All About Siminoff Banjo and Mandolin Parts...
Roger Siminoff's first catalog promoting custom "banjo and guitar necks" came out in 1960. Ten years later Siminoff Banjo and Mandolin Parts was founded and has been producing professional-quality banjo and mandolin parts for instrument makers worldwide ever since.
Today's product list boasts precision engineered components that are crafted from carefully aged and seasoned wood; a selection that includes: pre-embargo Brazilian rosewood; genuine Honduras mahogany; several species and figures of maple; black walnut; Sitka, Adirondack, and German silver spruce; western red cedar, California redwood; Gaboon ebony; and more.
The array of Siminoff carving machines features precision crafted patterns with 40 years of refinements that produce the finest and most accurate soundboards, backboards, fretboards, bridges, and necks available today. All of our carving and pattern profiling machines were designed and built by Roger Siminoff.
Steam-bending is our preferred technique for altering the shape of non-carved parts. Mandolin ribs and banjo rims are carefully formed to their new shape with moist heat under pressure. The use of steam-bending ensures that the wood's fibers and cells are carefully molded and reshaped to their new form and not crystallized or fractured as often occurs in the heat-bending process. Steam-bent parts are then carefully seasoned and dried to return them to the correct 16%-18% moisture content.
In addition to measuring the moisture content of our steam-bent parts, we regularly check the moisture content of our soundboards, backboards, and neck woods to ensure life long stability and reliability. Woods that show signs of checking, or "case hardening" are discarded.
Our carving patterns were precisely crafted from original Loar-signed instruments to ensure accurate arching and graduation. Siminoff soundboards and backboards are carved from solid, matched woods of the finest quality.
Every soundboard and back-board is evaluated for its mass, grain, and stiffness, and then adjustments are made to our pattern carver to compensate for differences and to ensure that every board receives the utmost attention in our effort to deliver only the highest quality parts.
We carefully select our woods to ensure excellent figure. Although we stock numerous qualities and figures of maple, we seek to find superior-quality commercial-grade 3- to 4-count (3 to 4 curls per inch) curly figure that most closely resembles the early Loar-signed mandolins.
Finally, we perform periodic cosmetic tests to evaluate the wood's hidden figure, and to visualize how woods selected for ribs will look with woods selected for backboards and necks. We make every effort to maintain this matching process when selecting woods for your kits.
Banjo and Mandolin parts
Original style two-footed adjustable mandolin bridges, pattern-tool shaped, with gold or nickel posts and thumb screws. Carefully machined for precise intonation correction. Available in Gaboon ebony or Brazilian rosewood.
Pattern-carved F-style mandolin necks, Honduras mahogany, plain, or curly maple, peghead ears attached, (square peghead). Options include peghead veneer attached, peghead cut to shape, truss rod installed, and scroll stiffener installed. Other hardwood available on request.
Pattern-carved F- and A-style, mandolin backboards, arched and graduated to exacting specifications, scrolls rough carved, two piece, curly-figured northern hard maple, Options include one-piece backboards, and other hardwoods on request.
Pattern-carved F- and A-style, mandolin soundboards, arched and graduated to exacting specifications, scrolls rough carved, two-piece Sitka or German silver spruce. Options include gauzing, and f-hole or soundhole routing.
Steamed and bent mandolin rib (sides) sets, .110" thick, three piece set, shaped to F-body specifications, curly and plain maple. (Requires fixture for correct assembly.) Options include other hardwoods on special request
Honduras mahogany block set, five pieces (headblock, tailblock, upper point, lower point, maple cap (not shown), properly angled grain for strength, precisely cut to F- or A- body specifications. (We recommend assembling in body fixture.)
Pattern shaped fretboards for both banjo and mandolin, .023" slots, calculated from computer-generated scale to within .001" accuracy. Gaboon ebony and Brazilian rosewood: Options: other hardwoods available on special request.
Pattern-carved RB-style banjo necks, plain maple, curly maple, mahogany, or walnut, peghead ears attached, (square peghead), square heel. Options: peghead cut to shape, heel-to-rim shaping, truss rod installed, other hardwoods on request.
Over the years we have produced hundreds of high-quality steamed and bent three-ply banjo rims. In an effort to focus on our mandolin and mandola parts business, we discontinued banjo rims in November, 2007.
Services & miscellaneous
We provide a full range of custom services including scroll strengthener installation (mandolin and mandola necks), truss rod installation, carving of customer's wood, and much more. For more information, send your request to us at siminoff@siminoff.net.
Our Luthier's ProSeries Drawings include highly-detailed, computer-generated blueprints for the F5, A5, F4 mandolins and the H5 mandola. Each set includes 19 to 20 full-size drawings and comes rolled and tubed. Drawings include multiple views of: top, back, sides, end, center section, cross sections, graduations, fretboard, peghead, Virzi Tone Producer (F5, H5 only), and much more. For more information, click here: F5, A5, F4, and H5 Drawings
We have just discovered a small quantity of wonderful catalog reprints from the Pickin' Magazine archives. These reproductions include the early Gibson banjo fold-out flyers, F-5 brochure (right), the Gibson 1928 "Q", 1934 "W", and 1937 "Y" catalogs, 1929 Virzi Brothers catalog, and the 1928 Vega Banjo catalog. For more information, click here.
My goal is to provide you with the very best parts and service. I look forward to communicating with you, and we greatly appreciate your business.
Thanks for building with us!
Roger
Siminoff Banjo and Mandolin directory page / Order Form / Online Store
For more information, email us at: siminoff@siminoff.net, or write to us at Siminoff Banjo and Mandolin Parts, PO Box 2992, Atascadero, CA 93423, U.S.A.