My name is Andrew Poe, and I am dedicated to making high quality mandolins that are comfortable to play, pleasing to the eye, and most of all, sound great.
I started playing and working on mandolins in 1997, and I began building my first mandolin in 2003. By the end of 2010 I had completed 60 mandolins, 3 mandolas and 2 tenor ukuleles. Twenty-three of those instruments where built under the name "Driftwood". I am more focused than ever on producing fine handcrafted mandolins. I am of the opinion that there is always room for improvement and I strive to outdo myself with each mandolin I make.
All of my mandolins are personally hand constructed using the finest hand selected tone woods and materials available. I make everything on my mandolins from raw stock. The only thing that I do not make personally on my mandolins is the tuners and tailpieces.
My shop space is in the basement of my home. It gives me approximately 1000 square feet of work space and has been set up specifically for constructing mandolins. This has been my shop since late 2009 and is a huge step up from the small one car garage that was my shop for the first 6 years of my mandolin building carrier. The shop is made up of many hand and power tools. However I still build my instruments without the aid of CNC machines. By no means am I against computerized technology, but I do believe that works of art have more character and quality when handmade.
Top and back plates are carefully hand graduated and tap tuned. All of my inlay work is hand cut. The neck is attached using a traditional compound dovetail joint that time has proven to be structurally sound and commonly used on vintage Loar era mandolins.
Humidity and temperature are carefully monitored and controlled in the shop. All woods used have been acclimatizing in the shop for usually no less than 1 year even though all woods have already been well seasoned.
I stand behind the craftsmanship of my mandolins and all come with a lifetime guaranty on workmanship and materials to the original owner.
My goal is to build fine, handcrafted mandolins that both musicians and listeners will enjoy for centuries. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit the Poe Mandolins web site.