Red Diamond Mandolins

Monroe Mandolin Camp

redd — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:14:16 +0000

I will be attending the Monroe Mandolin Camp this year displaying the Bobby Osborne Replica mandolins. Bobby is one of the instructors and I hope to see some of you there. The dates are September 10 - 12.

Reischman Replicas

redd — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:49:42 +0000

Reischman Replica mandolins are finished and all but one was pre-sold. There is one still available at this time.

Bluegrass Unlimited

redd — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:09:31 +0000

For more information look for the March issue of Bluegrass Unlimited for article about Red Diamond Mandolins.

Monroe Mandolin Camp

redd — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:44:55 +0000

The next show I’ll be at is the Monroe Mandolin Camp in Owensboro, KY Sept. 12 - 14. Should be great fun, and I’ll have a couple of instruments with me. Come join me if you can make it.

Merlefest

redd — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:45:50 +0000

I’ll be at Merlefest this year 4/24/08 - 4/27/08. No booth, just enjoying it.

Mandolin Magazine Feature

redd — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:29:13 +0000

Check out the winter issue of Mandolin Magazine. It features an article on Red Diamond mandolins and Don MacRostie. Also the previous issue has Johnny Staats as the featured player, and he has several good things to say about his Red Diamond.

Crusher Replica Model

emacrost — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 18:06:01 +0000

Announcing the replica series Red Diamond mandolin. This is a series of several mandolins which will be based on great instruments that are in the hands of great players. Each replica will be reproduced in limited numbers, and will replicate the look, feel and tone of the original. The first instrument in this series is David Grisman’s ‘22, “Crusher”. This instrument is done, and there are a couple available. The second in the series will be John Reischman’s ‘24. Stay tuned for more.

Tone Bars

redd — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 01:55:31 +0000

Here I am gluing tone bars in a batch of mandolins. There are 4 “F” style mandolins being built together.

I split tone bars from Red Spruce stock in both directions. First, at 90 degrees to the grain, then exactly parallel with the grain. By splitting I am creating a small beams that are as strong as is possible, and that will not break from grain run-out through the beam.

After carefully fitting the tone bars to the inside of the top, they are glued with hot animal hide glue. The hard crystalline nature of dryed hide glue is important to the transmission of sound vibrations from the top to the tone bars and back through the top. They are clamped with go-bars against a plaster mold of the top to avoid placing unwanted stress in the top.

Here I am finishing the graduation process. I do this after the top is attached to the ribs. This includes removing wood both from the tone bars and from the top itself.

Frets

redd — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 01:54:39 +0000

Here I’m the next batch of Red Diamond mandolins. I fret the fingerboard off the neck with the fingerboard radiused and bound. The frets are pressed in. Remember, these are compound radiused fretboards. That is, the radius is gradually changing as you go from the nut toward the bridge. The pressing caul is gradually changed every few frets to allow for this.

I have the fretwire overhang the binding to maximize playing width, and to improve appearance. This is done by undercutting the tang of the fretwire so that the head can lay on top of the binding.

Once the fingerboard is fretted, the overhang is trimmed flush, and the fret end rounded, beveled and sanded to smooth feel for maximum player comfort.

The fretted fingerboard is then flattened and glued to the straight (flat) neck. This is done so that the resulting finished job is as straight as it would have been if the fingerboard had been fretted after it had been glued on the neck. Prior to finishing, the frets are given a light dresing so that there are no high or low frets.

Pearl Inlay

redd — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 01:53:33 +0000

Here I am cutting Mother of Pearl and abalone for peghead inlays. The abalone is painted white so that the outline of the pearl pattern can be better seen on it.

A fine jeweler’s saw is used to cut on the line of the pattern. The cut piece is filed and further shaped to fit in the routed cavity of the ebony overlay.

Each piece is fit into the ebony of the peghead, then glued in.