Stoneman Backpack/Hiker Mandolin

Have Questions?
stony99@verizon.net



Have Questions?
stony99@verizon.net




COMPLETELY HAND MADE IN AMERICA WITH AMERICAN WOODS!

This is The Stoneman Backpacker, Camping, or Travel Mandolin. This is my latest "batch" of 15, including one left handed.

These are solid wood, four string mandolins built to a 14" scale length, with 18 frets.

Unlike the Martin "Backpacker" mandolins, these truly can be stuffed into to a backpack to take camping! I designed the tailpiece and the headstock to be as "pack" or "pocket friendly" as possible. Not there are no protruding tuning pegs or tuning posts or string ends to catch on snags. These really can be stuffed into a pack!

I'm both a backpacker and a camper, and I intentionally designed the body smaller to take up less pack (or suit case) room AND so the instrument is not loud enough to bother other campers!

It's loud enough to play around the campfire and to sing along with, BUT not loud enough to bother others. Sometimes a big plus when camping in the woods!

All the woods are solid American grown woods! And being an environmentalists, I buy and use only woods that are "garden grown", that is I buy wood from property owners who selectively cut the wood from a family wood plot. I buy from people who properly care for their wood lots and grow trees as a replenish-able resource. Or in some cases like the Norway Spruce tops on this batch, the wood was "salvaged" from trees cut to make way for a new hiking path! Good Spruce that would have otherwise been burned in a bon-fire or left to decay along the trail.

I'm a big proponent of the responsible harvesting of trees and wood! NO MORE AFRICAN, OR RAIN FOREST WOODS IN STONEMAN GUITARS! They are all "home grown" (in and around Bradford Pa) "common", non-threatened, non-endangered, replenish-able woods!

But having said that, I did use some very nicely figured American Black Cherry for the bodies, necks and sides, along with a great tone wood of Norway Spruce (Marilla grown!) for the tops. One in the batch of 15 was made out of highly figured (curly) maple and one has a maple stripe down the middle of the neck, just for variety.

The bridges are fashioned from American Black Cherry.

They are finished in an "environmentally friendly" satin, water-borne lacquer.

The necks have a "square" profile for strength. These make a very good learning instrument for students or people of all ages who may want to learn mandolin. Being a fairly quiet instrument they are perfect for practicing!

They come with a mandolin chord sheet that shows basic chords on one side and more complex chords on the other (printed on card stock). And they come with a "tube sock" cover or case! Great for shoving into a backpack, book bag or even a computer carrying case.

The list price is $260.00

Have Questions? CONTACT ME FOR CURRENT PRICE.
stony99@verizon.net

Some photos of the construction:


Drilling the tuning machine holes in the peghead "box"



Fretted and waiting for the sound holes



Marked for side dots, note the left hand in the bunch!



Fitting the side dot material



White side dot markers



Side dots in, waiting to shape the necks



Mounting the tuning pegs



Every step is done with hand tools



Screwing the tuners down



Solid brass end pins hold the loop end strings



Precision drilling with a hand drill



The labels are inserted with a Doctor's tool!



Two cherry mandolins



One American Black Walnut from a previous bunch (Custom made to match a guitar I built for a customer)



Simple, clean design



Side view



Back view



With the "tube sock" cases!



....Be sure to read the Humidity Page .... This is VERY IMPORTANT information for everybody who owns a stringed instrument! It's ESPECIALLY important for Dealers and Manufactures ...


Here is the ad for the last batch I built:

COMPLETELY HAND MADE IN AMERICA WITH AMERICAN WOODS!


This is a brand new travel style Mandolin built by Stoneman Guitars, in Bradford Pa.

It's got an American Black Cherry neck, sides and back and a Norway Spruce top (grown in Bradford Pa.).

The bridge is Macasar Ebony (Imported).

It's got 4 strings and 17 frets. It's light, and easy to play. It's finished with a thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish.

The scale length is 14".

The neck width is 1 1/4"at the nut, and 1 1/2" at the end of the fingerboard. It's got a very spacious, easy to play fingerboard, and being only four strings (same notes as a standard mandolin and violin), there is plenty of room to pick.


This will easily fit in your desk drawer, locker, backpack, or under your car or truck seat. Or in your back bicycle jersey pocket! (I mountain bike with mine!)

It's got a nice, soft balanced sound for playing at camp around the campfire. You can put it in your back pocket and take on a bicycle ride with you.

It's designed to be quit, small, simple, and rugged! A great gift for the musician you know.

This would be a perfect instrument for a child or young adult to learn Mandolin on!


CONTACT ME FOR CURRENT PRICE

Feedback from the last one I sold on ebay:

"Super nice seller/builder, very solid little travel mando with a lovely sound!A+" (sazapins)


Have Questions?
stony99@verizon.net

Here is my e-bay ad for these:


** Stoneman Backpacking/Camping/Hiking/Travel Mandolin **

DESCRIPTION:

COMPLETELY HAND MADE IN AMERICA WITH AMERICAN WOODS!

This is a brand new travel style Mandolin built by Stoneman Guitars, in Bradford Pa.

It's got an American Black Cherry neck, sides and back and a Norway Spruce top (grown in Bradford Pa.).

The bridge is American Black Cherry.

It's got 4 strings and 18 frets. It's light, and easy to play. It's finished with a thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish.

The scale length is 14".

The neck width is 1 1/4"at the nut, and 1 1/2" at the end of the fingerboard. It's got a very spacious, easy to play fingerboard, and being only four strings (same notes as a standard mandolin and violin), there is plenty of room to pick.

This will easily fit in your desk drawer, locker, backpack, or under your car or truck seat. Or in your back bicycle jersey pocket! (I mountain bike with mine!)

It's got a nice, soft balanced sound for playing at camp around the campfire. You can put it in your back pocket and take on a bicycle ride with you.

It's designed to be quit, small, simple, and rugged! A great gift for the musician you know.

This would be a perfect instrument for a child or young adult to learn Mandolin on! Or great for a backpacker to take backpacking or camping!

This is the first one of a new batch! Since I had so many requests for these, I decided to build another batch. BUT they go fast, so don't pass this one up!

Help keep a struggling American Craftsman (Luthier) employed!

I use as many American made parts as is financially possible.

Feedback from the last one I sold on ebay: "Super nice seller/builder, very solid little travel mando with a lovely sound!A+" (sazapins).

NOTE: The photos do not show the actual instrument for sale, but rather are very representative of the instrument up for auction (I build these in batches and use the set of photos for each individual auction).  The instrument in this auction is identical to the one showed in the photos.

More info can be seen at: 

 

https://www.angelfire.com/pa2/STONEMANGUITARS/backpackmando.html

- The list price is $260.00 -

Have Questions? CONTACT ME FOR CURRENT PRICE!
stony99@verizon.net