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2010 Luthierie Camps...F5 Mandolin Construction:
Feb. 21-26, 2010
April 25-30, 2010
Oct. 10-15, 2010
H5 Mandola Construction:
July 18-23, 2010
Please visit our website or email Kali for more information about these programs.
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 Dear Luthiers,
The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is one of the largest annual conventions in the United States and is host to about 60,000 attendees at its "winter show" that occurs in California every year. NAMM, an association that is now more than 100 years old, holds two events each year; the winter show on the West Coast and the summer show in Nashville. Over the years, NAMM winter shows have been in either Anaheim or Los Angeles, and the summer shows have been mostly in Chicago or Atlanta, with the past 15 years being held in Nashville.
I've been attending both summer and winter shows since 1973 when I started Pickin' Magazine - so this last event (January 14-17) was my 37th year. In 1980, I had the pleasure of bringing Lloyd Loar's widow, Bertha, to the Anaheim NAMM show to visit the Gibson booth, see the new F5L mandolins that were made in Lloyd Loar's honor. Bertha and I posed for this  Gibson promotional photo with Bruce Bolen who then headed up Gibson's R&D and Artist Relations departments. (Bruce is the individual Charlie Derrington worked for when Charlie joined Gibson in Nashville.)
Aside from seeing what's new in the market and visiting with long-time music industry friends, NAMM is a time for us to visit our suppliers to discuss both old and new products that we can bring to your workbench. Kali, Rosemary, Ken, and I did a lot of walking, looking, playing, and talking, and this show provided us with some excellent new contacts, good future product ideas, and a few very interesting consulting projects. Along the way, Ken and I had a chance to catch up with Jim Duerloo. Jim and I go back more than three decades to when he was the plant manager at Gibson in Kalamazoo. Jim now heads up Heritage Guitars (Heritage's shop is located in the original Gibson Kalamazoo building).
NAMM is an important way for us to stay on top of things for you. Unfortunately, it is not open to the public, but I hope that by attending NAMM we can keep you up to date.
I'd be remiss if I didn't add something in this month's message about Siminoff's Luthierie Camp. Our next F5 Luthierie Camp is in a few weeks. We will have another F5 Camp in April and an H5 Mandola Camp in mid-July. For more information click here to see the Siminoff Luthierie Camp information in our web site.
Roger
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Why Frets Wear?
Fret wear is an interesting thing. What is most interesting is that it happens on some picker's instruments but not on all. And, it happens for different reasons.
One of the most common causes of fret wear stems from the use of poor quality fretwire, as is the case in many inexpensive instruments. If the fretwire is very soft, it will be easily dented from the constant hammering of the strings against the frets.
With better quality fretwire, the two main contributors to fretwear are either players with too powerful or too weak a grip. Musicians with very strong fingers, especially those who like to hammer-on a lot - either to create sequential noting or to make clear concise noting - will tend to wear frets because they are actually denting the frets. Repeated hitting of the hard "mandolin wire" (the name for the steel wire used for musical strings) against the softer frets forces the fret's crown to be sacrificial and eventually the fretwire gets dented.
Musicians with a very light touch, but a reasonably strong right hand, will wear out fretwire because they don't press the strings very firmly against the frets, and this causes the strings to vibrate on the fret's crown. In this case, the constant vibration hammers away at the fretwire and eventually dents it.
And, there are those musicians with just the "right" touch who get years out of their frets. It is especially interesting for those of us who do repairs to notice the differences in how often we do refretting jobs for working musicians; some folks you see once a year and others need a fret job once every ten years.
Some fret wear is caused by the fretwire wearing away as opposed to being dented, and this difference is dependent on whether the strings are wound or plain, whether the musician does a lot of "choking," or whether the musician is playing in a dusty environment.
In my opinion, nickel-silver fretwire is the best type to use (and this is the only type of fretwire we sell). Nickel-silver wire is sometimes referred to as German silver but is more specifically known as Alloy 752. In reality, the wire contains no silver but gets it name from the silver-like color. The wire contains 18% nickel, which is the major contributor to its hardness.
Some luthiers have been recommending stainless steel fretwire, but it's not my preference. I believe that the fretwire should be softer than the strings to reduce string breakage. Also, stainless fretwire is harder to install, which makes refretting jobs more expensive. Lastly, the color of stainless wire is not to my liking, but that gets down to personal taste. Having said this about stainless wire, it would certainly be a consideration for performing musicians whose instruments typically require annual refretting.
