A nice Ratliff mandolin with a few problems that can all be addressed given enough time and determination. Support: / rosastringworks Website: www.rosastring...
I have a 2018 custom Ratliff mandolin and I love it. Audey Ratliff started as a one man operation, had moved to having staff at one point to help build, and is back at making all of the Ratliff mandolins himself. My guess would be that this instrument was not built by Audey himself. I don’t think this is a fair representation of what one would get if they had Audey build them a Mandolin today. To my knowledge, Adam Steffey has owned 3 Ratliff mandolins. If you see the Dusty Miller album cover (the band Adam was in prior to joining Allison), he’s holding one of his Ratliffs on that cover. It’s also pretty cool knowing that I own a Mandolin built by the man credited as being Adam Steffey’s first mandolin instructor. It’s also neat to me personally that Audey is a lefty like me. I am glad you were able to get the issues with this one fixed, great job
Superb job! I was reminded of when I was a lot younger and watching a cutter being sharpened and blades replaced- no angle grinder then. The rivets seemed a lot easier to replace than yours😂
In at my guitar hummingbird was quoted 1400.00 gibson wants 100.00 just to inspect. Very similar damage as I was attacked during a church service. You have done excellent work!! Thanks for this video. DJ
I hardly do any finishing work anymore because it's so hard and time consuming. thanks for the mention Jerry. that mandolin does have a good sound and nice lower end tones.
Randy, that type of finish repair would be a garantee to make me age 10 years. This is a mando going for $4250. I thought originally $1500 or more. I was shocked they would let it out of the factory like that. Why would they sand the bridge like that and that tailpiece....? Bad judgement and the backward saddle. I mean !!!
@@robertshorthill4153 The weird part is Ratliff mandolins AREN'T made in a factory. They're hand made in a shop in Tennessee. Hopefully, that bridge wasn't original, but that tailpiece really is a mystery.
My antler bridge arrived a few weeks back but I was only able to visit a local(ish) luthier last week. Anyway he added Grover tuners and a James tail piece and your bridge and I collected it at the weekend. It plays awesomely. Thankyou from Southern England
Wow! So many details on the Mandolin! I noted the High Build Lacquer you used. The addition of dye and not sanding off the stained maple back seemed best to me. Difficult to feather and blend and match. At the end I noted the Deer Antler saddle, that must take some time to intonate. Replacing all the frets added that lower string height to board. Those LONG fingers make the stretch so easy! Thanks again for sharing all this with us.
Gerry you are a magic person, the work you do is absolutely wonderful. I know what I’m talking about, I am also a woodworker, from my 5yr apprenticeship, to old age, so I’m saying you are great man. Al
Superb job Jerry as always, the finish you achieved here was nothing short of amazing. I really do not know how you do it !!!, Brilliant. This mandolin is a 1000% better than when it left the production line. Thank you for all your hard work and sharing such fantastic content with everybody. Say hi to Caleb i have thoroughly enjoyed his repair videos. Peace and Love from Bonny Scotland.
I don't know man I like leaving advice especially when he's complaining about his Dremel tool not being able to cut his bindings correctly. I've been doing this for 40 years too so any tidbits that luthiers or woodworkers can share with one another are gold my friend.......GOLD
I’m thinking…A but too late, but Audey Ratliffe has a warranty, which I know he would honor. I was the second owner of one of his Mandola’s (Alto Mandolin), and did a refret job, and made me a new bridge and saddle…Really nice guy. But it’s definitely too late. The mandola is fabulous!!!
Looking at their website, it looks like this is their highest end model selling for $4250. It also looks like they only use single color bindings either white or cream. Their lower end mandolins have no binding at all.
Glad to see you working again Jerry. From what you said at the end about arthritis interfering with your playing, the fix for your pain isn't there yet, but it must be a bit better! I hate to think of pain in your hands waking you up at night! I hope the Rocky Mountain fever is gone too. Nice job on this tough to fix nicely mandolin.
Thanks for the great tip about the E string compensation side of the saddle. I had concerns that mine was the wrong way around, but now I realise it's the correct side.
Jerry, you're a magician with dyes and finishes! What a challenge on this mandolin. I have spent more time with shading and finishing an area as you had than actual repair. I'm sure you have too. Another good job man! Enjoy your day! From steamy middle Georgia.
