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Carbon Fiber Mandolins by Peter Mix
New Millenium Acoustic Design

I first saw these instruments at the Joe Val Memorial Bluegrass Festival (Framingham MA, February 2007). I saw them again at the recent Cape Cod Mandolin Camp in Sandwich, MA. Peter Mix had two A5's, one of which had a reddish hue, but looked brown from a distance, and had a Kevlar component. The other A5 had a slightly greenish hue. The F5 had a black satin finish. Without exception these mandolins are amazing. The sustain and sweet clear tones were, to me, unexpected from a non-wood instrument. I had the pleasure of playing one of the A5's for the weekend - the neck is slick and easy on the hand. The workmanship is first class.

Kevlar adds another dimension to consider. The colors available are red/black, blue/black, yellow/black and green/black.

The following text is adapted (with permission and with pronoun edits) from the NewMAd website.
Carbon fiber mandolins by New Millennium Acoustic Design, aka New-MAD, are the result of a collaboration between Peter Mix, Will Kimble and Matt Dunham that brings with it decades of devotion to mandolin-family instruments and their construction coupled with state-of-the-art carbon fiber fabrication processes. In essence, their aim was to wrap carbon fiber, an extraordinary material that is uneffected by temperature and humidity and has tonal characteristics similar to fine tonewoods, around proven sound chambers.



Mix mandolins by NewMAD standard features:
ebony fingerboard with 12" radius and 13 7/8" scale length ** ebony Loar-style bridge
James custom-engraved tailpiece ** Grover tuners ** hardshell case

Options include:

Schertler C-DYN internally-mounted contact dynamic microphones for the very best amplified voice you can find
Waverly tuners ** ebony pickguards.

-----Shipping rates are for UPS ground, domestic USA only-----

Mix A4 Carbon Fiber Mandolin availability - in stock
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Mix A5 Carbon Fiber Mandolin availability - in stock
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Mix F4 Carbon Fiber Mandolin availability 10-12 weeks
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Mix F5 Carbon Fiber Mandolin availability 10-12 weeks
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Mix A4 Kevlar/Carbon Fiber Mandolin availability - 4 weeks
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Mix A5 Kevlar/Carbon Fiber Mandolin availability - 4 weeks
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Mix F4 Kevlar/Carbon Fiber Mandolin availability - 14-16 weeks
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Mix F5 Kevlar/Carbon Fiber Mandolin availability 14-16 weeks
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Add a Schertler C-DYN Pickup Schertler C-DYN Contact Dynamic Microphone installed
Add Waverly Tuners Install Waverly Tuners
Add Ebony Pick Guard Install Ebony Pick Guard


The Mix Carbon Fiber Mandolins were awarded Best of Show at the Austin NAMM show in July 2007.

Lloyd Loar's pioneering work in the 1920's resulted in the A5 and F5 mandolins, the instruments that are the gold standard among players world-wide. It is these magnificent instruments as translated into carbon fiber that New-MAD designs and builds. Mix A5 and F5 mandolins along with their oval-hole mates the A4 and F4 are superb and beautiful instruments that play like silk and sound wonderful with great power, tonal complexity, sustain and warmth. They are also works of art.

Carbon fiber is exceptionally strong, lightweight and durable. It does not absorb moisture or dry out and it is not effected by temperature extremes. This alone makes it a great material for stringed instruments which are generally very delicate and tend to suffer from extremes of temperature and humidity. The fact that carbon fiber is considerably stronger than steel is yet another attractive feature.

Carbon fiber's exceptional tonal characteristics are another significant advantage producing low end richness and sustain which are wonderful, trebles that are brilliant and full-bodied as well as excellent balance across the instrument's range. Volume is simply amazing.

Last but not least is the beauty and elegance of carbon fiber. In its natural black/gray weave, it's very striking and has an art-deco look that is quite stunning. Optional weaves are available as well: yellow/black, blue/black, red/black and green/black. New-MAD also offer burgundy, blue and green bursts and are always experimenting with colors.

Mix mandolins by NewMAD feature an ebony fingerboard with 12" radius and 13 7/8" scale length , ebony Loar-style bridge, James custom-engraved tailpiece and Grover tuners. Options include Schertler C-Dyn internally-mounted contact microphones for the very best amplified voice you can find, Waverly tuners and ebony pickguards. A4's and A5's start at $3500 and F4's and F5's start at $5990. All Mix mandolins come in a hardshell case.

As one Mix A5 owner said, "Now my beach mandolin is my best mandolin".