A guitar player from my early teens, I took up the playing the mandolin some ten years ago and soon fell in love with the instrument. In 2014 I retired from a busy professional life in the construction industry and this gave me he time and energy to re-direct my design and construction skills to instrument building. I now build mandolins from my small home workshop in Stockport.
I work on my own and all my mandolins are constructed and finished by hand. I do use some power tools but only for rough shaping, cutting blocks etc. I use only high-quality tonewoods and each top and back plate is tap-tuned and graduated before and after assembly to get the best possible sound.
Working from home is great, but space is limited and any form of spraying impossible. I therefore tend to build mandolins one at a time and all my instruments are stained, finished and polished by hand rubbing and buffing.
Chris Pritchett Mandolins 