For mandolinists

The BIB yesterday had a treat for banjo freaks, with twelve photos of Petr Jezek's 1929 Gibson TB-1 conversion with neck in RB-7 style. Today - thanks to John Lawless's feature on Bluegrass Today - there's a treat for mandolinists.

Australian luthier Graham McDonald is preparing The mandolin: a history for publication, with a Kickstarter campaign to help fund it. The book will have about 400 pages (a contents list is here) and 460 illustrations; more images are on Facebook.

Many related instruments are also covered: a five-page section is entitled 'The true history of the bouzouki in Ireland' (McDonald's The bouzouki book (2004) included a foreword by Andy Irvine). There are handsome pictures of harp mandolins - a type that is also being made by Derek McLoughlin in Castlebar. McDonald's website includes many other useful downloads and links.

PS: As a further tip of the hat to mandolinists, here's the new logo of the European Bluegrass Music Association:

PPS: A further titbit for mandolinists from Bluegrass Today.