# General Mandolin Topics > Looking for Information About Mandolins >  Round mandolins

## OldSausage

Does anyone have any pics or information on mandolins with completely circular body shapes? The only ones I've seen are the Tieri resonator mandos, which are pretty cool, but I'm ideally looking for something with a carved top, but, you know, round. Not a bowl back, not oval or pear-shaped. Just round. It seems such an obvious design someone must have done it.

----------


## David Lewis

Do you mean the army navy mandolin? 


http://www.rosewoodvintageguitars.co...y-mandolin.htm

This is just an example, I'm not selling these, nor do I necessarily recommend you buy one... I just typed army navy mandolin into google and this was one of the first sites.

----------


## OldSausage

Thanks, but not round enough. I'm not looking to buy one at all, I'd just like to see or learn of some examples.

----------


## David Lewis

Do google army navy mandolin and have a look...

----------


## Marty Jacobson

I thought about making one with a circular pocket that a perfectly round soundboard fits into. Thought it would be fun to play with different sound ports, bracing, and graduations. I also thought it would be cool to be able to ship out an instrument with swappable soundboards, one transverse braced oval hole and one parallel tone bar braced. But there are just too many other variables that need to work together for that to be a feasible idea.

----------


## OldSausage

That certainly would be cool. How would you get the soundboard to stay in the pocket and not rattle around - or is that one of the variables? 

It seems like being perfectly round could simplify the construction.

----------


## SincereCorgi

There's a regular at the local jams who plays a perfectly round 'mandolin'... thing.  I don't know what to call it, but it's strung like a mandolin, and surprisingly similar to what Marty is talking about. It's got something like a banjo resonator for a back, and then the top sits in it like a swappable wooden cylinder with a flat top, only permanently. If I recall, the sound escapes through slot gaps cut in the sides of the cylinder. I don't know the country of origin, but it's got Vietnamese quantities of inlay. A guy at a jam basically sold it to him out of a truck... he called it 'Italian' and had an equally strange mandolinetto for sale with it. I passed on it, myself- quite loud, but too twangy and metallic.

----------

OldSausage

----------


## Ken

Try a Cafe search and a google search on Iucci mandolin.  Sorry I can't post links, busy running.

----------

OldSausage

----------


## OldSausage

So, yes, here are the round mandolins I've found so far:

Exhibit A. Two Tieri mandolins and a mandola:



Exhibit B. Copy of an Iucci by Paul Hostetter:



Exhibit C. The DeWick mandolin banjo:



Exhibit D. The Gibson Army Navy Special:



This is not really as circular as I would like.

But, appealing as they are, these are all resonator mandos or flat tops. What I'm looking for is an archtop that's completely circular. I'm quite happy if there aren't any, I'm just fishing to see if anyone here knows whether they exist.

----------

DavidKOS

----------


## Jim Garber

I posted this pic in the *Antique photo thread*. I know it is not carved top or even available. It looks sort of homemade with friction pegs.

The other thing is it will be hard to get a case for a perfectly round mandolin. BTW David why do you want one?

----------


## Tim2723

I doubt that an arched top would be practical, if even possible, on a circular body.  The bridge would need to be located in the dead center of the circle (which you can see from the photos doesn't happen) or the arching would be asymmetrical (which would negate the 'simplicity of design' concept).

----------


## OldSausage

> I doubt that an arched top would be practical, if even possible, on a circular body.  The bridge would need to be located in the dead center of the circle (which you can see from the photos doesn't happen) or the arching would be asymmetrical (which would negate the 'simplicity of design' concept).


I'm not such a stickler that the arching couldn't be asymmetrical. But looking at the bridge position on some A5's, I feel it would be possible to position the bridge and the arch dead center. These two mandolin styles both work:

Standard A5:


Jacobson Nautilus:

----------


## OldSausage

> I posted this pic in the *Antique photo thread*. I know it is not carved top or even available. It looks sort of homemade with friction pegs.
> 
> The other thing is it will be hard to get a case for a perfectly round mandolin. BTW David why do you want one?


That is a very cool photo, thanks, Jim.

I'm just mulling over the possibility. I may even try to build one myself "one day"  :Sleepy: . I guess I've also been looking at my Jacobson and thinking "what if this was even rounder?". I'm rather a 'what-if' kind of fellow. I feel like it would be a cool thing.

