Wendler electroCoustic
(Uncompensated Endorsement...)

Dave Wendler has introduced a revolutionary approach to electric/acoustic instrument design. Featuring internationally sought solid body "acoustic" guitars, and fretless bases, Wendler has foraged into the mandolin world to bring a groundbreaking blueprint for a new, thick, lush tone in electric mandolinning.

Having earned his "stripes" first as luthier and later, his quality control prowess working for the renowned Peavey Musical Instruments, he was not content to rely on common traditional school of thinking. He sought to take his electric and acoustic theories to bring these instruments to a new plateau.

His approach to transducers is not complex; utilizing a "jazz" (translate "tone-rich") style mini-humbucker, artfully blended with a piezo electric disc imbedded in an archtop style bridge, his instruments are able to bypass the conventional buffer preamp found in the classic piezo systems. The natural result, the combination of inductance and capacitance within these pickups, is a whole new level of touch sensitivity, a "being at one" with the instrument not found in most common acoustic/electric designs of the last half century.

Controls designed for both simplicity and maximum versatility. The controls, are very simple - a volume knob is placed at the edge of the pickguard where it can be easily controlled using your pinky finger. A "bias" control lets you favor the tone of the humbucker or the piezo and find the most pleasing balance between the two. This bias pot allows you to dial in a multitude of unique acoustic and electric guitar tones, whether it's a fat, sweet jazz tone or a brushy Nashville style rhythm, the electroCoustic will let you find that tone in a hurry.

His body design, skillfully cut from a highly resonant wood, Western Red Cedar, yields a sweeter, more mellow "acoustic" tone, and it's his premise that the top is where the sound is born. This allows a uniquely convex, reverse bowl shape that fits the player comfortably. It's also extremely light, allow the player to play longer, with less weight, pressure, and tension. This is the ultimate ax for a "casual" performance, where endurance requires the ultimate in instrument comfort.

The neck on this mandolin is topped with a unique Cocobola fingerboard, Martin style frets, and a headstock that continues a rosewood "elegance" to the very tip. Strings are anchored by a custom carved Cocobola tailpiece. The understated clear natural satin finish covers a delicate 'burst that highlights the unique Wendler crafted body style.

Dave is also pioneering water-based finishes, and is definitely on the frontier of environmentally friendly methods of achieving crisp, clear finishes relatively new to guitar body design. He's probably ten years ahead of the guitar industry on finishes alone.
From the ElectroCoustic Website

From the ElectroCoustic website, my testimonial the first time I experienced his craft:

"Imagining the lush tone of a hollowbody jazzbox guitar, I found myself interrupting my playing, turning the instrument upside down just to see how my ears were being deceived by my eyes. Such a thick sound coming from so light a body.

Needless-to-say I was haunted, and for the next several days, I had to beg him to sell me his prototype; I had to have it.

This will be the perfect ax for a jazz "pick-up" engagement. And when I thought I'd need to haul along extra processing gear, it dawned on me that the unenhanced tone of this critter is so naturally good, so rich, the only "device" needed between it and a good tube amp is a good ten foot cord.

This design is destined to be the new voice of electric mandolinning in the 21st century".