Most luthiers would shrug and say 'nothing wrong'. However, none are Jerry Rosa, with his eye. So... another course in instrument set up and fine tuning. Thanks Jerry!
Nice work Jerry!!!!!!! Matching finish & stain is one of the most challenging & frustrating repairs to do!!!!!!! Keep up the great work & keep posting the great videos!!!!!!! Subbed & liked
I watched a video on guitar making ( a well known and respected manufacturer) and I had to say all through the video I was thinking, hey what about putting the glue on better than that and that curfing looks suspect and the binding, well its cheap and such things, ...... your finish work and build and repairs are needed because most stuff is thrown together, Rosa takes it to another level. Thanks for another great informative video.
Jerry ya did yourself proud on this little mandolin. It shines like new money. Sounds great!! You have nice vocals to go along with the picking. It’s always a crapshoot to refinish sunburst instruments. Where you have darker outside edges graduate to liter centers. Lacquer and stain. Even air pressure makes changes in color. It’s a little trial and error. And some luck. Humidity definitely makes it a lot harder. Thanks Jerry for taking us on along. I’ve learned a lot watching your videos. God Bless you and family.
When you chipped off the finish (because OCD) I was pretty much taken aback. It's almost like I was watching someone pick off a scab. Sorry for the imagery but it was how I felt. Maybe I am OCD against picking off loose bits. Keep on doing what you do Jerry!
Hey Jerry, Ratliff is a one man shop. He has built well over a thousand mandolins. The mandolin you have is the top level he builds, of two. In fact the headstock inlay was extra. That F 5 has a base price of less than $4k. He builds a simple F5 called the Country Boy that is very affordable. That is what Audy Ratliff wants to do, build reasonably priced mandolins. But he built a very ornate mandolin for a customer that he made a series of build videos on, maybe 30 or so. Check out his channel.
Brick Spieth Love my Country Boy.. visited Audy passing through the area couple years ago. You’re spot on in your description. Great job with the repair Jerry! Wish you weren’t so backed... got a Harmony Sovereign Deluxe I’d love for you to fix up!
I read the reviews on that Mandolin and they are very sought after Mandolins Made exclusively by Audey Ratliff in Church Hill Tennessee. They are considered one of the very best Mandolins to have. He iis a Luthier like you and he only builds one style and you are working on it. He uses only the finest woods and very few bells and whistles to keep the cost to the customer down to where they can afford it.
Thanks for another overview of refretting. I wish that I had seen more of these before tackling refretting my cheap 1962 Kay banjo. Still, mine turned out well enough, all things considered. Repeating some aspect of repairs that you have done before is appreciated.
I don't know that I'd call a Kay cheap. Some of those older Kay banjos are really nice sounding when they are set up correctly. They may not be super loud, but they very often have great tone!!!!!!! I've owned many Gibson banjos, I've seen, played & even recorded with some Kays in my earlier years that sounded great!!!!!!! Just because it says Gibson or one of the high end names, doesn't necessarily mean it's the absolute best!!!!!!! Congrats on the refret. That's something I've been meaning to do myself on a couple guitars I have. If you followed Jerry's or Randy Schartiger's tips, I'm sure it went well & you did an excellent job!!!!!!!
@@redlinemando Thank you for your comment. I would still call mine cheap at $36. It was unbranded because a terrible job was done on the frets. It was one of many on sale in stack of cardboard boxes at Radio Shack in Chicago back in 1962. It is super loud, even without that back on it (don't know what happened to that) . Fret job was a crazy undertaking. But thanks to that experience, I was able to level off the frets on my Yamaha FG-300 (Nippon Gakki Red Label) that I bought in 1970 in Okinawa when I was in the Army. Still plays and sounds great.
@@nicholasjungheim2667 I had an FG-300 a few yrs ago & of all the Martins I've owned over the years, I'd have that Yamaha back over most of them!!!!!!! A 1970 Yamaha would have likely been made while they were in transition to the Taiwan factory. My FG-300 had a the tan colored Taiwan label, but had Nippon Gakki & the rest of the Japan writing. It was a killer guitar & recorded better than anything I've owned with exception of a 1946 Martin D-18. It wasn't a super loud guitar, but it was loud enough. If you were to ever sell that 300, please remember me & shoot me a message!!!!!!!