----------


## OldSausage

Continuing my collection, benjamin35 just posted these pics of his Lyon and Healey Camp mando. Arched back, flat top though:

----------


## Ben Cooper

Well, Old Sausage,  its still a really cool search!  I will be interested to see what people find and also if anyone can give me more info on my "camp".

----------


## Marty Jacobson

Hmm... so are you thinking about this as a visual thing, or a tone production thing?
I did design these to be pretty close to a circle, thinking that it just made sense to have the crown of the arch be where the bridge sits. In a couple weeks we should be able to see if that is indeed the optimal position for this design, though..

----------


## Tom Haywood

I'm curious whether you could get much projection out of an instrument with a carved round top. The sound waves would focus in one spot, which might be above the back, behind it or on it depending on the arch of the circle. Where that focal point lies will affect the further projection of those waves. I wonder, too, how that would affect the tone complexity. Just need to see one, I guess.

----------


## OldSausage

> Hmm... so are you thinking about this as a visual thing, or a tone production thing?
> I did design these to be pretty close to a circle, thinking that it just made sense to have the crown of the arch be where the bridge sits. In a couple weeks we should be able to see if that is indeed the optimal position for this design, though..



I was thinking primarily visually, because really I have nothing to base how it would sound on except my imagination. My imagination would be willing to bet good money that it works just as well there, if not better.

----------


## OldSausage

> I'm curious whether you could get much projection out of an instrument with a carved round top. The sound waves would focus in one spot, which might be above the back, behind it or on it depending on the arch of the circle. Where that focal point lies will affect the further projection of those waves. I wonder, too, how that would affect the tone complexity. Just need to see one, I guess.


Yes, judging by how hard it seems to be to predict how the traditional shape would sound, it seems like the only way to know would be to try it. It could be better, could be worse, could be just different. Most likely just different, I would imagine.

I guess there's no rule that says the top has to be carved with a perfectly centered arch, or the back for that matter, if it makes a difference, they could be offset from each other.

----------


## pelone

I have posted photos of two round bodied mandos--both are loud with great sustain.  I turned down the tops and backs on a lathe. I intuited that the arch of the top could easily handle the downward forces of the bridge.  It seems to have worked as I have been playing them for four years.  I do get the odd look at the occasional jam, however.

----------


## Bill Snyder

The first mandolin I ever built is pretty round but it is a flat top. It is 9 1/2 years old now.

----------

OldSausage

----------


## Bill Snyder

> I thought about making one with a circular pocket that a perfectly round soundboard fits into. Thought it would be fun to play with different sound ports, bracing, and graduations. I also thought it would be cool to be able to ship out an instrument with swappable soundboards, one transverse braced oval hole and one parallel tone bar braced. But there are just too many other variables that need to work together for that to be a feasible idea.


Like this? 


The above are Rigels. They are not removable, but the a-styles certainly do appear to be circular.

----------


## Marty Jacobson

Yep! I didn't realize Pete's A style soundboards were circular, either. 

He can string them up without gluing in the soundboard, though, and that's where I got the idea for the modular soundboard.

----------


## Jim Garber

This roundish one has a carved spruce (?) top and a flat maple back. It is now set up and actually plays quite nicely but with much more emphasis on the treble than the bass. I would think it has something to do with the top carving and bracing.

----------


## OldSausage

> I have posted photos of two round bodied mandos--both are loud with great sustain.  I turned down the tops and backs on a lathe. I intuited that the arch of the top could easily handle the downward forces of the bridge.  It seems to have worked as I have been playing them for four years.  I do get the odd look at the occasional jam, however.


Thanks - I found the thread about them: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...s-in-the-Round

Here are the pics - very nice:

----------


## fatt-dad

I have nothing to contribute, but have recently been thinking the same question.  Not sure what got me going, but it just seemed curious to me.  What about a round mandolin?

f-d

----------


## Capt. E

Round mando-banjos seem to work fine. 

Also a modular top sounds kind of cool. Not sure of the benefits or how it would sound, but cool non-the-less.

----------


## OldSausage

So, I'm thinking any attempt to put shoulders where the neck meets the body negates the round concept I'm aiming for. I'm wondering if this sort of design would work:

----------


## Marty Jacobson

I dig it! Hey, you could make the back plate adjustable depth, so you could change the inherent EQ of the instrument...
And you could inlay "NOT A BANJO" on the fretboard...

