hails from Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he concocted this archtop-jazz-style beauty. The top is Engelmann spruce with a bearclaw figure. Tone bar bracing. Back and sides are curly walnut, and the neck is curly walnut/ebony with a double-action truss rod. The ebony fretboard has a compound radius. Bridge and nut are fossilized ivory. Randy Allen tailpiece, Schaller tuners. Tone, volume, and coil switch controls for the Kent Armstrong pickup are concealed beneath the Macassar ebony pickguard. The finish is a hand-rubbed French polish—no staining at all. Tom's price for an instrument like this one is in the neighborhood of $3,000–3,500. Further details are forthcoming at his Web site.

Tom writes: “This is an acoustic mando with electronic capabilities. Its acoustic sound quality is wonderful—loud, with great tone. The electronic package is a slick design, enabling the player to go unplugged, plugged, or completely remove the pickguard/pickup assembly if desired.

”Of additional interest, I am presently working on another prototype acoustic/electric as well as a solidbody electric mando. My business card says ‘Carving out the Future of Mandolin’ and I'm serious about that!”