by Joe Mendel

Jonathan Mann spent many years earning his living playing music in the southeast mostly around central FL. He moved to Nashville as country songwriter in ‘95, wrote songs for a couple of years and when songwriting deal ended he worked about ten years repairing instruments at a Sam Ash store. He began building instruments on the side and soon was busy enough that he kept cutting back at Sam Ash until he didn’t have a job there anymore. He started building traditional acoustics first, then made a few electrics with neck thru design, then came up with a neck through acoustic mandolin design that was not met with open arms among traditionalists. Soon he re-applied the idea to electric mandolins where it met with no resistance at all, probably since electric guitars built this way have been fairly popular since at least the late 60’s, and there isn’t a lot of tradition to adhere to when it comes to electric mandolins.

Joe: Hi Jon, Thanks for doing the interview. How did you become interested in music in the first place and then how did you get in to the repair & building of musical instruments?

 Jon: My dad was a fiddle player and he taught me a few chords on the guitar when I was about 8 years old just so he would have a rhythm player. In the mid 60’s my bother and a couple of his friends started a garage band and they let me play bass. We play local dances and school functions. Through high school I played bass or guitar with them and a couple other local bands then I went off to college. There I met a couple guys that were really good guitar players and we ended up playing more than studying. That’s when I first realized that music was going to be a way of life for me. This was in wild wonderful WV where there wasn’t many places to play music professionally…so in 1975 I moved to Tampa, FL. There was a great bluegrass community there and lots of jams, festivals and good listening rooms for acoustic music. Those were good times. I was always trying to get by financially just playing music so when one of my instruments needed a repair I had to figure out how to do it myself, I guess I got into the repair business from necessity. Then I started picking up used stuff at flea markets, etc. and fixing them up and swapping them off. I got into building as a hobby after I moved to Nashville. I lived out in the country in an old farm house with a few acres. My first shop was the unused half of a chicken coop; I let the chickens have the other half. I would go out to the coop in the evenings and build stuff. I started with mountain dulcimers, then built a couple of the StewMac mandolin kits …then I moved my shop upstairs in the old farm house, this is where I got serious and started building from scratch.

Joe: What got you interested in the mandolin?

Jon: Even though my dad was a fiddler, I really didn’t like bluegrass as a kid…I was into the Beatles, Clapton, etc. Then in high school I mellowed a bit and got into all the folk rock stuff like CSNY, James Taylor, and Seals and Crofts….that’s where I first got bit by the mando bug. I went looking for a mandolin and found an old $30.00 flat top Kay in a Charleston, WV pawn shop. Just a side note, but much later….while working at Sam Ash. I ended up working on Dash Crofts’ old Gibson A that he had played on all those hits that got me into mandolin. Also, Jim Seals and his son’s became regulars in my Sam Ash shop. After I moved to FL I got re-introduced to bluegrass via Doc Watson & Tony Rice albums. I was hooked. I concentrated on guitar for a few years, then picked up the mandolin again. There seemed to be a lot more guitar pickers than mandolin pickers, so I played whatever was needed.

Joe: I remember, a few years ago, seeing your posts on http://www.mandolincafe.com/ about your neck through acoustic mandolin designs. I found it rather intriguing, how do you accomplish a neck through on an acoustic instrument?

 Jon: It was kind of by accident that I came up with that…I was making a neck thru electric mandolin that I chambered out for resonance when the old proverbial light bulb went off…I thought to myself, self, if I can hollow out an electric this way why not go a step further and carve the neck/back for an acoustic mandolin…It took a few tries to figure out how to attach sides, etc. cause this was backwards from what I was used to…. Normally I would build the body by making the rim, glue on top, attach neck, and then put the back on last. With the neck thru, I glue “wings” on to neck to form the back…then carve it as one piece, then attach rim, and top goes on last.

Joe: What was the reaction to them? Did they sell?

Jon: I built a few A models first and there were a few brave souls that bought them, but overall, my electrics were much more readily accepted. Most acoustic mandolin folks are pretty traditional and it takes them a while to warm up to new ideas. That ain’t the way Lloyd did it J I think they are coming around though I am getting acoustic orders but I’d say 90% of what I sell are electrics.

Joe: When and why did you start building electric mandolins?

Jon: I started building electrics early on. I was always picking up nice pieces of wood here and there and ended up with some pieces that weren’t suitable dimension -wise for acoustics so built a few electrics using the neck thru idea. I posted them on the café and they sold quicker than my acoustics and then I started getting requests for more….I guess there weren’t that many electric builders out there at the time and more and more people were starting to play them.

Joe: I would think that neck through construction met no resistance at all among electric players?

Jon: True, most electric players are a little less bound by tradition and the neck thru thing has been well proven in electric guitars and basses

Joe: What are some advantages of the neck thru design?

Jon: Well, it has been proven in the electric guitar world that making the neck one piece from nut to bridge increases sustain…in acoustics this also translates into better energy/vibration transfer from neck to body when compared to a traditional neck with a glued or bolted joint. I also find that string to string volume/tone is more consistently balanced on my neck thru acoustics than with a traditional joint. You won’t ever have to worry about having to get you neck reset because of joint failure, and finally this method virtually eliminates the neck heel which makes for much more comfortable playing up the neck.

Joe: How many models do you make? Do you build other instruments besides mandolins?

