We've just been introduced to the intriguing work of a builder from Austin, Texas, Stefan Passernig, who interprets the some of the two-point D'angelico mandolins, with some modern twists. His words, "The contemporary designs are all worked out implementing ancient traditional proportions."

Click pictures for closeup

"On this mandolin I used Pear-wood (from Tirol, Austria) for the back and the sides, mahogany for the neck and alpine-spruce (from Switzerland, the closest tone-wood I found to the origin of the pear-tree) for the top. The pear-wood is on the softer, light-weight side--not much of a looker (some faux-woodfigure pattern with the varnish helps visually)." He elaborates, this selection of woods adds a dryness while retaining warmth. The finish is oil-varnish as a base, worked over with spirit-varnish/french-polish as needed.

We particularly enjoy the look of the Art Deco holes; this is a nice departure. His finish work is intriguing, especially on the complementary burst on this ruby-burst pickguard.

On his other mandolins, he mainly uses more traditional mandolin tone-woods, Red, Engelmann, and European Spruce; as well as soft and hard maple. His aspirations for future projects include similar departures on F and A body instruments.

Passernig's instruments can be found at:
Smoky Mountain Guitars in Pigeon Forge,TN
JazzMando sponsor Fiddler's Green in Austin,Texas.

We look forward to an official staff review in the not-too-distant future.

Contact builder: Stefan Passernig

Posted by Ted at September 7, 2009 9:24 PM