The Travolin Mandolin Fits in a Carry-On!
The Travolin Mandolin is Built for Travelin'
The Mandolin Built for Travelin’
Now you don't have to give up Great Sound and Great Action when you travel with your Mandolin
The Travolin represents a new class in mandolins. With its rugged one piece construction it is designed to go where you go and still give you the great sound and feel you would expect from a high end Mandolin. Designed with the traveler in mind the Travolin:
- Fits in a Carry-On
- Solid Maple Construction
- Extra Stiff Soundboard
- Built-in Arm Rest Protects Bridge
- Produces a Big Clear Sound
- Easy to Play with Great Action
- Handmade in the USA with local hardwoods and softwoods
The Travolin is expertly crafted to give you years of enjoyment. Whether you are a seasoned professional or a beginning student this mandolin is a great choice. If it’s slung over your shoulder, put in your backpack or in your carry-on, it is easy to bring almost anywhere.
Most mandolin players play their mandolins every day. But when you travel you are reluctant to take your good mandolin on the road with you because you don’t want it to get damaged. You know that if you buy a cheap mandolin to go on the road with it is not road worthy and the sound and action won’t be what you are used to. The designers at Silverleaf Instruments realized this and went to work designing a mandolin that will not only fit in a carry on but also will perform, sound and feel like a “real” mandolin.
The results of their research produced a rugged mandolin that has a one piece body. The new patent pending Unibody construction of the instrument is one piece of maple from the headstock to the tailpiece . Since there is no joint between the neck and body you will not have to worry about the instrument being flexed when it is packed for travel. The resonation is so strong that you can feel the resonance in the neck as you play it! This resulted in a great sounding sleek design with ruggedness that lends itself to travel.
The Travolin is designed to handle wide temperature ranges, be stuffed in a suitcase or backpack for long periods of time and survive miles of rough terrain and travel. When you finally arrive at your destination you can pull it out of its gig bag and it will play and perform as you would expect.
What's In Your Carry-On (Roll-Aboard) Or Backpack?
What's in Your Carry-On (Roll-Aboard)?
Now you can realize the full potential of your playing capabilities no matter where you go. Whether you are a seasoned professional or a beginning student this mandolin is a great choice. Most mandolin players like the idea of bringing there mandolin with them when they travel and most young students will appreciate the size as they begin to learn to play. The easy playing neck action and great tone will enhance the learning experience. The Travolin is designed to handle wide temperature ranges and can be stuffed in a suitcase or backpack for long periods of time and survive miles of rough terrain and travel. When you finally arrive at your destination you can pull it out of its gig bag and it will play and perform as you would expect. If it is slung over your shoulder, put in your backpack or in your carry-on, it is easy to bring almost anywhere. As you know when you travel by plane you are allowed one carry-on bag and one personal item. If you pack the Travolin into your carry-on and they have to check your bag because there is no room in the overhead bin then all you have to do is take out your Travolin and carry it with you.
Rugged Unibody One Piece Construction
Rugged Unibody One Piece Construction
The results of their research produced a rugged mandolin that has a one piece body. The new patent pending Unibody construction of the instrument is one piece of maple from the headstock to the tailpiece . Since there is no joint between the neck and body you will not have to worry about the instrument being flexed when it is packed for travel. The soundboard is hollowed out on the inside even though the outside looks flat. This internal arc allows for dynamic resonance while giving the soundboard extra stiffness for further road worthy robustness. This resulted in a sleek design with great appeal and a ruggedness that lends itself to travel.
Built-in Arm Rest Protects Bridge
Built-in Arm Rest Protects Bridge While in Transit
- Protects your bridge and soundboard from damage while in transit..
- Allows you to play your Travolin standing up without the need for a strap.
- Gives you a place to rest your arm, wrist or palm while you strum and pick.
The key advantage is the fact that the arm rest is a solid piece of maple and acts to protect the bridge and soudboad when it is in your carry-on, backpack or camper. This adds to the rugged reliability the instruments' design and proves once again that the Travolin is Built for Travelin". The Travolin's arm rest allows you to hold the instrument against you while you play. This makes it easy to strum and pick while you are standing or sitting and you can go from sitting to standing without the need for a strap. Depending on your playing style you may find that your forearm sits well on the rest and some of you will use it as a place to put your palm while you play and you may find that resting your wrist works for you. Many players actually move from wrist to palm as they play and find it very comfortable. Silverleaf Instruemnts realized this and went to work designing a mandolin that will not only fit in a carry on but also will perform, sound and feel like a “real” mandolin.
The results of their research produced a rugged mandolin that has a one piece body. The new patent pending Unibody construction of the instrument is one piece of maple from the headstock to the tailpiece . Since there is no joint between the neck and body you will not have to worry about the instrument being flexed when it is packed for travel. The soundboard is hollowed out on the inside even though the outside looks flat. This internal arc allows for dynamic resonance while giving the soundboard extra stiffness for further road worthy robustness. This resulted in a sleek design with great appeal and a ruggedness that lends itself to travel.
The Travolin is designed to handle wide temperature ranges, be stuffed in a suitcase or backpack for long periods of time and survive miles of rough terrain and travel. When you finally arrive at your destination you can pull it out of its gig bag and it will play and perform as you would expect.
