Peter Abnett
A British maker who helped Donal Lunny develop the Irish bouzouki by introducing several modifications to the traditional Greek design. Peter's instruments are available with onboard transducers. Check out his Web site, or contact:

Peter Abnett
63 Whitehouse Crescent
Burham nr. Rochester
Kent ME 13 SU
United Kingdom
Telephone: 01 634 865254

Anjo
Virtually identical to the Goya, Sigma, Venson, Gremlin, et al. Probably made in Korea.

Rob Armstrong
British maker, Coventry, UK. Phone number: 02476 442502. Maartin Allcock plays several of Rob's instruments.

Ashworth
British maker of solidbody electric bouzoukis. Spotted on Hobgoblin Music's secondhand list.

Jorge Augusto
Brazilian luthier who builds electrified hollowbody bandolims as well as solidbody 5-string Bahian guitars (which are, essentially, electric mandolins). Heraldo Melo and Armandinho play Augusto's instruments. Next time you're in Salvador, Brazil, give Jorge a ring at 55 71 234 1813.

Baldwin
Reportedly made in the 1950s and '60s by the Strad-O-Lin company, famous for its inexpensive acoustic mandolins.

Roy Bullis (Onyx Forge)
The Onyx Forge Web site claims that Bullis makes electric mandolins, but offers no photographic evidence.

Button
British. Spotted on Hobgoblin Music's secondhand list.

Fernando Cardoso
Brazilian maker of both acoustic and electric mandolins.

Alan Carruth
Luthier and teacher Carruth has built at least one electric mandolin, a custom archtop for L.A. player Mike Lampert.

Choate
Very few people made electric mandolins in the '50s. Mr. Choate was one of them.

Crawford
Made in Denver, Crawford mandolins are reportedly single-pickup solidbodies, with the neck and body cut from one piece of mahogany.

D&L
This Berkeley, Calif., company made some cool solidbody instruments, including a 4-point Florentine and a "Flying V" model.

Dean
These are virtually identical to the Fender FM-52E acoustic/electric, so I have to assume they're made at the same plant in Korea.

Dolphin
Dolphin mandolins answer to the following description: Hollow-body A-style mandolin with F-holes, cherry sunburst finish, volume and tone controls.

Doolally
British. Spotted on Hobgoblin Music's secondhand list.

Thomas Dotzauer
Thomas lives in Erlangen, a small village near Nuremberg, Germany, and makes a living building mostly Italian-style mandolins. But he also offers semi-acoustic and solidbody electrics. Contact:

Dotzauer Father & Son
Graslitzerstr. 9, 91058
Erlangen, Germany 
+49 0 9131 601126

Douglas
This British maker of electric guitars and violins is preparing to introduce an electric mandolin. Stay tuned.

Encore
And the band played on....

Neil Gladd
Neil is a classical player in Washington, D.C., who has built a few electrics for his own enjoyment. He built Marilynn Mair's "Flying V" electric, for example. He's not in the luthiery business, and his name is here only for the sake of making this list as complete as possible.

John Gonder
Member of the now-defunct Bay Area string band Back Up and Push, John built and played some solidbody mandolins resembling the Roberts Tiny Moore model.

Grimshaw
Emile Grimshaw was an English teacher/performer of classical 5-string banjo music. In 1933 he began manufacturing banjos in Piccadilly under the name Emile Grimshaw & Son. The company later made guitars (Pete Townshend of The Who briefly owned a Grimshaw guitar) and, according to one report, an electric mandolin owned by Charles O'Connor of the Horslips.

Russ Haywood
Instrument builder/repairman in England, specifically in the Kent/East Sussex area. Makes electric mandolins and mandolas as well as guitars, wooden flutes, and uillean pipes. Visit his Web site or call 01424 712884.

Richard Ikerd
Richard lives in Visalia, California, and has built a few solidbody "Mandolectricks." He writes: "I am a retired engineer and took up luthiery because I could not find an electric mandolin that suited me. Playing with Strats and Teles makes you want a badass mando, so that is what I build." He reportedly has stopped building.

Robert Lee
Robert built an 8-string/4-string doubleneck under the name Polaris Instruments, the earliest such instrument I know about. Appointments included Bartolini pickups and a tremolo bar.

Michael Lewis
This Grass Valley, California, luthier offers an acoustic/electric mandolin with a Bartolini pickup. If you want to see what it looks like without the pickup, check out Lewis' Web site. In general, his instruments have a stellar reputation.

Ozark
Made in Spain. I'll leave it up to you to decide whether you'd buy anything named Ozark that was made in Spain.

Rogue
Again, virtually identical to the Fender FM-52E. The Rogue brand is owned by Musician's Friend.

Andre Sakellarides
Marseilles-based luthier who built several instruments for French mando-whiz Patrick Vaillant.

Samick
Made in Korea. More instruments are built at the Samick factory than anywhere else in the world. Samick's instruments are sold under dozens of brand names, among which are the following:
bullet Anjo
bullet Bean Blossom
bullet Goya
bullet New York Pro
bullet Sigma
bullet Sunrise
bullet Westfield


Mark Shimonkevitz
Mark has built a few solidbody electrics, but is no longer active as a luthier.

Stump Preacher
This Woodinville, Washington–based builder of space-age composite guitars was once threatening to add an 8-string electric mandolin to its product line. That was before it went out of business.

Taproot (Peter Heithoff)
Michael Kang of The String Cheese Incident has played a solidbody 5-string Taproot mandolin, reportedly the only one in existence. The builder, writes: "I started Taproot when I was living in Boulder, Colorado. I got to know Michael while doing repair work at Woodsongs Lutherie. I live and work in Bend, Oregon, now. My shop is called Bend Instrument Repair. I moved here from Boulder to be production manager at Breedlove guitars. I started my shop a few years ago and mostly repair, but I'm starting to get back into some custom building."

Mike Vanden
Based in Strontian, near Fort William, Scotland, Mike is one of the UK's foremost builders of carved-top acoustic mandolins. (English virtuoso Simon Mayor plays several Vanden instruments.) Mike also designs and supplies Mimesis pickups (better known to American flattop guitar players as the Fishman Rare Earth line). Mimesis mandolin pickups are available as an option on Mike's mandolins. For details, check his Web site.

Venson
Made in Korea by Sungbo Industrial.

Vester
An acoustic/electric comparable to the Fender FM-52E.

J. R. Zeidler
The late Mr. Zeidler built at least one 5-string electric mandolin, owned by Boston's John McGann.