@@redlinemando Here's a story for you:. I had bought a brand new Gibson J-50 in late '65. It was made in '64. I paid $250 for it. It needed " broken in" as it sounded stiff. I played it almost every day for months. I was in the service at the time, stationed in northern California. Then I got leave for home before being shipped to Okinawa. Left my J-50 at my dad's while I was stationed overseas. While in Okinawa I picked up a "cheap" Yamaha for around $75. It was really a great guitar. I played the hell outta it with my jamming buddies, fellows from all over the USA and really learned a lot from all of these guys. We played " folk music" and early Emmylou Harris, PP& M, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, etc. and some tunes that these guys had written. It was a terrific time during a chaotic period for our country. Late '60s. I sold my Yamaha to a buddy for $50 when I got out of the war. The extreme humidity if the island didn't affect the sound of that guitar at all. But I didn't want my Gibson exposed to it at all. I had my Gibson with me over my short college career and until many years later when, during GW Bush's tenure as president, I was forced to sell my prized '64 J-50 to pay some bills. It truly broke my heart to part with it, but it was necessary at the time. I don't own a guitar at present, but as luck would have it I got a job at the Flatiron Mandolin factory and had the chance to build a very nice little A-5 mando, which I play at fiddle jams periodically and even got to teach a couple mando tune workshops up until the Covid virus put a stop to the whole shebang. I've also sought out more fiddle tunes from RU-vid sources and have scads of sheets of notation and tabs that I've sent to a few friends that also play fiddle and or mandolin. Maybe someday we can get together and do some busking on a corner in some summer tourist town in my state of Montana. I hope I don't have to move to a different state once all the super rich people moving in make my area unaffordable to live here. Well friend, that's a bit of my story for you to either smile about or whatever. Cheers. Bob
@@robertshorthill4153 I chose to smile about your story. You owned two great guitars & I hope we can meet someday & pick a tune or two together. Maybe on a set of old Yamaha guitars. lol You never know. It's a small world & anything's possible. At the age of 18, I foolishly sold my first guitar to buy a 2nd banjo to have as a spare for a road job I had just been offered. My first guitar was a 1946 Martin D-18 serial# 94159. I'd had the guitar since I was 11, but banjo was my main instrument & what I got the most calls to play. As luck would have it, the job fell through & the 2nd banjo cost me a full weekend's pay just to get it playing right. Although it was a stupid decision to trade the guitar, it was at least a very valuable lesson learned from the experience. I now have a prewar banjo & a few old guitars to play when I want to. I'm not rich by any means, but God has blessed me richly with the gift of music & many good friends along the way.
That was a great finish repair. That is a high end mandolin. It would have probably had an even better sound with a new tail piece like the ones you use on your mandolins.
I won't hazzard to critsize or try to tell you what to do but would like to offer a suggestion with regard to repairing the finish as you did on this Ratliff mandolin. I like what you did and the result was good. I believe if you would have sanded between coats where you had removed the finish and was filling in the result would have been better. The finish job in that area was unever or wavy and would have been smooth if each layer of finish would have been sanded smooth. With that gloss finish everything shows.
Hi Jerry; Just a thought, when you ask people to subscribe, remember to tell them there is no charge for subscribers. Some people don't know that. Another great job. I know from experience that getting a nice partial finish to match the old finish is extremely difficult. I don't believe there are many people that could do better than you did. Considering you are color blind, that's amazing. I love to watch your videos. I do believe Caleb is coming along great too. He seems like a very talented and nice young man. God bless my friend.
Have you ever watched a Ratliff being made? He uses a couple of interesting jigs that seems to make things go faster for him. Not better or worse just a little different.
Hi Jerry ... Ratcliff is supposed to be a relatively high end mandolin.... About 4 grand for f models.... though the one I picked up didn't impress me too much.. maybe it was one of his earlier ones .dunno for sure...I don't think he spends as much time hand carving the tops like you do... I I've never played one of yours yet... hope to some day... maybe you'll bring one to mountain view that people can feel... with Caleb helping out hopefully you'll have time to make some new ones.... cheers and God Bless. Jerry F
Thanks for the information about left and right handed saddles, Jerry. Looking at my left-handed mandolin I see it has a right-handed saddle and I think the tail piece is also for a right handed mandolin. The intonation is good except it is a touch sharp on the A string. Perhaps the proper saddle will correct that. I've been thinking I should order one of your deer antler saddles.
