III mandolin

Peaky! Curly! Maple! (from the upcoming video...) !

Allow me to invite you to what will surely be an incredible night of music story and meaning-making. I saw this group last fall when they came through with their rendition of the Lindworm. This year it is the Firebird and I'm super excited for it! III mandolin owner Alex Harvey is part of the group but I am not sure yet if a triple-i instrument will be in tow. TBD! But the show will be great either way!

eTown Presents "THE FIREBIRD" by The ReMemberers The ReMemberers bring ancient folklore to life in a ritual, immersive performance journey with a theatrical blend of global music, myth and storytelling.

Well I did it again-- sold something and forgot to take a photo with the new owner! iii #72 is a guitar bodied octave mandolin (GBOM) with Engelmann Spruce top, maple back, 20.125" scale and color scheme inspired by the print outs it's next to. This one took a lot of work and a lot more time than I anticipated, but I learned a lot about myself and my process through it and had an incredibly easy-to-work-with customer. Killer sound, I think my favorite sounding octave mandolin ever-- punchy but not too nasally. New owner is thrilled, or perhaps thriiiled. haha, on to the next ones!

I had a most wonderful couple days with the gents and at for the Mandolin Pro Academy. A whole lot of this material is familiar but they took me that much further in my understanding of ways to assess and approach our mandolin builds. Even better, after 2 days of deep technical instruction we went to for the Wednesday night pick and ran into some friends and met new ones and played some too. Overall most excellent, Gratzie, amici miei Italiani!

Friends, III mandolin shredder CJ Bills of Magoo the band has a significant home need and if you are a fan of the band, or of CJ or of mandolin players, or of good humans who are on a mission to spread the love, then please consider helping him and his new wife out to stay cruisin!

Donate to Help Courtlyn STAY CRUISIN' , organized by Kodi Nottingham If you've had the chance to meet Courtlyn Bills, you know he's the kind of person who lea… Kodi Nottingham needs your support for Help Courtlyn STAY CRUISIN'

That Colorado sun was really doing nice things to the colors on this octave mandolin recently! It's going to it's new home at the end of the week! I have some things to do yet but man if it doesn't just look delicious!

DolaLin (manDola + mandoLin) 10 strings CCGGDDAAEE, fanned fret (multi-scale). Bach cello suite 1 - prelude.
I don't think I posted this before, but I ran across it tonight and though it's worth sharing. If you have played this on regular mandolin or mandola, check out the final sequence where an alternate fi*****ng shows up because of the extra course of strings!

People often ask me, they say, "hey Geoff, what are you like when you are fully caffeinated and riding on a good night's sleep?" and I'm like, "kind like I am when drilling contour holes for the back of a mandolin. Full speed, full go. No stops, no regrets." (see first comment!)
Experiencing the entire shaping of a board by hand is a right of passage and I've gotten to do it a lot, more than just the instruments that bear my logo. In a world of CNC and AI and machine delegation there is something special and meaningful to learning to speak in shapes with your tools from beginning to end. To sharpen each blade, savor each cut....
Anyhow, this is a snippet from the upcoming course I am filming for how to build an F-style mandolin via the Lutherie Academy, slated to be available later this year. Feel free to (ie, please do!) share this around for anyone who may be interested because I know there's a lot of people who are. It's only been 10 years since the A-style course, which is still available here:
https://lutherieacademy.com/courses/
Heck, get both courses if you want!

Online Courses • Lutherie Academy Learn how traditional ladder-braced guitars were made—and how to build your own. Guided by master luthier Brad Goodman, you’ll follow the complete process of creating a 12-string Stella-style guitar, gaining deep insight into the construction, tone, and heritage of these timeless instruments.