Will Morrison's Mandolas and amplifiers

Will Morrison's Instruments and Amplifiers

Mandolas

Will has been doing electronics and wood working for years, but has only recently turned his attentions towards instrument building. It started out of a desire to own and play a mandola, the middle instrument in the mandolin family. Seeing what one costs, he decided to build his own. It turned out so well that he sold another one immediately to a local mandolin player and friend, who has been playing his so much that he is nearly blistering his fingers! Concentrating on the flat top style instrument, Will uses the finest woods he can get his hands on to build the nicest instrument possible. What results is a one of a kind instrument with lovely, deeper tones than a mandolin, making it a wonderful compliment to the mando family. He also build mandolins, but concentrates specially on mandolas, having an affinity for that instrument above the mandolin. His next project is a K4 style mandocello.

This is a short scale mandola, with a 15" scale length. The standard scale is 17", which Will also makes.The sound is sonorous, deep and mellow. The top is spruce, the sides and back are walnut, the fretboard is cocobolo. Ebony bindings and a maple neck wind up a great instrument.

Here are a few pics of some aspects of the mandola. The fleur de lis on the peghead, the size of the mandola in relation to a Flatiron mandolin, and a shot of the pick guard with it's "WM" inlay as well as it's maple bridge, a feature that helps the sound of the instrument. If you are interested in that, check out Red Henry's Maple Mandolin Bridge page

If you would like Will to make a mandola for you, please contact him by email at info@lowoverheadaudio.com or by calling 720-684-6620. Prices start at $800.00 for a basic model and go up depending on inlays, wood desired, etc.

Lap Steel Guitars)

Will made this lap steel guitar several years ago, and has been playing it on gigs ever since. In keeping with the tradition of it being a Hawaiian instrument, Will inlaid the palm tree under a crescent moon on the front and a pineapple on the peghead. It consists of mahogany, walnut, cocobolo and purpleheart woods. The moon and stars are of maple. They all sit in a body made of a beautiful piece of walnut which surrounds a sandwiched center section of oak and walnut. It also features a tuneomatic bridge and stop tailpiece along with a DeArmond humbucker pickup and Schaller tuning pegs. The fretboard is cocobolo, with walnut, purpleheart and ebony inslays for fret markers. This is one fun instrument to slide around on.

Will can put together a lap steel for you too, with prices starting at only $700.00. Of course, wood choice and inlays make a difference on that, too. Contact will at info@lowoverheadaudio.com or call 720-684-6620 and talk it over with him.

Amplifiers

Electronics has been a big time waster for will for decades. He is pretty well known in his circle for making his own equipment and using it on gigs, from effects to amplifiers and speaker cabinets. It was a recent need for a smaller amp than he usually plays that finally led him into the field of tube amp making. This alows him to use all his skills, from electronics and soldering to woodworking in the cabinet construction part of manufacture. Plus, there is nothing quite like the fun of playing a gig with equpiment built by your own hands, and having people really enjoy how things sound.

This amp is one Will calls "The Twinkie" because of it's blonde tolex and white knobs. It's a standard Fender^TM 5E3 Deluxe^TM circuit from 1957 with a few changes that make it a bit unique. It has the usual tubes, a 12AU7, a 12AX7, 2 6V6's and a stiffer rectifier tube than standard, a 5AR4 and goes into a 10 inch speaker instead of the regular 12 inch. The circuit itself is built on a fiberglass board, and is all handwired. The cabinet is all radiata pine using finger joints and is built to take a beating and last.

Will is continuing his fun with amps, and has completed a second Twinkie type amp, The Brownie. Electronically similar to the Twinkie but with 2 6L6's for more headroom before distortion and 2 6 inch and 2 8 inch speakers for more of a Super^TM type tone. It has brown tolex instead of the blonde, and is in an obviously bigger radiata pine cabinet. A great recording amp, Will used it for half of the songs on his newest CD, "Tough Room". It has switchable bias between the usual cathode bias and a fixed bias for a slightly more centered, less distorted tone, and channel switching for instant tone changes. No pics of the Brownie, yet, but they will be up here soon. He is also working on a larger amp, based on the Bandmaster^TM of 1957 which originally featured 3 10 inch speakers, and another based on the Princeton^TM of the same year ('57 was a great year for amp circuits!).

And of course, if you would like Will to build an amp for you, he would love to. Contact him at info@lowoverheadaudio.com or call 720-684-6620 and discuss it with him directly. Prices start at $1,000.00 and change depending on your requirements and wishes.

