Instrument Repair
Sam has been playing Mandolin for over 20 years, but in an effort to find the perfect instrument he decided take his engineering skills to instrument repair and manufacture. Here you will find information about repair services, current projects, restorations and instruments for sale; new and antique.
Head to the contact section if you need any repair work done, or are looking for a new instrument.
New rosewood fretboard constructed with mother of pearl spots, bone saddle and rosewood bridge. Splits closed in the back, top cleaned and oiled, decorative Mother of Pearl and tortoiseshell (mock) replaced, neck angle reset, tuners cleaned and oiled, splits in head sealed, action set to 2.5mm at 12th fret and a new set of flat wound strings. It has a brilliant ringing tone and very stable pitch, an absolute delight to play. I was sad to have to send it home! but very happy to have another very satisfied customer.
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The customer wanted this mandolin restored in as original condition as possible so I cleaned and oiled the top, dressed the frets down as low as they could possibly go and cut the bridge down. Thankfully there was just enough of an angle in the neck to make for a good playing action. I also replaced some mother of pearl and tortoiseshell binding (mock) around the edge. This is one of the best sounding mandolins I've ever played and very pretty too!
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Just finished restoring this old German violin that apparently dates from the 18th centaury. The back was coming off, fingerboard worn, bridge warped, top damaged and chin rest needed cork. The back coming off meant the sound post needed removing and then resetting after gluing the back on with hide glue. Beautiful now, a very happy customer.
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Restored; Francesco Perretta mandolin from Naples. It needed a new fretboard (rosewood) fitted at a new angle to recover the action due to neck joint warp, a crack in the back closed, the top cleaned and oiled and a new bridge. I used an experimental beech wood bridge here, without a bone insert but with the usual bone nut. The bowl of this mandolin has an unusually wide shoulder giving the body quite a bit of volume.
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This mandolin repair has been extensive. I stripped the veneer on the neck and head, repaired a split in the neck, re-veneered the whole neck and head in rosewood, made a rosewood fretboard with mother of pearl spots, new bridge with bone saddle, bone nut and a new tailpiece. Finally finished off with a set of flat wound strings.
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