Standard Mandolins

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Randall mandolins bring together several disparate threads in modern mandolin design to produce a versatile and affordable instrument with a big, clear voice.  The standard mandolin design features a flat back with a  flat (kerfed and folded) soundboard like Italian bowl-backed style mandolins.  The concept for the standard mandolin is essentially to build a Gibson-A sized instrument, borrowing many construction details from flat backed mandolins produced in the mid-20th century by Martin, Regal, and others, with a nod also to the muscular instruments built by Latin American luthiers. 

      All of my mandolins include a carbon/graphite “spine” in the neck to provide the needed stiffness without the additional weight of a metal truss rod.  Fingerboards often have an ornate whorl or volute near the sound hole, others have a simple "point" like my guitars. Headstocks typically get the distinctive 4-point "Compass" shell inlay.