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Product Highlights
 · Loar Style Machines - We are very proud of our Loar-style mandolin machines. These machines are the most accurate replica of the F5 machines on the market today, and they come in nickel or gold plating. They feature 16:1 gears, black slotted-head gear screws, slotted round-head buttons screws with washers, 13.5mm mother-of-pearl buttons, eyelet-sized bushings that are machined (not stamped), and properly sized shafts. These machines are a Siminoff exclusive and use Gotoh back strips, gears, and posts. These machines also feature spring-loaded Delrin post bushings for smooth turning operation. The nickel machine set is part #301-LN and the gold machine set is part #301-LG. Either set is $299.00 plus P&H.
 · Pearl Nuts - Original F5 mandolins featured mother-of-pearl nuts. Mother-of-pearl is harder than bone and provides an excellent bearing surface for the strings to rest on. The hardness of pearl also provides a bit more clarity and sustain than bone (there is not a huge difference, but it is noticeable). Pearl nuts are a bit harder to sand and file than bone, so fitting typically takes a bit more effort. Our mother-of-pearl blanks are oversized and un-shaped so that you can modify them to fit your instrument. The part is #024 and is $12.00 plus P&H.
 · Ebony Fretboard Extenders - Here's another little-known feature about original Loar-signed F5 mandolins: they had ebony fretboard extenders. Mainly due to cost and machining problems, mandolin builders over the past 70 years or so have been using maple fretboard extenders. While maple is certainly strong enough, it doesn't have the rigidity of ebony. Much of what Loar spec'd for the F5s were features that came from the violin (his favored instrument from a design standpoint), and the violin's ebony fingerboard extension is reflected in the original F5's extender. The rigid extender prevents energy from being wicked off the end of the fretboard. Our ebony extender for the F5 is part #338 and is $44.00 plus P&H.NOTE: Please consult the Shipping & Returns page on our website for a P&H table. |
Luthier's Tip...Binding the End of the Peghead
There has been an interesting email dialogue going on between several of our previous Luthierie Campers on the subject of binding the peghead. The main area of concern is in regards to the end of the peghead and how to deal with the binding, the binding notch, and the fact that the peghead's end slopes away at a 14° or 15° angle.
There are several methods of binding the peghead, and luthiers apply techniques that fit their experience, expertise, and tooling capabilities. For example, Lynn Dudenbostel uses his CNC machine to route a channel in the peghead veneer, and then he glues and presses the binding into the channel for a perfect fit and shape. Other luthiers bind peghead veneers off the instrument by hand and attach the bound peghead to the neck wood. My preference (and tooling) has been to attach the peghead veneer, shape the peghead, and then rout the binding channel.
Just how to rout the channel and attach the binding has been a point of much conversation. I believe the peghead binding channel should be routed with its slot perpendicular to the surface of the peghead. Because of the peghead's side angle, this will make the slot a different width at the end of the peghead than at the sides. However, having the cutter perpendicular to the face of the peghead will provide a square channel, and this is important to get the binding seated and glued in properly.
The binding can be fitted three different ways (see diagram):
 A: Permit the binding at the end of the peghead to hang out slightly at the top edge, sand it as flush as possible and just leave it that way - it will be barely noticeable.
B: Use .090" binding for the peghead. Scrape it as shown in "B" at the END of the peghead, and scrape the SIDES of the peghead down to match the .060" binding you are using on the body.
C: Use .060" binding, but let it stay a bit recessed, and let the lacquer (red area) fill the space.
The choice is really up to you but of the three options, I prefer B and C.
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Product of the Month: Engraved Tailpiece
 Rather than being a music parts department store, we are very focused on carrying only the very best products - those parts we believe in and the ones we use on our very own instruments. One such part is the Bill James mandolin tailpiece. This is a very well designed CNC-machined part. It features a hinged cover, machined string hooks, a string support that is adjustable to get the correct tailpiece-to-bridge angle, and rubber string-rattle preventers. And, these tailpieces are available in silver (not nickel) or gold plating and feature your name engraved on the lid with Loar-style wriggle-work around the lid's edge. For the month of February we are offering a very special $10.00 discount. The silver tailpiece is part #305-JES and the gold tailpiece is #305-JEG. Each engraved tailpiece is regularly $159.00 plus P&H, but for February only they are $149.00 plus P&H. To take advantage of this offer use the coupon code engraved10 during checkout.
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