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March Update 
 March 2014
In This Issue
Wood Selection
Product Highlight
Luthier's Tip: Assembling Ribs
Q & A: Reader's Ask
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F5/F4/H5/H4
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Dear Luthiers, 

Roger

 

Shortly after we sent last month's newsletter last month, where I spoke about the dedication program of the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, North Carolina, there was a video posted to YouTube that showed the splendor of this event. It's something you should all take a moment to watch. (And if you know me well enough, you'll find me and there in the video.) It was a very enjoyable event and the video helps tell the story.
As I mentioned in January, we go to the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) convention each year to see our vendors, learn what's new on the market, and catch up with long term relationships.

I've been attending NAMM since 1972 and this event marked my 42nd year of attendance. NAMM was founded in 1901 and is now celebrating 113 years of continued service to the music industry. In the 1970s and 1980s, the winter NAMM show (NAMM has two shows a year, a winter show in California, and a summer show in the central U.S.) was held in hotel ballrooms and small convention centers, and would typically host about 100 vendors and have around 18,000 - 20,000 attendees.

Loar's wife Bertha described the few times Lloyd took her to the NAMM show in the early 1940s, when it was just a handful of exhibitors showing their wares in the ballroom at the Chicago Hilton. I had the great pleasure of taking Bertha to the Anaheim NAMM show in 1979 and she was amazed by the incredible growth of the convention since her last visit.

The January 2014 show was held at the Anaheim Convention Center, occupied all four buildings plus the lower level, had 1,441 exhibitors, and an overwhelming 95,709 attendees. NAMM is for music industry folks only, and is not open to the public. We had a nice dinner with Mandolin Cafe's Scott Tichenor, found a few wonderful new tools that we are soon to announce, and firmed up some relationships on other exciting things we'll be bringing your way soon.

While at NAMM, we also spoke to some of their CITES and Lacey Act task force members. As you may know, the music industry has been severely hurt by two prominent regulations that prohibit the sale and trade of endangered species; the CITES embargo (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species [of Wild Fauna and Flora] ) and the Lacey Act. The CITES embargo was formulated in 1973, and the Lacey Act of 1900 was introduced to Congress by Representative John Lacey who was concerned about transport of animals from one state to another for purposes of sport hunting. Combined, these laws speak to the prohibition of trading the specific plants and wildlife that have been placed on their respective endangered species list (and the list is huge).

As you will read in the next section on Wood Selection, some of the woods used in musical instrument construction are basically no longer available and illegal to use. The elimination of these woods has had a major impact on major instrument manufacturers like Gibson, CF Martin, Taylor, and more, and most manufacturers have had to turn to other acceptable but less desirable woods to produce their instruments.

In mid February, 2014, the White House signed and released the National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking with a primary goal to eliminate poaching of wildlife for tusks and any resultant pieces of ivory. In essence, the law says that we cannot buy or sell something that is made of ivory or has ivory components unless we can certify that the item in question is 100 years or older.

For instrument resellers like Elderly Instruments and Gruhn Guitars, this means that they cannot buy or sell an early Martin (or similar) guitar with an ivory nut. The law is being policed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, (who seized the ivory items in the photo, above) and they are rather aggressive on finding violators. NAMM has launched a special task force to engage with the lawmakers with the hope of making some of these endangered items usable for musical instruments. I have participated at some of the meetings, but quite honestly, things are looking rather grim. I'll keep you updated as things unfold, but if you have been using any ivory for nuts, corner points, or decoratives, I'd urge you to switch to bone or celluloid.
Pete Seeger and me in 1975

And finally, we, like many of you, were deeply saddened to learn about the loss of Pete Seeger who passed away on January 27, 2014 at the age of 94. Far beyond just a folk musician, Pete was a vital part of American culture. He influenced our work ethics, spoke openly about political issues, strove for a cleaner life and a more natural lifestyle, and brought the gift of singing out what was in our heart to people around the world - the history of which is well documented. I had the incredible pleasure of interfacing with Pete on several projects over the years including writing a few articles about him, having him on the FRETS Magazine advisory board, the pleasure of having him visit my home, editing his banjo instruction book, and the equal pleasure of visiting him and Toshi (1922-2013) at their Beacon, NY home that overlooked the Hudson River. Pete's music and his work with the Weavers was the spark that stimulated me to pick up the banjo, and I truly believe his musical story-telling style and his earthly values and attitudes has had a profound affect on my life and my beliefs. Thank you, Pete, for bringing so much to so many of us - you will be sorely missed but never forgotten

Thanks for building with us!

Roger
Wood Selection

If you have been following my writings, it should be obvious that I have a real reverence for wood. I love Mother Nature's contribution to our art, and I treat every piece of wood I touch with respect and care. (In fact, Nolan and I were just talking about what to do with the shelves of really nice scrap wood that I just don't have the heart to burn or toss.) The topic of wood is important enough that several of my books begin with a treatise on woods; where they are from, how they grow, what is "figure," relative weights of different woods, and much more.

