Mandos in Tasmania in Fretboard Journal

Rick Turner · Post by **Rick Turner** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 6:52 am

My article on the first time I taught mandolin building for Tassie Adult Education us up in the latest issue of Fretboard Journal...issue 14, summer, 2009. I don't know if FBJ gets good distribution in Oz, but I hope so; it's a beautifully produced magazine, prejudiced as I am!

I'll be back in late August for another session of the course, Build a Mandolin (or Ukulele) in Four Days, teaching at the Woodbridge School, south of Hobart on the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. I'll be adding the "pineapple" uke to the course this time.

For anyone interested, I have a beautiful brochure of the course done for me by my friend Louise Bell, and I'd be happy to email it to anyone. Just send me a request at <renaissanceguitars>

Download the Brochure

Cheers!

Rick Turner · Post by **Rick Turner** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 6:54 am

Ahh, I see that the software here does not accept email addresses. Please do it through my guitar company website to the "info@" address.

Hesh1956 · Post by **Hesh1956** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:22 am

Hi Rick - I just read the FBJ article this morning during my daily dump and thought that the class and resulting mandos look fantastic!!!

Congrats!

Bob Connor · Post by **Bob Connor** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:36 am

Do you have that brochure in electronic form Rick?

It would be great to have it in this thread.

Rick Turner · Post by **Rick Turner** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:45 am

Bob, can you deal with a .pdf?

Bob Connor · Post by **Bob Connor** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:49 am

Yes Rick.

Send it to me at

bob at connor dot net dot au

Rick Turner · Post by **Rick Turner** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:54 am

I'll do so in a minute...it's not in the computer I'm using at the moment. Thanks!

BTW, one of the high points for me was having Gary Rizzolo take the course...and wind up being a wonderful teaching assistant. What a great guy, and what a fine, fine guitar maker he is! Oops, I owe him some kerfing...I'd better get on it!

Bob Connor · Post by **Bob Connor** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:58 am

Don't know if he's kept his chops up but he used to be a wonderful guitar player as well.

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:34 am

Hesh1956 wrote:Hi Rick - I just read the FBJ article this morning during my daily dump and thought that the class and resulting mandos look fantastic!!!

Congrats!

Too much information there Hesh!!

Mike Thomas · Post by **Mike Thomas** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 9:19 am

I attended Rick's first Tasmanian mandolin making course, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Not only did we get to make a mandolin, we got to do it with someone who is very significant in the lutherie world. And Gary Rizzolo was a real bonus.

My avatar is the Mandolin I made at the course. Thanks Rick.

Rick Turner · Post by **Rick Turner** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 10:28 am

Hi, Mike! Hey, it was nice to see you a few weeks ago at the Lark!

Can I tell the story about what happened to your mando on that first day?

Just a hint for all of you...all's well that end's well...and Mike's mandolin came out really nice, as you can see in the picture.

Mike Thomas · Post by **Mike Thomas** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 10:35 am

Go ahead Rick, tell the story. For me (in a perverse kind of way), it makes the instrument extra special.

Rick Turner · Post by **Rick Turner** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 11:09 am

The mandolins are built "Spanish-style"...face down on a workboard with the neck heel and neck block all integral and the sides glued into slots. Mike got the neck glued onto the top, and all was well...until it slipped off the workboard as he un-clamped it, and it hit the floor, cracking the top right through on either side of the block. Mike suddenly had two pieces again...a neck with a piece of broken top glued to it and the other part a top with a nice chunk missing. He was in shock and despair, understandably so.

For me, this is what makes for a "teachable moment" in a class; it's an opportunity to go lateral with the instruction and turn a disaster into a valuable opportunity for improvisation and learning. We very quickly had the cracks glued up with the neck and top re-aligned on the workboard and we glued in some kerfing between the neck block and the top to reinforce the cracks. Mike was back up to speed with the rest of assembly in no time, and now he's got a fine mandolin that you'd have to inspect very, very carefully to detect any hint of what happened. So not only did Mike learn to build the mandolin, he got to repair it as well. The real lesson is that there's almost always a way to salvage what looks like a disaster with an instrument.

Tigermyrtle · Post by **Tigermyrtle** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 4:49 pm

Hi Rick,
I was talking to Gary a couple of weeks ago and he was telling me that he was waiting for some Kerfing from you.
He is going to be doing a course soon but Electric guitar build if anyone is interested I am sure he has 1 spot left.
Cheers Bob.

Rick Turner wrote:I'll do so in a minute...it's not in the computer I'm using at the moment. Thanks!

BTW, one of the high points for me was having Gary Rizzolo take the course...and wind up being a wonderful teaching assistant. What a great guy, and what a fine, fine guitar maker he is! Oops, I owe him some kerfing...I'd better get on it!

Bob Connor · Post by **Bob Connor** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 8:47 pm

I just given this a bump as I've added a pic and a link to the brochure in Rick's original post.

Rick Turner · Post by **Rick Turner** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:18 am

Thanks, Bob!

Just saw Steven Gilchrist last night at the first evening of the Mandolin Symposium here in Santa Cruz. It was really nice catching up with him; we haven't seen one another in a few years. I'm hoping he gets the time to drop down and visit this week. He's a really good bloke, and of course, a true master builder.

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