Building a mandolin could be compared to a journey through territory you have traveled before. The path is familiar, the way stations are known, but no matter how many times you have made the trip there is always more to see, more to learn, more to experience, and more to discover. It doesn't get old, it never fails to be interesting and the destination is never the same: The first time you string up an instrument and hear its voice, you find yourself someplace you haven't been before.