Michael Spalt
Known mostly for high-end custom basses, Spalt has built 5-string, fanned-fret mandocellos like the one above for L.A. musician Anand Bennett. Below, a 5-string Spalt mandolin built in 2006 for John Sinks (engineer and tech for Robert Fripp/King Crimson). It has a 13-pin hexaphonic output in addition to a customized Bigsby tremolo, a Seymour Duncan mini-humbucker, a Tune-O-Matic bridge with piezo pickups, and a Sustainiac.