Rigk, a German builder, has been a busy lad since I last caught up with him. When he sent me the photo on the upper left, depicting an early prototype mandolin, I had no idea that he'd soon dash off another half-dozen designs and start a full-fledged instrument company: Risa Instruments. Among Risa's offerings: the Mando-Stick; the 17-inch-scale Risa tenor guitar/ukulele, which comes in solid and hollow versions; the 17-inch Tenor-Stick; and the 8-string mandolin and mandola. The Risas feature magnetic pickups and the Sticks have piezos; all are inexpensive, fun, and amenable to tuning in fifths. You can reach Risa by e-mail, or use the following contact information:

Risa Instruments
Pferdsbachstr. 31
D-64823 Gross-Umstadt
Germany
Phone: +49-6078-911183
Fax: +49-6078-911176