A fantastic Sunday morning video, "... and I'm exaggerating a little." I went to the Ratliff website, and it seems that this model is aligned with the company's high-end model R-5, although the site shows gold-colored hardware. The only other F model is called a Country Boy, which has no binding and a matte finish. Have a great weekend, Jerry!
Not sure it would work with your lacquer but when we got blush we would shoot a light mist of pure lacquer thinner over it and it almost always removed the blush. If you get too much thinner on the lacquer and it starts to run, then the real fun begins.
An easy way to find out it a nut is a plastic or bone. Heat a wire or needle with a torch and poke the nut with the needle, plastic will melt and bone will not.
Every job is a work in progress, until it is shipped!. Don't let that gallon of lacquer dry out, SW doesn't list it among their products anymore!. It might be tough to replace.
Jerry heres one for you . Yur kinda a mad scientist of mucicial insturments . Ever thought of making a BanDolin .. half mandolin half Banjo . !! My way id thinking it would fly .
There are companies who made banjo pots with a mandolin neck on them , but I don't know if there was ever a banjo neck on a mandolin body. I'd be interested to see & hear such an instrument. Maybe a google search can shed a little light on that subject.
LuckyB. I was on a jug band kick back in September and put together some initial parts for a "banjolin" build. Then I looked at the prices for the rim, head and hardware and that set me back several paces. Stew Mac parts. My finances have taken a turn for the worse over this winter, so the whole idea has been put on the back burner, if not " taken off the stove". Sadly enough. Stew Mac now only deals with internet orders, and not available for technical advice, which I could use. Also sad. My local music shop can't seem to help -- they only want to sell guitars, mandos and banjos, so the whole project is DOA for the duration. The neck I glued up will be a beautiful thing....someday, perhaps. Bob in Montana
@@redlinemando hey friend, I think you're looking at some sort of octave mandolin with a tenor banjo scale length. I built an electric octave mando back about 3 or 4 years ago. It has a 21" scale. I had a local luthier cut me out an Indian rosewood fret board on a CNC, I picked out the wood from my stash of wood I've had since the mid '90s. I used a lot of Stew Mac parts and as an employee at Waverly at the time, I got a nice discount. It turned out very nice. Octaves come in slightly longer scales, sometimes, but either way, an octave approximates what you are thinking of, I'm sure. Cheers, my friend. Bob
@@robertshorthill4153 I've also seen some of what you are talking about, but what I was meaning is an normal scale & string mandolin neck on a banjo pot. I have one. It's a 1942 Gibson MB-11 mandolin/banjo that I was fortunate enough to buy last March. I was lucky enough to get the original mandolin neck included in the deal. I'm currently having a 5 string banjo neck made to go on it. This way, I can have a vintage, good sounding, light weight, & good quality banjo to play shows with. The 11's were designed to be light weight economy banjos & they were a very unique design which is exactly why I bought it. There were about 5 different color variations of the 11's. Mine is the blue one. My profile picture is the resonator from this instrument.
Much as I adore this channel and Jerry's work, the one major flaw with this channel is: Jerry has never done "before and after" song playing tests for us when he does these restorations. That would be the real "proof of the pudding", imho. A pity that he hasn't done that from day one, imho. Maybe he and his very talented & young new assistant can start doing that now, moving forward. At 1080p (or even 720p), the audio ought to be decent enough for us to tell the difference between "before" and "after".
I've had problems when I repair lacquer because auto or furniture polish with silicone was used on the instrument. It's a bugger to get off so I add some Fisheye Repair to the overspray in those cases. Hate finish repairs. On some electric guitars the finish is almost 1/16" thick.
In my opinion, you should never use silicone containing polish or most any furniture polish on instruments!!!!!!! It looks good in the moment, but it builds up on top of the original finish over time. It usually goes through the finish, gets into the wood & dampens the sound. It can also cause future finish problems similar to the ones seen in this video. I've seen & played many older Martins that have been polished with pledge & other furniture polish & more often than not, a small drop of water will turn the finish white, very tacky & you can literally peel it of with your thumb nail. Nitro cellulose is one of, if not the best, for protection & used on most modern & high end instruments. Varnish is also another very popular finish used on higher end instruments, but I don't know very much about it & it's different reactions. Poly urethane is also excellent protection, but it's thick & the wood needs to be sealed VERY well before applying it. If not, the poly will soak into the wood & dampen the sound as well. I would also assume that a LOT of sanding is required with poly to get the best results. At any rate, my advice is to NEVER use any kind of furniture polish on your instruments!!!!!!!