----------


## fatt-dad

> So, I'm thinking any attempt to put shoulders where the neck meets the body negates the round concept I'm aiming for. I'm wondering if this sort of design would work:


x-braced?

f-d

----------


## Tom Haywood

> I have posted photos of two round bodied mandos--both are loud with great sustain.  I turned down the tops and backs on a lathe. I intuited that the arch of the top could easily handle the downward forces of the bridge.  It seems to have worked as I have been playing them for four years.  I do get the odd look at the occasional jam, however.


Please post a video.

----------


## OldSausage

> I dig it! Hey, you could make the back plate adjustable depth, so you could change the inherent EQ of the instrument...


Well, I can't quite picture how I would make the back plate depth adjustable. But I wouldn't want to go to all the trouble of building a mandolin I didn't like sound of, and that would be the most likely outcome. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be possible to set up a rig so that one could actually test multiple front and back plates during the process of shaping them. Does anyone do that?




> And you could inlay "NOT A BANJO" on the fretboard...


I would be sorely tempted to do that.




> x-braced?


Well, I would have to try both eventually, but I think the first one would be x-braced.

----------


## Tom Haywood

Looking at pelone's pictures, it appears the curvature inside the top, together with the depth of the sides, projects the focal point substantially past the the back plate. That means the initial waves off the top strike the back in many places - same as any other mandolin shape in general, so probably no unusual concern necessary regarding to the volume and tone.

----------


## Marty Jacobson

> Well, I can't quite picture how I would make the back plate depth adjustable. But I wouldn't want to go to all the trouble of building a mandolin I didn't like sound of, and that would be the most likely outcome. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be possible to set up a rig so that one could actually test multiple front and back plates during the process of shaping them. Does anyone do that?


Not really in that way. There are numerous ways to get feedback from the plate you're working on.. tapping, scratching, flexing, etc., but nothing's "real" until it's all glued up and the finish is on it.

That being said, Pete Langdell has been known to string up Rigel mandolins in the white without gluing the top on. It sits in a rebate and the plate acts like a truss in cross-section, so the plate gets jammed up against the rebate and it's pretty much locked in place.

For the back plate, you'd either have to use machine screws like Dr. David Cohen did on his "test mule" mandolin, or a variation on that theme, using cleats attached to the screws so no screws need to pass through the plate itself. Or you could use some other kind of clamping mechanism on the back, but the clamps need to be at fairly regular intervals due to the fact that the plate is wiggling, wriggling, twisting, flip-flopping, writhing, and reeling all over the place. A hoop tensioner would probably be ideal, but then you really get into b*njo territory, aesthetically.

----------


## OldSausage

Well, that's very interesting, I think I can see how you could build a test rig now. C-shaped wooden hoop on the top (with space for the strings to come out), full hoop on the bottom so they can hold the plates to the sides by the edges, and then clamp the two hoops firmly. Build some kind of tailpiece into the C-shaped hoop, and then some kind of removable neck to attach the strings to, which could attach to some fixture in the pre-built sides.

The hoops could have rebates to hold the plates laterally. Actually not even hoops, just a square sheet with the circles cut out.

----------


## Tom Haywood

Or maybe "Not A Banjolin". 14 frets to make that declaration.

----------


## mandroid

I  salvaged  a Uke Banjo, had it made up with a flat spruce head,, there was some arch put in the rim.

but the spruce soft summer rings compressed so it is a little hammock.. got  Nylon GDAE strings 

fingerboard extends over, .. fingerboard on banjos typically stop at the edge of the head.

----------


## OldSausage

> Or maybe "Not A Banjolin". 14 frets to make that declaration.


I'd certainly have learned a few things about how to do inlay by the time I got there  :Smile:

----------


## Kirk Pey

Here is the late John Wynn's website that has a couple of mandolins that almost meet your description.( round but with a scroll ) I couldn't figure out how to post just the pictures so hopefully here is a link to his website.http://www.wynnmandolins.com/pages/w...-80s-wynns.php
1970-80's pages

----------


## Kirk Pey

I forgot to say it's about the 18th or so from the top of the page.