Terminology about woods continues to amuse me; things like the difference between "quarter sawn" and "quartered grain" (quarter sawing is a technique of sectioning a cant [log] into four quarters, and quartered grain talks about the direction of the grain in wood.) I recently had a communication with a luthier in which he asked where "tonewoods" are grown, and he went on to say that he couldn't find anything about tonewoods in any wood or biology books. It's not the first time I've had a dialogue about "tonewoods."  Suffice it so say, there is no tonewood forest. There is no species or genus of woods with the Latin equivalent of "tonewood" in its name. Simply stated, "tonewood" is just a buzz word for woods used in acoustic stringed musical instruments, and some flute makers refer to "tonewoods," as well.

There are four key things we look for to place woods in the tonewood category, and they fall under the headings of physical integrity, appearance, structural integrity, and acoustical attributes. Physical integrity addresses the issue that the wood should be free of check and cracks, not warped or cupped, properly seasoned, and not in a state of case-hardening (where the wood was dried more quickly on its outer surface than inner core making it prone to twist or bend when it is cut - a sure sign that it will not be stabile down the road). Appearance speaks to figure, color, width of grain, grain orientation, and minor anomalies like "bear-claw," "silk," etc., both of which are common in the spruce family. Structural integrity refers to the wood's dimensionally stability and its ability to withstand the rigors of long term use. And lastly, the acoustical properties refer to how well the wood does in its specific task: tone production when used as a soundboard, stiffness and rigidity when used in necks, reflectance when used in banjo resonators, non-damping qualities when used in fretboard extenders, and so on.

The combination of modern day transportation and digital communication has closed the distance gap and made it rather easy to get woods from around the world. We are lucky to have our shop in California where big leaf maple, claro walnut, cedar, and spruce are readily available. Our ebony - which continues to be more complicated to import - comes from Africa, and our red spruce (which some refer to as Adirondack red spruce - because that's where it comes from) comes from the northeastern part of the United States. As mentioned earlier, due to the CITES embargo and Lacey Act, which focus on environmental impact, some woods such as Brazilian Rosewood and certain mahoganies are no longer available.

During Gibson's heyday in the Roaring 20s, the so-called "modern transportation" was a step above a horse and buggy. FedEx and UPS didn't exist, and getting wood from afar was a nightmare. One reason we see so much cherry used for backboards on many Gibson A-model mandolins, and L-model guitars is that cherry - a very popular produce of Michigan - was vastly abundant without venturing too far outside of Kalamazoo. And while Gibson's literature boasted the use "the finest Norwegian spruce" for the soundboards of its guitars and mandolins - including the original F5 - the Gibson records show that it was, in fact, yellow spruce and it came from West Virginia! In the 1920s, prior to the marketing restrictions dictated by the Federal Trade Commission, manufacturers could get away with murder marketing their goods.
  One of the maples that grows in Michigan is a similar species to the big leaf maple we have on the west coast, and it boasts a very flamey figure. While not vastly abundant, it was used on the backboards of most Loar-signed F5 mandolins, H5 mandolas, and L5 guitars. It's a light supple wood whose flexibility helps to enhance and support the mid- and bass-tones of the instrument, and the figure is wonderful.

We've been fortunate to find a modest supply of this wonderful maple, and a stained and finished version of it is pictured in the photo below which shows the backboard of Loar's personal F5 (left) next to one of our instruments with this beautiful wood. We're calling this wood "Master Grade" in honor of Master Loar. I don't know how long the supply will last, but it might be something for you to consider for your next mandolin.
Product Highlights

�  RimAssemblyRim/Rib Assembly - new option
We consistently hear from luthiers that one of the most intimidating steps in the assembly process is gluing up the ribs. We'd hate for it to keep anyone from getting started on the instrument, so we're now offering rib assembly as an option for anyone purchasing our A5, F4/F5 and H5 rim/rib sets. The block set is included in this service, which is listed as an option when you view any rim/rib set. It's packed in high density Styrofoam, to ensure it maintains form as it's shipped. (Price varies, depending on A5/F4/F5/H5, click through individual item listing for details).
 
�  Master Grade F4/F5 Backboard
We've come across a limited supply of master-grade curly maple backboards (shown here stained and finished so you can see figure). The mandolin on the right is by Roger, in which he used this fine selection of big leaf maple (for comparison purposes, the mandolin on the left is a 1924 Loar-signed F5 mandolin). Our aim is to bring to you both a wide selection of products, but also offer a higher-end curated collection for those of you looking for something special. This falls into the latter category. It's not for everyone, but if it's for you, we hope you'll take advantage of this fine figured backboard. Order Part #312-M ($225.00 plus P&H).
There are shortcuts and then there are no-brainers. We want you to focus your time and energy on the tricky stuff, like rib assembly and binding, not on calculating peghead's precise distance and angle between treble and bass sets. We did the heavy lifting for you with our custom Peghole Drilling Guides for A5, F4 and F5 mandolins. All sets are 1/4" holes, 29/32" post-to-post spacing, designed to be drilled from front of peghead (recommended method). Order Part #1102 (A5) or Part #1101 (F4) or Part #1100 (F5) ($41.55 plus P&H).
Luthier's Tip: Assembling Ribs

There are a few luthierie tasks that many builders find daunting. One is truss rod installation, the other is binding, and the last is assembling the ribs and block sets. All other steps, while not necessarily a snap, are comparatively easy to accomplish (and get better with practice).

