Our Innovative Designs
Bass Design
Ralph built his first instrument, an electric bass guitar, in 1969. His second instrument became the bass he played professionally through most of the 1970’s. Ralph wanted an electric Bass that felt more natural to play – especially important for someone trained on a traditional double bass – so he designed and built his basses to hang upright and allow for greater (and easier) reach up and down the neck and, thus, better playability.
Pin Bridge
The use of the pin bridge on our mandocellos makes the instrument more powerful and clearer than the floating bridge. Our instruments have a little less “twang” than a Mandocello by other makers. We discovered early-on in our development of this instrument that the pin bridge has many qualities to recommend it, and we have used it predominately in our instruments ever since. We do make floating bridge models upon request.
Neck Adjustment
Our Total Control neck is a response to one of the biggest challenges that string musicians face: finding and maintaining an ideal string height for his or her instrument. Between environmental factors and varying personal preferences, it can be difficult to find an instrument that achieves optimal string height for tone and playability.
Our neck joint can be easily set to optimal action on the fly. This adjustment changes the height of the strings off the fingerboard particularly as one goes to positions up the neck. You can go from a slide setup to ultra-low shredding with just a few turns of the bolt and brief re-tuning. This also eliminates the concerns of the dreaded neck reset and helps ensure enough adjustability for healthy playing for years to come. Seasonal action adjustments are a matter of a quarter of half turn. Ray Varona worked on this mechanism (which we now have under patent application ) for five years. It sounds simple but took a lot of experimentation to get it right!
Our adjustable neck joint not only enables pinpoint control over playability but it ensures long-term playability over the course of the instrument’s lifetime. Instruments built lightly enough to be lively and responsive are also prone to changes in shape over time given the years of seasonal changes and string tension. At best, the saddle needs to gradually be shaved down and in most cases a neck reset is needed to bring the neck back in line. With user-control over neck angle, this becomes a moot point since the neck angle is adjusted with a simple turn of a wrench and the saddle can remain constant regardless of action so that the saddle can be set at it’s optimum height purely for tonal purposes instead of at a height dictated by playability needs.
Double Top
Double Tops, also alternately referred to as Sandwich, Honeycomb, or Composite tops, are a method of using relatively modern technology to produce a soundboard that is lighter, stifer, and more stable than what can be found naturally. Pioneered by German classical guitar builders Gernot Wagner and Mattias Dammann (no relation), these soundboards use two very thin layers of cedar (or spruce) that are separated by a layer of resin-impregnated paper honeycomb. A double top soundboard is not only is lighter overall (typically reduced by 20-30%) but also harder. With proper bonding the honeycomb structure adds significant rigidity to the glued panel for a top that is stiffer than an equivalent solid piece of wood. Since the honeycomb is virtually impervious to dimensional swings and the multiple points of contact and support ensure that cracks are mitigated and practically cosmetic with the overall lamination providing support. With all these reductions in weight and benefits to strength double-top soundboards have less mass to dampen volume and response, enabling an even wider range of dynamic response and touch sensitivity while still providing a tone within conventional ranges.
The tonal signature of double-tops tends towards a more woody and transparent sound with round basses and sweet trebles but still with ample overtones and complexity. Western Red cedar is typically chosen for both skins since it offers the lightest possible weight and capitalizes on the benefits of double-top construction, but spruce can be used on one or both surfaces as well, with cedar generally bringing out the midrange and crispness while spruce sweetens out the tone and favors more low end. The tonal signature of double-tops tends towards a more woody and transparent sound with round basses and sweet trebles but still with ample overtones and complexity. Western Red cedar is typically chosen for both skins since it offers the lightest possible weight and capitalizes on the benefits of double-top construction, but spruce can be used on one or both surfaces as well, with cedar generally bringing out the midrange and crispness while spruce sweetens out the tone and favors more low end. Double tops add clarity and separation which makes for a well-rounded and adaptable sound that can work in a wide range of other styles and venues.
HARDWOOD DOUBLE TOPS
In recent years we have been experimenting with hardwood skins over Nomex and cedar backing for our double tops. The aim was to show off the beautiful wood that we useually put on the backs of our instruments in the front of the instrument where it can be seen when the instrument is being played The results yield a gorgeous instrument with a double top sound. This is not a sound like a non double top hardwood top instrument. A mahogany or walnut top guitar would typically sound too warm and without sufficient clarity for most player’s tastes. Our recently made, cherry faced double top sounds bright and resonant at the same time
Fifth Course
This innovation broadens the range of our instruments, makes shifting left hand positions less frequent, and makes fuller chords available up and down the neck. Once the player is used to the five course arrangement, the playing of these instruments is no harder than a four course model but the potential result is vastly superior. Our standard tuning runs from the C below the E of the guitar to the high e of the guitar. Thus five double strings cover the same pitch space as the guitar plus the added third at the bottom that yields that lovely low C .
Sound Port Model
To further meet the needs of the gigging musician, we developed a Sound Port or 'SP' model which is geared towards providing the best experience for the live performer. These are our best selling instruments. The inclusion of a double top seems to be particularly effective on our SP models.
By constructing a soundbox with an enlarged side sound port facing the player and eliminating a sound hole on the top a number of significant improvements are achieved. Eliminating the traditional sound hole allows for a simpler, lighter, and more efficient bracing scheme to be utilized, yielding a highly responsive top.
Thanks to the increased vibrating plate area, the harmonic spectrum is also broadened for a rich tone. To make sure the audience hears the same tone that the player hears under his or her ear, a suitable pickup is carefully matched to faithfully reproduce the instrument's tonal character. While the instrument still maintains solid projection un-amplified, the enhanced response and nuanced tone show through the amplified sound using our shop-made piezo pick-up. However, when playing alone, the player gets the full sound of the manodcello presented right under their ear via the side port.