Design & Build Magazine May/June 2015

the mandolin
behind every
great man...
The concept for this mandolin was originally conceived
in Denver as a commission for a customer.
This one, he started building for himself in 2007.
Put on the back burner until he had time to devote to
a personal project, Baxendale simply couldn’t find
time to finish it. Inspired by the F5 mandolin design,
which is characterized by f holes instead of the
traditional, circular sound holes, the design was, according
to Baxendale, “complicated and difficult.”
But finish it he did, and admits he finds himself
taking it home and playing it frequently. With his
friend Jack Logan writing and performing the lyrics
that Baxendale sets to music, the duo are recording
an album.
the craft
Now located in Athens, Baxendale’s shop
constructs and reworks guitars, and here is
where Baxendale’s Luthier Academy teaches
students the mechanics of guitars in two intense,
six-month sessions. His students do a
re-build, and then create a new guitar from a
kit, or build their own in the advanced class. If
making a guitar is not of interest, students can
opt to develop skills with restorations, or train
to be guitar tech.
Comparable to a full-time job, the Academy
requires a commitment of five days a week
from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Robert Motes,
the very first student of the Luthier Academy
in 2010, how he would rate the program. “Out
of one-to-ten, you mean?” he asked. “About
a 30. Scott FAR exceeded my expectations.”
ASSEMBLED WITH SCRAPS OF WOOD from the
custom guitars that her husband makes, Pamela Baxendale
is an artist in her own right. Aside from the inherent coolness
of owning a piece of art that was made from the same
piece of wood from which a guitar was constructed for, say,
Mike Cooley, Jimmy Herring, Patterson Hood or Luther
Dickinson, the wood is often valuable or exotic. Ebony,
Brazilian or Indian rosewood, and curly maple are used, as
are remnants of mother of pearl or abalone accents.
Each face is unique and individual, created “in the moment”
by inspiration. Bits and pieces are collected by Pamela
as if she’s on a scavenger hunt. Sometimes they are
found in scrap piles, sometimes
they are simply old buttons,
used guitar picks, or bowties
fashioned from pieces of spruce
found in an old garage.
“This face (shown right) was
inspired by Mike Cooley of
the Drive-by Truckers. It was
donated to Nuci’s Space for a
Silent Auction at the 40 Watt
Club in Athens. This face has
scraps of wood Scott used to
build the original Cooleycaster
guitar and the Cooleybird
Acoustic guitar. I also included
one of Cooley’s used guitar
picks, and a patch cord from his
pedal board. Spenser Frye, of
Athens Area Habitat, donated
the lovely piece of weathered
pine.
The bottom image is a sculpture
of a Whippet face, mounted
on a nice weathered board
from the Habitat ReStore, made
from scraps of Baxendale Custom
Rosewood, Slope D Acoustic Guitar, that Scott built
for Ken Latimer, who rescues Whippets. When Ken told us
about his Whippets, I knew I had
to make this face for him to hang
in his cabin in Virginia.
The piece shown at left was
also donated to Nuci’s Space for
a Fund Raiser. He is made with
scraps from Jimmy Herring’s
Baxendale Superlative custom
guitar. His hair is from the Indian
Rosewood back, and the Spruce
from the top, as is the right eyebrow.
Ebony weights for the
bracing were cut from the little
piece on top of his head. The
block in the left hand corner is
the form that Scott cut his pearl
for the headstock inlay. I used it
for my Baxendale signature.
The last sculpture was my donation
to the silent auction for
Breastfest Athens, 2014. I started
with a piece of wood shelving
bought from Athens Area Habitat.
Her hair is cut from a rosewood
guitar back, her nose is
mahogany, lips are curly maple.
Her left eye and eyebrow are
rosewood scraps, and there are mother of pearl highlights
on her eyes. The lock of hair on her left side is a top brace,
cut and shaped from spruce. I thought it was befitting to
include a pair of spruce guitar top, sound holes, as breasts,
and topped her off with the perfect accessory, a pink bow,
made from spruce, for her hair. “
Pamela and Scott can be reached through the company
website at www.baxendaleguitar.com.
DB Written by Tracey Buckalew
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