----------


## OldSausage

> Here is the late John Wynn's website that has a couple of mandolins that almost meet your description.( round but with a scroll ) I couldn't figure out how to post just the pictures so hopefully here is a link to his website.http://www.wynnmandolins.com/pages/w...-80s-wynns.php
> 1970-80's pages


Thank you so much, Kirk, what a wonderful page of mandolins, I got lost in that for some time. I'm very happy to include the round one with a scroll, and I'll even let in the A style just below it because, although it's not quite round, it certainly has the round "esprit":

----------


## Kirk Pey

Sausage. I don't know if you saw this one. (third one down on this page) http://www.wynnmandolins.com/pages/w...0s-wynns-2.php
Where is the sound hole? Sorry again for not posting the picture.

----------


## pelone

David---Those are they.  I applaud your ability to find them in the vast depth of the Mandolin Cafe.   The three holed mando has a cedar top that I salvaged from a log fished out of the Pacific in Bandon, Oregon.  The back, sides and neck are of spalted maple that I had bought from a mom and pop lumber  outfit along the Oregon coast.  The other is of Port Orford cedar with back, sides and neck of oak.  Both are nice a loud with good bottom.  David--what is your interest in round bodied mandos.   Are you interested in building one.  I thought that I was coming up with an original design, but--after some research I found that plenty of folks have experimented with the same over all look.  Including Gretch guitars.  Anyhow, I enjoy them--they may more correctly be labeled "folk instruments."

----------

fatt-dad

----------


## OldSausage

> Sausage. I don't know if you saw this one. (third one down on this page) http://www.wynnmandolins.com/pages/w...0s-wynns-2.php
> Where is the sound hole? Sorry again for not posting the picture.


No, I missed that - thanks for pointing it out, and I'm happy to post the pics. Nice detail on the back of this one:



It is quite the mystery how the sound gets out. Perhaps there are ports in the side that we can't see?

----------


## OldSausage

> David--what is your interest in round bodied mandos.   Are you interested in building one.  I thought that I was coming up with an original design, but--after some research I found that plenty of folks have experimented with the same over all look.  Including Gretch guitars.  Anyhow, I enjoy them--they may more correctly be labeled "folk instruments."


Thanks very much Pelone. Well, I've just been thinking about it and was wondering if there were many out there. I'd love to build a mandolin one day, but it probably won't be very soon, as I have quite a few things on my list to do "one day". But when I do, I think it just might be a round one. For now it's more of an intellectual (or, um not-so-intellectual) exercise.

If you are ever able to make a video or audio clip of your mandolins being played, I know I and others here would love to hear what they sound like.

----------


## OldSausage

A Coulter mandolin, which has partially stolen my headstock concept:



The Coulter mando-cello:



with some more info here:

http://harpguitars.net/blog/2012/09/coulter-continued/

----------

Jim Adwell

----------


## Charles E.

Dvid, I see you have found some "round" mandolins. When I read your first post, I thought of the Framus "Black Rose Baby"........

http://www.framus-vintage.de/modules...tID=4672&cl=EN

I still want to build one of these.

----------


## OldSausage

Well, that is undoubtedly cool, although more of a vidalia onion shape:

----------

Charles E.

----------


## Charles E.

A person could use this design as a platform for a perfectly round mandolin (if they were so inclined), but it lacks a cut away.
So, in comes the "Baby Rose De-Lux".........

http://www.framus-vintage.de/modules...tID=4672&cl=EN

Could be fun......

----------


## OldSausage

Gotta love that cutaway:

----------

Charles E.

----------


## pelone

David---when I crafted the top and bottoms I mounted a biscuit/disk to the lathe--came in from the front using the tool to work a nice and smooth slightly arched configuration then smoothed with grades of sandpaper.  I then used a drill press with a forstner bit set at my desired thickness just above the bed of the press and drilled out a honeycomb pattern to create the concave portion.  After chiseling and planing out the debris and then using a sanding disk I was able to shape the inside of the top and bottom into what looks like a large wooden contact lens.  I held the top up to a bright light and continued to remove material around the inside surface to achieve a nice tone by tapping.  The photos,obviously, do not show that I installed a graphite rod under the tops from the heel of the neck to the tailpiece area to counter the pressure of the strings as compression may draw the nut and tailpiece "two ends against the middle".  What I do know is that they stay in tune really well--perhaps due to the ridge nature of the longitudinal strength.

