work is
what makes his instruments stand apart.
Ken Ratcliff
P. O. Box 76
Elliottville, KY 40317
Telephone: (606) 286-8530
Email: silverangelmandolins@yahoo.com
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www.stuart.co.nz
Here are Davy's own words from the website of this acclaimed and talented
builder:
"Historian by training, musician by inclination, I built my first instruments
some 25 years ago. Classes taught by inspirational Edinburgh luthier
Bert Kerr in the '80s led to me building instruments full-time when I
moved to New Zealand in 1989.
I now produce a comprehensive range of flat-top acoustic and electric
instruments from my humidity and temperature-controlled workshop in Christchurch,
specialising in 'Celtic strings', using a variety of selected mature
imported and native timbers, and quality fittings"
141 England Street,
Christchurch,
New Zealand
Phone 03 9813814 (o/seas +64
3 9813814)
email: davy@stuart.co.nz
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www.chapmandolins.com
These beautiful instruments are a musicians dream. Not only are they
beautiful and well made but they play like a dream. Here's the words
from their own website:
"I built the first two of these mandolins in the spring of `96. One
of the pair was sold to a Columbia player, and I kept the second as a "show
and tell" model. A year later, many good [and some famous] players
had played the instrument and liked it very much, so I decided to build
more. Also I had eventually sold my "demo" instrument to Mark
Bryan [ of Hootie and the Blowfish] and no longer had one to show anyone.
I have always loved mandolins....the very first instruments I built in
`78 were acoustic mandolins based on a Martin design"
Billy Chapman and Thomas Edenton
WM. CHAPMAN STRINGED INSTRUMENTS
1408 Gregg St.,
Columbia, SC 29201
Phone:
803-799-1482
E-Mail: billy@chapmandolins.com
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John
Sullivan
The tone and projection of John's instruments are renowned. It is agreed
by all who own them and all that hear them, that these instruments have
perfect tonal balance, excellent projection, and surprising versatility.
Each of John's creations possess a unique, yet classic voice that withstands
comparison to any mandolin.
Phone: (503) 777-6479
email: jhsullivan@hotmail.com
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www.randywoodguitars.com
An icon in the musical instrument field, Randy Wood built his first
instrument, an Autoharp, in the early 1960's. After moving to Milledgeville,
GA. in the mid sixties to work with Tut Taylor, he built his first Mandolin.
The late, "Legendary" Bob Givens also came to work with Tut,
and built his first mandolin. "We were both flying blind",
Randy says of those early days.
That first RW mandolin is still being played today by the capable Red
Henry. Randy's second mandolin is still serving under "The Master",
Roland White, and his third may be the only mandolin commissioned by
BIll Monroe, the father of Bluegrass.
Randy moved on from Milledgeville to Muscle Shoals, Ala. and Rual's
Music Service, and then became a founding member of G.T.R. in Nashville,
Tennessee, which later became Gruhn's Guitars. Over the years, Randy
has performed his craft for everyone from Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton,
and Keith Richards, to Vasser Clements, Clarence White, Bill Monroe and
Emmy Lou Harris.
Randy Wood Guitars Voice: (912) 748-1930
1304 E. Highway 80
Bloomingdale,
GA 31302
Voice: (912) 748-1930
FAX: (912) 748-0141
E-mail: info@randywoodguitars.com
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