Call Us: 1-706-896-0909 Email: [email protected] This is an update of an article that first appeared on the D. Rickert Musical Instruments site in March 2019. Introduction This article is Part 2 of 2 and a follow on the article, The New Mandolin Family Part 1: Ancient Mesopotamia to Orville Gibson. We will pick up with other developments staring in the 1960s and culminating in today's New Mandolin Family of instruments. Here I will discuss the large-bodied tenor range instruments of the New Mandolin Family. These instruments are often called ‘octave mandolins’, ‘citterns’ and ‘Irish bouzoukis’. There is considerable confusion about... Read more →

Call Us: 1-706-896-0909 Email: [email protected] This is an update of an article that first appeared on the D. Rickert Musical Instruments site in March 2019. Introduction This is the first of a multi-part series on the New Mandolin Family of musical instruments. This is the first substantive post on the new website/blog for Rickert & Hale, Luthiers. Here I will briefly lay out the evolution of the mandolin, which appears to have started around 2000 BC, to the heyday of mandolin orchestra and the "Golden Age" of the mandolin in the 1920s. Part 2 will pick up with other developments... Read more →