Stan Miller Mandolins

Stan Miller has made as many as 30 mandolins since about 1975. Many of them are used every day by well know musicians. Most of these instruments are probably important parts of various peoples collections. But no one has any idea where they all are. In fact most people don't know where Stan Miller is! See the Stan Miller Bio
On these pages we will try to show pictures, descriptions and biographies of as many Stan Miller mandolins as we can find.

To start with here are three Miller mandolins with pictures by Laurel Bliss.

Front View Back View

The three instruments were built in the mid-1980's in Bellingham. According to Stan the one with the nice "pillowed" maple is owned by a friend here in Bellingham. The wood was given to Stan at the time by his 80 yr. old landlord. He saw that Stan was building a mandolin and mentioned that he had a nice piece of maple. Apparently he worked in a furniture factory in the early 1950's and came across this unusual piece of wood. He'd taken it home and had been holding onto it ever since. It is Western Big Leaf Maple, which Stan says he usually doesn't like as an instrument wood, but this piece was very hard, well-aged, and the figure outstanding. It was a 3/4 inch slab, just big enough to make a one-piece back, a laminated two-piece neck, plus the sides.

Stan says the F-model may be one of two that are owned by a couple of musicians in his neck of the woods. Who knows where the other A-model went.

Message from Stan Miller:
Life has moved on in so many ways--living in Western Washington, mountainclimbing, accounting degree, CPA certification, CFO position with a successful closely-held business--but I have dreams of getting back to mandolin building some day. Any leads on 50-year old curly Sugar Maple or Engleman Spruce?