I would love to see any photos that you use as you start on your project.

----------


## Marty Jacobson

Pelone, that's cool. You could easily turn both the inside and out on the lathe. It would actually be a pretty easy project, compared to the deep hollow forms I used to do... a vacuum chuck would make it a snap, but you could use a CA glued fixture after flipping the part, too.

----------


## OldSausage

Yes, that's amazing, Pelone, you really figured that out nicely. I promise when I get around to building this thing I will share the pics with all.

----------


## JimC11

I think this photo will fit your bill. It is a mandolin that my grandfather played. I never saw him play it because he was mustard gassed during WW1 and I never remember him not being in bed with lung cancer when I was a child. 
Now I hope you can help me. The name on the mandolin is 'Florence'. Has anyone ever heard or seen any information on a manufacturer named 'Florence'? I've searched the web many times but never came up with anything.

----------

OldSausage

----------


## mandroid

> So, I'm thinking any attempt to put shoulders where the neck meets the body negates the round concept I'm aiming for. I'm wondering if this sort of design would work:


Rim stick .. continuation of the neck through the pot. .  

then you could add an X brace across the spruce  to support the top.

of course the 2 , top and stick part of the neck,  would not touch.

----------


## jso

I've just returned to the forum after months of being busy doing other things, and found this delightful thread with some images of some lovely mandolins.

However, I think Old Sausage has limited the enquiry too much.What he should really be looking for is a perfectly _spherical_ mandolin.  :Laughing: 

Now _there's_ a challenge for the imagination. And an even greater one for a builder and a player.

----------


## Jim Garber

> IHowever, I think Old Sausage has limited the enquiry too much.What he should really be looking for is a perfectly _spherical_ mandolin.


Here ya go... from April 1 in the distant past... a real *bowl*back.

----------


## jso

Brilliant!  :Smile:

----------


## Dave Hicks

> I think this photo will fit your bill. It is a mandolin that my grandfather played. I never saw him play it because he was mustard gassed during WW1 and I never remember him not being in bed with lung cancer when I was a child. 
> Now I hope you can help me. The name on the mandolin is 'Florence'. Has anyone ever heard or seen any information on a manufacturer named 'Florence'? I've searched the web many times but never came up with anything.


This probably would get more responses as a separate thread in this section of the forum.

D.H.

----------


## Jim Garber

> I think this photo will fit your bill. It is a mandolin that my grandfather played. I never saw him play it because he was mustard gassed during WW1 and I never remember him not being in bed with lung cancer when I was a child. 
> Now I hope you can help me. The name on the mandolin is 'Florence'. Has anyone ever heard or seen any information on a manufacturer named 'Florence'? I've searched the web many times but never came up with anything.


I have a feeling that this is a modified Blue-Comet style mandolin. Check nout the shape of the peghead and the plastic of the pickguard. It also looks like whoever did the modification might have used the grommets. These are two very common variants of the Blue Comet, one without and one with a resonator back.

----------


## Tom Haywood

Sorry, no mandolin content, but I'm certain that understanding the science discussed here is necessary to the creation of the perfect round mandolin, and certainly to builders working with the concept of mass.

----------

Marty Jacobson, 

OldSausage, 

Pete Jenner, 

Randolph

----------


## Marty Jacobson

That's pretty fascinating, Tom. Best part was watching how they were lapping the sphere. I realized it's like a lathe, but in two axes. Turn a part in a lathe, and you get a cylinder. Tumble a part, and you will eventually get a sphere.

----------


## OldSausage

> Rim stick .. continuation of the neck through the pot. .  
> 
> then you could add an X brace across the spruce  to support the top.
> 
> of course the 2 , top and stick part of the neck,  would not touch.


Can anyone tell me if this would really be necessary - that is, is the reason that most mandolins are some variation on the egg shape because a round mandolin would be structurally unsound without doing something like having a stiffener inside the body? Or would you just have to try it and see?

----------


## Marty Jacobson

The reason why banjos have the neck-through type construction is that they do not have a back, and a cylinder with only one end capped will deform like a potato chip (or hyperbolic paraboloid, if you prefer :-). 
A closed cylindrical form will have sufficient strength if the back and top plates are similar in structure to a normal mandolin and the rim is of sufficient strength. Basically, the fact that it's round is practically irrelevant.

