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full size drawings for making an F5 mandolin as played by Bill Monroe.
Full size blueprints and plans for building an F5 mandolin designed by Lloyd Loar.
Full size drawings for building the F5 mandolin played by Bill Monroe and designed by Lloyd Loar.
Roger Siminoff describes how to build an F5 mandolin.
F5 Mandolin ProSeries blueprint drawings (with Ultimate Bluegrass Mandolin Construction Manual)
building a mandolin
mandolin kit
Roger Siminoff

F5 Mandolin ProSeries blueprint drawings (with Ultimate Bluegrass Mandolin Construction Manual)

$ 49.95 $ 0.00

Our Pro-Series F5 Mandolin Drawings are bound into The Ultimate Bluegrass Mandolin Construction Manual, 4th Edition and are not sold separately. F5 Drawings are shown here for reference only. (All other Pro-Series Drawings can be purchased separately.)

Siminoff's PRO-SERIES F5 Drawings: Our ProSeries Drawings are considered to be best-in-class and include detailed construction notes, cross-section specifications for soundboards and backboards, accurate body and scroll shape, tone bar positioning, f-hole size and shape, Virzi Tone Producer, 9 full-size peghead inlay designs by DiAnne Patrick, tap tuning notes, and details for graduating soundboards and backboards. 

  • Drawing set includes various page sizes, from 12˝x9˝ to 12˝x29˝
  • 21 drawing pages
  • This drawing set is included as part of Ultimate Bluegrass Mandolin Construction Manual and not available separately (see note below)

Ultimate Bluegrass Mandolin Construction Manual 4th edition: Originally published in 1973, this 4th edition was released in 2021, has been fully updated and revised, and includes more than 330 color photos and everything you need to know about building a Bill Monroe-style F5 mandolin (designed by Lloyd Loar). The text includes: a primer on musical acoustics, wood selection, graduating the soundboard and backboard, making the neck, truss rod installation, assembling the body, tap tuning, building the fretboard, installing frets, pearl inlay, neck joints, binding the body and peghead, coloring and  finishing, string selection, set up, and much more. A stellar instrument-building manual by heralded luthier and author Roger H. Siminoff.  (2.8 lbs.)

Introduction by renowned luthier Steven Gilchrist

  • Includes 21 full-size fold-out ProSeries F5 construction drawings
  • 2 full-size fold-out fixture drawings
  • 10 full-size peghead inlay drawings by DiAnne Patrick
  • 330+ color photographs
  • 16 luthier signature/date labels
  • Tap tuning and deflection tuning techniques
  • Coloring, shading, and finishing techniques
  • Musical frequency charts (for A440 and A431)
  • 150 text pages
  • 9˝x12˝, spiral bound