Will has been doing electronics and wood working for years, but has only recently turned his attentions towards instrument building. It started out of a desire to own and play a mandola, the middle instrument in the mandolin family. Seeing what one costs, he decided to build his own. It turned out so well that he sold another one immediately to a local mandolin player and friend, who has been playing his so much that he is nearly blistering his fingers! Concentrating on the flat top style instrument, Will uses the finest woods he can get his hands on to build the nicest instrument possible. What results is a one of a kind instrument with lovely, deeper tones than a mandolin, making it a wonderful compliment to the mando family. He also build mandolins, but concentrates specially on mandolas, having an affinity for that instrument above the mandolin. His next project is a K4 style mandocello.
	This is a short scale mandola, with a 15" scale length. The standard scale is 17", which Will also makes.The sound is sonorous, deep and mellow. The top is spruce, the sides and back are walnut, the fretboard is cocobolo. Ebony bindings and a maple neck wind up a great instrument.
Here are a few pics of some aspects of the mandola. The fleur de lis on the peghead, the size of the mandola in relation to a Flatiron mandolin, and a shot of the pick guard with it's "WM" inlay as well as it's maple bridge, a feature that helps the sound of the instrument. If you are interested in that, check out Red Henry's Maple Mandolin Bridge page
If you would like Will to make a mandola for you, please contact him by email at info@lowoverheadaudio.com or by calling 720-684-6620. Prices start at $800.00 for a basic model and go up depending on inlays, wood desired, etc.

Will made this lap steel guitar several years ago, and has been playing it on gigs ever since. In keeping with the tradition of it being a Hawaiian instrument, Will inlaid the palm tree under a crescent moon on the front and a pineapple on the peghead. It consists of mahogany, walnut, cocobolo and purpleheart woods. The moon and stars are of maple. They all sit in a body made of a beautiful piece of walnut which surrounds a sandwiched center section of oak and walnut. It also features a tuneomatic bridge and stop tailpiece along with a DeArmond humbucker pickup and Schaller tuning pegs. The fretboard is cocobolo, with walnut, purpleheart and ebony inslays for fret markers. This is one fun instrument to slide around on.

Will can put together a lap steel for you too, with prices starting at only $700.00. Of course, wood choice and inlays make a difference on that, too. Contact will at info@lowoverheadaudio.com or call 720-684-6620 and talk it over with him.

Electronics has been a big time waster for will for decades. He is pretty well known in his circle for making his own equipment and using it on gigs, from effects to amplifiers and speaker cabinets. It was a recent need for a smaller amp than he usually plays that finally led him into the field of tube amp making. This alows him to use all his skills, from electronics and soldering to woodworking in the cabinet construction part of manufacture. Plus, there is nothing quite like the fun of playing a gig with equpiment built by your own hands, and having people really enjoy how things sound. This amp is one Will calls "The Twinkie" because of it's blonde tolex and white knobs. It's a standard Fender^TM 5E3 Deluxe^TM circuit from 1957 with a few changes that make it a bit unique. It has the usual tubes, a 12AU7, a 12AX7, 2 6V6's and a stiffer rectifier tube than standard, a 5AR4 and goes into a 10 inch speaker instead of the regular 12 inch. The circuit itself is built on a fiberglass board, and is all handwired. The cabinet is all radiata pine using finger joints and is built to take a beating and last.

Will is continuing his fun with amps, and has completed a second Twinkie type amp, The Brownie. Electronically similar to the Twinkie but with 2 6L6's for more headroom before distortion and 2 6 inch and 2 8 inch speakers for more of a Super^TM type tone. It has brown tolex instead of the blonde, and is in an obviously bigger radiata pine cabinet. A great recording amp, Will used it for half of the songs on his newest CD, "Tough Room". It has switchable bias between the usual cathode bias and a fixed bias for a slightly more centered, less distorted tone, and channel switching for instant tone changes. No pics of the Brownie, yet, but they will be up here soon. He is also working on a larger amp, based on the Bandmaster^TM of 1957 which originally featured 3 10 inch speakers, and another based on the Princeton^TM of the same year ('57 was a great year for amp circuits!).
And of course, if you would like Will to build an amp for you, he would love to. Contact him at info@lowoverheadaudio.com or call 720-684-6620 and discuss it with him directly. Prices start at $1,000.00 and change depending on your requirements and wishes.