Made in the USA from Domestic Maple and Adirondack Spruce
Sourced from Local Log Yards
The Travolin is expertly hand crafted and constructed using carefully selected, locally grown hardwoods and softwoods. The Adirondack spruce soundboard not only has a superior sound but it also has the most stiffness of all the spruces and adds to the Travolins' pleasing sound qualities and sturdiness. Silverleaf begins by picking out the best trees it can find in New England. This makes for the best quality maple bodies and the best Adirondack Spruce soundboard to create the best sound quality at any price. We then process these at our plant where we maintain quality controls of each mandolin parts creation and assembly and enables us to maintain control all of our costs. This results in a high quality instrument at a reasonable price that you can afford Once the Maple is dried in our solar kiln and Spruce are air dried to between 6 and 8% moisture the body and top are shaped, assembled, sanded and lacquered. The soundboard is cut out, braced to reinforce the top and then it is tuned to optimize the sound output before being finished. The result is a crisp clean sound with great sustain and resonance. Special care has been taken in the design criteria to optimize the fret height at the 12th fret. This insures that you have great action and playability. The solid bar stock truss rod gives great stability to the neck and also a well-balanced substantial feel as you hold the instrument while enhancing the all-around robustness of the design.
A Naturally Resonating Design Concept
A Naturally Resonating Design Concept
A Naturally Resonating New Design Concept Through the use of computer modeling and simulation software the designers at Silverleaf discovered how to optimize what occurs naturally in nature. For example there is a reason why a water droplet is shaped like a teardrop and why rock crystals have a certain size ratio. When they utilized this concept they found an improvement in the resonance, sustain, tonal clarity and volume of the output of the instrument. This also resulted in a sleek design with great appeal and a ruggedness that lends itself to travel. This robust design includes a braced soundboard so that it can handle the rough terrain encountered during your travels. There are many reasons why this new design concept has revolutionized the tonal projection of stringed instruments and we feel it is a combination of everything we have learned over the decades of playing stringed instruments that lead to this development. We know one reason is the patent pending Unibody construction. Since the Travolin is constructed of one piece of maple from the headstock to the tailpiece each string is continuously connected from the tuner to the tailpiece by one continuous piece of wood. This makes the neck, back and tailpiece act as a pivot point for the 2 nodes to vibrate from and results in a uniform continuous tone. Since there are no obstructions to interrupt the vibration this will make them have a tendency to resonate at their optimum natural frequency which brings out the true tonal quality of the Travolin. This is enhanced with the sound cavity and the soundboard construction in creating a resonating frequency output that sustains the note where we have created a sound cavity with smooth internal curves and no obstructions on the walls. These curved surfaces are sized to optimize the sound projection. Most luthiers agree that the back of the instrument resting against the body of the player will muffle some of the sound. Instead of the sound reflecting off the mandolin back it is absorbed into the player’s body. This in turn reduces the volume of the instrument. Most mandolins have a thin back that creates this problem. As some of you know you can purchase a Tone Guard which is a wire frame that mounts to the bakc of the mandolin. This creates a gap between the player’s body and the mandolin to create a louder sound. The fact that the back of the Travolin is thicker than a regular mandolin not only contributes to the overall robust construction but the body resting against the Travolin will not stop or absorb the sound because all of the sound created by the strings will be reflected off the back, resonate in the sound cavity and adds to the projection of the resonating through the sound hole. This results in a true representation of the note and all of the partials created by every strum. After building a prototype and compared it to other mandolins we discovered that the db output was equal to that of a high end F style mandolin. When this mandolin was given to luthiers, mandolinists and instructors to evaluate every one of them remarked as to how excellent it sounds and feels like a regular mandolin.
A New Dimension in Sound Quality to Size Ratio
New Dimension in Sound Quality to Size Ratio
The Travolin represents a new dimension in sound quality to size ratio. The design achieves an excellent balance between appeal versatility and playability. When players evaluate a new instrument the typical criteria they use includes playability, feel, tone and output. When this mandolin was given to other luthiers, mandolinists and instructors to evaluate every one of them remarked as to how excellent it sounds and feels like they are playing a great mandolin. Our pioneering efforts have created a whole new class of instruments and the Travolin is the first to utilize this new technology. We feel we have broken new ground with in developing a compact sized rugged design with superior tonal qualities and an output that will project clear notes and chords loudly enough to be heard as you play along with any other stringed instruments. The size is also great for young students. The robust design and great tonal quality will ensure that the student has a positive learning experience and foster a love for mandolins and music.
Travolin Mandolin Specifications
New Dimension in Sound Quality to Size Ratio
Specifications Travolin Specifications
- Overall length: 22" Back, Sides, Neck and Headstock:
- One piece of Maple Body Color: Natural (light brown) or Dark Brown
- Bracing: Adirondack Spruce
- Bridge: Rosewood or Ebony
- Case: Nylon gig bag (optional)
- Fingerboard: Rosewood or Maple
- Fingerboard Extension Block: Yes
- Finish: High Gloss Lacquer
- Fret markers: Inlayed Birch
- Hardware: Nickel tuners, Brass Tailpiece
- Peghead Veneer: Maple or Rosewood
- Peghead inlay: Cherry or Maple
- Arm Rest: Natural Maple
- Scale Length: 13 Inches
- Oval Sound Hole
- Soundboard Top: Adirondack or Sitka Spruce
- Warranty: 1 year