The Legendary Origins of LUTHIERIE

Randolin Instruments started out 25 years ago, developing electric solid body violins, but now that is only one of our designs. Our regular line of instruments now includes acoustic and electric mandolins, ukeleles and cuatros. We also build custom guitars to order, as well as instruments, including our M-4 ENS mandolin, that are both experimental and cutting edge. You see, building and creating string instruments is a passion as well as a livelihood, since we actually play on the instruments we build. We do this in order to produce both the sounds we want to hear, as well as the sounds you want to hear.

Violin and mandolin have been a personal life long passion. The original Randolin electric violin was created to satisfy personal playing needs. The five strings opened up a whole new world of playing possibilities, and the weight at 2.75 lbs., as well as the design has proven effective and popular, with both acoustic and electric musicians. When it came to mandolins, we started knocking down several barriers, including scale length, tuning and string configuration.

Our M-1 model has primarily been a traditional double course 8-string electric mandolin with some unique features such as double bladed humbucker pick -ups, combined with several acoustic pick-up variations. But we have also made a number of custom M-1's, including a 5-string single course and a 4-string single (which you can see a photo of) for customers who had different needs and desires. Our M-2 acoustic mandolin is available in a 12 or 14 fret to the body design and is based on a 1920's European mandolin we ran across. The M-4, is the culmination of several years of experimenting and actively playing in a whole tone tuned down, 13 inch scale, with the G/D/A tuned in octaves.

With the craze for ukuleles in the last five years, we started building and designing some of our own. One of the unique things we're doing is tending towards local sustainable woods, using cherry and maple back, sides and necks, in combination with cedar and spruce tops. Then we add a light fan bracing to the top, allowing us to have thin, rigid tops, that produce a loud, sweet sound. Presently we have a soprano and concert model readily available, but we have also built 6-string concerts to custom order (uke in the photo above), and can build to custom designs and needs.
"Cuatro", based on Puerto Rican cuatro, but using traditional guitar building designs, combined with our mandolin ideas. The result is an instrument, we feel is more durable, for a temperate zone climate, and flexible for the needs of muscians in a number of playing traditions.