This past Saturday (2/20/2010) I jumped on the opportunity to attend a "Master's Class" hosted by the Luthiers Interactive of North Texas (LINT ). This particular class was being taught by none other than Lynn Dudenbostel "The Dude" !! Lynn is one of the absolute top tier mandolin and guitar builders in the world ... if you could get on his long waiting list for an F5 mandolin build you would be expecting to fork over $25,000+ for your mandolin when delivered. His skill and reputation made the 500 mile round trip drive well worth the effort.
The seminar was specifically directed at mandolin and guitar "set up" which basically means once an instrument is finished it has to be 'adjusted' to make the playing action comfortable and play without buzzes or string rattles. A really great instrument with a poor set up will play and sound like a very inferior instrument and a well set up mid-range instrument will play and sound up to its best potential. A huge part of lutherie in general is dedicated to learning good set up skills and Lynn is definitely one of the best around.
Lynn (on the left) was introduced by LINT president Bo Walker
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Lynn had brought with him the mandolin he built during the DIY Channel taping of Handmade Music and used it to demonstrate how and where to take significant measurements for proper set up.
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After showing how the measurements are taken Lynn took the F5 that Chris Jenkins had started while we were attending the Roger Siminoff Lutherie Camp back in October and proceeded to do a complete set up on that instrument. (Lucky you Chris!!! Two of the world's recognized F5 experts have had a hand in the construction and setup of that instrument before it is finished!!) This setup included being sure the frets were level and properly crowned and trimmed, the bridge properly fitted and the nut properly cut and slotted ... all the while Lynn managed an entertaining dialog with the audience (about 25 lucky souls) explaining what he was doing and answering many questions covering all sorts of lutherie topics.
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and then the moment of truth ... first notes played while in the white ...
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And as would be expected ... it sounded great and played like butter!!! How could it be otherwise???
Lynn is a very approachable guy and a fountain of information ...
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This is a shot of the F5 Lynn built for the DIY series ...
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SO ... it was a wonderful day ... 9AM to 5PM with a great lunch of Cajun Gumbo served to all attendees ...
Driving home I was thinking ... It's not a bad life when you can meet and learn from the absolute world's best in the field of your chosen hobby ... it was a good day!!