----------


## OldSausage

Thanks Marty - super cool!

----------


## Bill Snyder

So David how goes the gearing up and construction process? Only knowing you from your MC posts and seeing your Youtube videos I suspect if you do build a mando it will be a pretty good first effort.

----------


## Petrus

I'd like a nice nested Klein bottle transparent bowlback. Still working on how to fit the strings, though.

----------


## pfox14

Gibson's Alrite Model D wasn't exactly round but close.

----------


## Pete Jenner

Have you started building yet Dave?

----------


## Paul Hostetter

> I doubt that an arched top would be practical, if even possible, on a circular body.


I've always sprung in radiused braces, and I'm fairly certain that's what Iucci and DeWick did. If it's dead flat, it sounds like a banjo. If it has a bit of tension built in, it speaks very differently.

Here's an octave mandolin I built, based on the Iucci:

----------

OldSausage

----------


## Petrus

Saw this one sold on eBay recently for $80.

----------

OldSausage

----------


## Petrus

> I have a feeling that this is a modified Blue-Comet style mandolin. Check out the shape of the peghead and the plastic of the pickguard. It also looks like whoever did the modification might have used the grommets. These are two very common variants of the Blue Comet, one without and one with a resonator back.


My Artistic ResoHolic (the brand is real, the nickname is my own nomenclature) is nearly identical to the third photo in post #60 above -- f holes, pickguard (mine is silver-gray), and sixteen holes around the outer rim of the second body. For some reason, all the grommets (the round metal rings around the little holes) are gone. I can't imagine who would take them all off. Any ideas where to find rings to fit those holes? The little screens I can probably make myself by punching out holes from a real screen.  I'm looking for a scallop tailpiece cover too.

----------


## Mandocarver

> My Artistic ResoHolic (the brand is real, the nickname is my own nomenclature) is nearly identical to the third photo in post #60 above -- f holes, pickguard (mine is silver-gray), and sixteen holes around the outer rim of the second body. For some reason, all the grommets (the round metal rings around the little holes) are gone. I can't imagine who would take them all off. Any ideas where to find rings to fit those holes? The little screens I can probably make myself by punching out holes from a real screen.  I'm looking for a scallop tailpiece cover too.


For grommets, try http://cbgitty.com (CB Gitty Crafter Supplies).

----------

Petrus

----------


## OldSausage

> So David how goes the gearing up and construction process? Only knowing you from your MC posts and seeing your Youtube videos I suspect if you do build a mando it will be a pretty good first effort.


Thanks Bill!




> Have you started building yet Dave?


Well, I've started building a more conventional A style first - there's so much for me to learn here that I think going straight to a less conventional design would have been a challenge. Also if I built a round mandolin first and it sounded really bad, I'd never know if it was because it was round or because I was such a crummy builder (although I guess the latter would be the safest bet). I have the top and back carved, but it will be slow going for a while, I aim to have it finished by the summer. If that goes well, maybe I'll try a round one next year.

----------


## Pete Jenner

Yeah - as some of the greats have said to me (and I paraphrase), if it is mandolin shaped, it will likely sound like a mandolin.

----------

OldSausage

----------


## Bill Snyder

> Yeah - as some of the greats have said to me (and I paraphrase),* if it is mandolin shaped, it will likely sound like a mandolin.*


Exactly.  :Mandosmiley:

----------

OldSausage, 

Pete Jenner

----------


## OldSausage

I like the look of that watermelon.

----------


## jasona

I actually played it (or its sibling). Sounds really great! I would have said "sweet and juicy" but Bill beat me to that joke years ago...

----------


## Astro

Well here's a cool looking  Octave : http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/71526

----------


## Mandocarver

Very interesting thread. OK, so it's a resonator instrument rather than carved-top, but I'm intrigued by the Dobro Tenortrope tenor guitars and am planning on making my own version. I'm also wondering if it might make a good mandolin banjo-type instrument with a 14.5 inch scale...

----------


## Paul Hostetter

The reason the people who made these used a different (pear-shaped) body was because the string tension on a mandolin is many times greater than on a tenor banjo. The pear-shaped body offered a lot more structural support for the neck. (This is also why most mandolin banjos have pulled-up necks.)




