I’m looking for info. on building an octave mandolin. Has anyone out there made one? Do you know of any good books or sites about building one? I saw a book called “The Mandolin Manual” by John Troughton. Has anybody read it? Thanks for any info!
you might post a query on the boards at Mandolin Cafe, if you haven’t done so already:
http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi
there a builders’ section and a CBOM (Cittern, Bouzouki & Octave Mandolin) section that might be good places to ask. Folks there are always really helpful. Good luck!
Musicmaker’s</a](http://www.musikit.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Ma">Musicmaker’s</a)> has a bouzuki kit, it may be close enough and better than starting from scratch for a first instrument.
The](http://www.mimf.com/%22%3EThe) Musical Instrument Makers Forum is another great resource.
There are quite a few online references for building guitars, I imagine a lot of the tools and principals are the same. I’ve always wanted to try this but never had the time, good luck!