@@redlinemando I Agree. Please don't use anything with silicone on your instruments. They become very difficult for finish repairs. They really don't need any kind of polish at all.. IMHO
@@edwardpetersen4309 I've been using very light applications of Novus on my guitars. It's good stuff!! You probably know this already, but the next part is for everyone else who may read this comment. Novus can be purchased in different cuts so please do research & pick out the cut to suit your needs. The product is a light abrasive & should be used sparingly as such. Best wishes & I hope my comments can help someone along the way!!!!!!!
Hey Jerry, I could watch you work all day! Interesting observation on the radiused bridge on a flat fretboard because my mandolin is also mismatched like that. It happened that this particular mando came without a bridge and I had an extra radiused one laying around that found a new home. It really doesn't play all that bad as it is but the plan is to replace it with one of your deer antler pieces. We'll fix the radius mismatch then. I was also curious about the fretwire, can you share the size, type and manufacturer? Appreciate the quality of your videos, you and your team definitely "class up" my youtube experience! Cheers, Bill
There are different sizes in fret wire & some mandolins made today have the same size wire that was used on prewar mandolins & banjos. Gibson in particular, used this small fret wire, but I don't know if all the companies were using it back in those days. Some ppl say that the smaller fret wire allows for more accurate intonation & better playability. I don't know. I'm 38 now & maybe my ears aren't what they used to be, but I've played plenty of mandolins & banjos with the bigger fret wire & with 27 yrs of playing experience, my ears can't really hear any intonation issues with the bigger wire. However, frets that are too tall are a different matter & they can create intonation issues & poor playability. In my opinion, it's all mostly a matter of preference. Everybody's hands are different & everybody's ears are different as well. What works good for me, may not necessarily work for someone else.
Hey jdcrowe82, appreciate the additional fretwire info! My guitars are set up with big frets and I like 'em that way. You do have to have the right touch or you can push the strings sharp by pressing them too hard (down to the fretboard). The big frets allow easier bending but linear slides can find your fingers getting slowed down by those 'speed bumps'...LOL... I would like to play a mando with big frets just to see if I like it. Maybe one of these days, when I get ambitious, might just pound some big frets in and see! Thank you for the info! Cheers, Bill
@@billmohelsky7812 No problem Bill & your right. It's all pretty much a matter of preference & playing styles. Where I play mostly bluegrass, I often have to move pretty fast from one end of the fingerboard to the other. I can't be feeling those "speed bumps" along the way. lol It's all pretty much a matter of preference & playing styles just like you've said. If you do put big frets in your mandolin, be sure to remember, you may have to move your bridge slightly toward the tailpiece to accommodate the change. I wouldn't think you'd have to move it more than 1/16 though & more than likely not even that much. Best of luck to you & let us know how they turn out if you change them.
For removing frets, I wonder if careful application of penetrating oil would work better than water. It seems like it would lubricate the tangs while obviating the worry about the wood swelling. it might be worth trying.
Jerry, it looks like the binding where you sprayed the new finish (on the back) is still brown. Was there some reason it had to be left that way and not scraped back to match the rest?
I would have thought that as far as the mechanical design is concerned, on any archtop instrument what you want is the to have the bridge angle bisect the angle under the strings (the angle from the tailpiece to the bridge plus the angle from the bridge to the nut). With the angle bisected, or equal on either side of the bridge, then all of the down pressure from the tension of the strings is pushing the bridge down on to the top. When the angle behind the bridge (towards the tailpiece) is much larger than the angle in front, a lot of the down pressure from the strings is actually tending to topple the bridge forwards towards the neck. I suspect that may be why the the tailpiece on that instrument has room to 'throw a dog under it' and then bridge has so much lean back. It is an attempt to reduce the angle behind the bridge so its closer to the angle in front. This perhaps indicates that the neck does not have enough back angle.
i am building an "F" style mandolin and will be staining for the first time . i was just wondering if i should stain prior to doing the binding ?I will be using a dark brown stain with a white black white binding .