Jon: For acoustics I have the A-7 which is the basic A model…. The Two point, which I do in a carved back model with bent sides. …The Two point flat back….this one has a flat back. The back and sides are machined from the same piece of wood, the top is carved. The F-7 is my version of the F style for scroll-aholics65For electrics there is the EM. (Electric Mandolin) It can be had as a 4, 5 or 8 string and also as a hollow, semi-hollow or solid body. This model has one Dimarzio hum bucker pickup Next are a couple of new models, the EMSC (Electric Mandolin Single cutaway) and the EMDC (Electric Mandolin Double Cutaway)  These  models have two Dimarzio pickups and are available in 4, 5 or 8 string versions, and they have a semi-hollow body. The SEM model is the top of the line electric. It’s available as a double or single cutaway in 4, 5 or 8 string versions. It has a carved Maple top with two Dimarzio pickups. I’ve also started building electric octave mandolins. These are pretty popular right now, especially the 5 string version which is an octave on the low end with a high B string.

Joe: Are the Dimarzio pickups specifically mandolin pickups & what are the reasons you prefer Dimarzio pickups?

Jon: Actually the Dimarzios I use are just Fender Strat (or single coil guitar size) pickups. . I usually use the Pro Track model because it’s nice and warm sounding…I use these for a few reasons. First, they sound great…I’ve tried a bunch of pickups and heard a bunch more working on guitars over last 10-15years. These just have a very pleasant tone that lends itself to the emando well. They also have rail style magnets instead of individual pole magnets. This make string to string balance more even than poles, whether I’m using them on a 4 string, 5 string, etc. …you don’t have to worry about the poles lining up with strings. They fit proportionately on the mandolin body…and finally, they are a standard size, so if someone decides they want a hotter sound, etc. it’s not a big deal to change the pickup…and there are a ton of choices in that size.  

Joe: What type of hardware, tuners, tailpieces and bridges, etc. do you use for your instruments?

Jon: I usually use Grover tuners sometimes Gotohs. On the electrics these are just mini guitar tuners, on the acoustics I like the older Grover 308’s the best, I haven’t been too impressed with the new 309’s. Waverly’s are tops but I only use them as an option on the F-7.On hollow body electric and acoustics I use either the Gibson style stamped tailpiece or an Allen cast style. I make my own wrap-around tailpieces for the solid and semi-hollow body electrics. I machine them from aluminum bar stock and have them plated. For acoustics and hollow body electrics using a floating bridge I either make them or use Steve Smith’s. I also use a two way adjustable truss rod on all models.   

Joe: What type of finish do you put on them?

Jon: My standard finish is gloss top and satin back and neck. I use Target Coating’s water based lacquer. I’ve been using it for a few years and love it. Everything about it is great…it’s durable, it looks great, clean up is easy, it’s healthier…I don’t think I could ever go back to nitro lacquer.

Joe: Do you think the type of finish affects the sound of a solid body electric instrument much?

Jon: Not near as much as with an acoustic but yes..  .I don’t think it’s the type of finish as much as the amount of finish…to thick of a finish is a tone killer, I try to keep my finishes fairly thin for that reason.

 Joe: There are several fairly well known jazz guys playing electric mandolin, these days, and some rock guys, too. Have any of your electrics turned up in and unexpected musical place?

Jon: I’ve been amazed at the variety of folks out there playing electric mandolins…Like you say, jazz guys, rock guys. I have a few country people playing them, and at least one punk rocker in Sweden. A few in Brazil playing “Electric Choro” I guess.

Joe: Octave mandolins seem to be getting more popular whether acoustic or electric. Do you have any thoughts about why that may be? What type of music are the electrics being used for?

Jon: I’ve been getting everything from guys playing in electric Celtic bands buying the 8 string octaves to rockers wanting the 4 or 5 stringers. The nice thing about the single course instruments is that they (mandolin, fiddle players, etc) can switch to these and get right down in the guitar register. I’ve had some people ask,” what’s the point? …why not just play guitar?” But you’d be surprised just how many people out there are just more comfortable playing an instrument tuned in 5^ths. Joe: Do you have any plans to build electric mandolas or mandocello’s?

Jon: I have built a few 4 string models with the 14.5” scale that can be tuned to CGDA and the 5 string mandolin covers the mandola and mandolin register with the CGDAE tuning. Mandocello is not in the foreseeable future…I’ve got enough irons in the fire right now.

Joe: Do you have any recommendations for amplifying electric mandolins? Do you find any amps work particularly well with them?

Jon: I’m partial to tube amps but I’ve heard a lot of good reports on some of the small amps from Roland and Vox. There are also some really nice smaller shop boutique amps that mandolins sound great through but be careful….AAS (Amp Acquisition Syndrome) can be almost as bad as MAS.J

Joe: Do you build instruments other than the mandolin family, guitars, basses, etc.?

Jon: Not really, I have built a few guitars, electrics and acoustics, and I’ve actually just started an acoustic guitar for myself, but for the most part I’ve got my hands full with just mandolin family instruments.

Joe: Are you currently taking orders? Approximately how long does it take from the time you receive the order to completion of the instrument?

Jon: Yes, I’m always taking orders. I build the electrics in batches of about a dozen and it takes  about 10-12 weeks to finish that many and if I have some acoustic orders I kind of have them going on the side? so they may take a bit longer.

Joe: It’s been very nice talking with you, Jon, next time I’m in Nashville I’d love to stop by for a visit. Thanks again.

Jon: Thanks Joe, I appreciate the opportunity to do this interview. And by all means look me up when you are in Nashville. Jon Maybe contacted through his website: http://www.manndolins.com/

Jon’s YouTube channel can be viewed at:

Joe can be contacted through his website: http://jmendelfrets.com/