Truss rod installation is not quite as difficult as it seems. The real "trick" part is to be able to cut a good channel for the rod and to machine a clean truss rod pocket where the adjusting nut goes. Gluing it in is, well, gluing it in. Binding is also not that difficult, but does take some practice. The trick is to know how to heat the binding and how to control the bending. I will be dealing with each of these processes in both videos and here in this newsletter in the near future.

I've just finished a video on assembling an A- model rib and block set, now available on our YouTube channel.

We also have two very good instruction sheets (.pdf) on our web site in our Product Information > Free Downloads section: Rib (rim) Set Instructions for F4/F5/H5 and Rib (rim) Set Instructions for A5. These documents will take you from start to finish of assembling their corresponding rib sets.

At our Luthierie Camps, after a morning of discussion about musical acoustics, woods, and the basic elements of mandolin construction, the rib assembly is the first process our Campers get into. It's a rather tense time for everyone for several reasons: 1) it is the first real luthierie task they get involved in at Camp, 2) Ken, Nolan, and I are pretty hound-doggish about parts fitting really well, and 3) it takes time, patience, and the process is rather exacting and tedious.
I've been fairly adamant about preparing our kits with the rims disassembled for two primary reasons: 1) Teaching and sharing information is an important part of my make-up and I want our luthiers to learn the process of rib assembly, and 2) I feel strongly that to ensure a perfect fit of the soundboard to the rim assembly, the ribs should not be removed from the assembly fixture until the soundboard is attached.

On the other hand, we have had many luthiers who continue to be concerned about the rib assembly process and wish they could just get beyond that one stumbling block. So, after much consideration, I am happy to announce that we are now offering assembled F- and A- model rib sets that come embedded in a high density Styrofoam frame so that the kerfed lining can be attached in place, followed by the soundboard being attached before the Styrofoam frame is removed.

And while on the subject of rim and soundboard assembly, GoBar Decks make attaching the soundboard a snap. Take a look at this month's deal; Kali and Amy are offering our go-bar decks at a very special price.
Q & A: Readers Ask

Q: Someone told me that two vibrating strings can produce a note lower than either of them. Is that possible?

A: The simple answer is yes, two strings vibrating slightly out of pitch will cause "beats" the frequency of which is lower than either of the two strings. Beats are the result of the difference between the frequencies of the two strings. So, if one string is vibrating at 440Hz (440 cycles or pulses per second) and the other string is vibrating at 444Hz, we will hear a pulsing of 4 beats per second (444 -440 = 4). Up to about 12-13Hz, the beats can be heard as separate pulses and not really a lower note. Above 14-15Hz the beats are heard as an audible but very low tone. (We don't really a true musical tone until about 20hz.) And, the frequency or pitch can only be as great as the difference between the frequencies of the note played and the next higher (if the difference is sharp) or the next lower (if the difference if flat) notes. The amplitude of this tone is typically very low. There has also been some discussion among acoustical engineers about "difference tones" - different from beats - where one perceives that they hear a lower note between two other notes.

It is interesting to note that the human senses decipher pulses slower than 12-13Hz as being independent pulses, and those higher than 14-15Hz to be one continuous pulse. Back in the early motion film days, silent movies were shot at 16 frames per second (FPS) - just above the 14-15Hz range - so that the filmed imaged when captured by our sense of sight would not appear to flicker. When sound tracks were added, the film was accelerated to 24FPS primarily to improve the sound quality and provide greater fidelity.

Have a question? Be sure to send it in and we'll answer it in an upcoming issue. We won't post your name, and chances are, if you have a question, someone else probably needs the same answer!
 
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$20 Off
Siminoff GoBar Deck 

Attach your soundboards and backboards with a Siminoff GoBar deck, just like the one we use in our Luthierie Camp and in the shop. Our 3/4" fixture-grade Birch plywood decks ensures a rigid and sturdy support for both mandolin and mandola construction. Complete with 24 rubber-tipped, coated fiberglass rods; includes support rods and nuts.

Enter GoBar20 at check-out to receive the discount. 
GoBar Deck $20 off
       

March Promotion: GoBar Decks are $129.00, $20 off the regular price ($149.00)

This discount is not valid with any other offers and does not include sales tax and P&H. Discount valid March 1, 2014-March 31, 2014. 


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              Offer Valid: March 1, 2014 - March 31, 2014