This thread has really strayed from the Iucci/Tieri instruments that started it.

PS: I own one of those Framus Black Rose Baby mandolins—plywood junk, best as a wallhanger.

----------


## Pete Jenner

My Pagan started life as two circles.

----------


## Marty Jacobson

Hey Pete, all life started as two circles. :-)

----------


## Pete Jenner

Oh, I thought it was only one round thing and a long wiggly thing but you could be on to something Marty. I'm going to put my plans into a Petri dish with some nutrient gel and see what happens.

----------


## OldSausage

> My Pagan started life as two circles.


Well, one of the things that inspired this idea for me was noticing how some F5s seem to look like a circle with various attachments. And then if you look at the original Loar A5, it's really rather round.

http://www.mandolinarchive.com/gibson/serial/74003

----------


## Pete Jenner

I  thought you were just playing around.

----------


## Bob Sears

This is a very interesting thread with great pictures. Thanks to everyone who contributed

----------


## Petrus

> I like the look of that watermelon.


I like that some of the holes in the Swiss cheese one seem to be functional sound holes.  :Smile:

----------


## Bill Snyder

So David have you finished an instrument of any shape yet?

----------


## Marty Jacobson

..

----------


## pelone

David----since making the two circular mandos that are shown in post number 25, I have completed an octave.  There is nothing new under the sun---when I had completed the mandos I ran across some vintage photos of a Gretsch guitar using the same form.  I built the instruments with a graphite rod running longitudinally from the top block running longitudinally to the tail block to work against the two ends against the middle and minimize any lifting or shortening along the string line.  I can leave these instruments hanging for a month, come back to them and they are still right in tune.  I believe that without the graphite rods that a pulling up of the neck might occur as happens in some banjos.  I always get the odd response when I show up at a jam--attitudes change when their volume cuts
 through some of the loud players.

----------


## Reed Bennett

Concerning round mandolins.......I just posted three photos on the Mandolin Cafe Forum Photos Section of a mandolin I recently acquired..........a 1921 Coulter mandolin. There is an article about F.E. Coulter in the November 2015 issue of Vintage Guitar magazine. Thanks.

----------


## Jacqke

Here's one other picture. I know that there are others from this photo series in one of the forum posts. It's on Wikipedia now, but originally came from a Finnish government archive from World War II.

----------


## Franc Homier Lieu

This one just popped up in another thread:



http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...nkey-headstock

----------


## Trish0803

I have a round bodied mandolin which I am looking for information on

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...nkey-headstock

----------


## MikeEdgerton

I still think it was made in Vietnam. The round body doesn't make this unique and it certainly wasn't built by any of the American builders that built round mandolins. What makes this unique is the headstock carving.

----------


## Paul Hostetter

I see why you'd guess Vietnam, but I think it looks European, ref: the bridge, the tuners, and the style of the carving, which owes more to cuckoo clocks than to netsuke. And it looks to have been made before WWII. 





I also think that if this was made somewhere in Asia, it was commissioned by a Westerner who had a damaged mandolin from which some parts were salvaged and redeployed. And I would suggest China, because of the carving.

Looks quite cool, I'd love to hear it!

----------


## MikeEdgerton

Look at the carved bat mandolin linked to in her other post. There is French writing and a dated label on that one. Looks kind of the same. That one was created for a gathering of the French colonies in the early 1900's. Apparently the Vietnam colony was building fine carved instruments for the French market. It looks Europeon because that's who they learned from and built for. I still think it's Vietnamese.

----------

Paul Hostetter

----------


## mandroid

It is round , but a Uke  http://www.gretschguitars.com/produc...blue-sunburst/

----------


## Jim Garber

> It is round , but a Uke  http://www.gretschguitars.com/produc...blue-sunburst/


That is a copy of the older Gretsch ukes, same color too. Lyon & Healy also made their Camp Ukes in that shape, but I don't think they ever made a Camp Mandolin.

----------


## Beanzy

For info/ ideas;




 though not very round at the front 

And round tenor guitars; for ideas;



There used to be a wooden arch-topped circular bass banjo/ mandolin on Pamela's Music website, but I cant find the pic since she changed the site.

----------

zedmando

----------

