So, there was a long thread in the forum about someone's Eastman having an odd top curve: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...astman+profile My "new" '85 Carlson Flatiron a5 jr has a similar profile. The folks at Bernunzio's, where I bought it, thought it was a bit of collapse likely due to it having a tone bar construction but weren't especially concerned. The mando sounds great and even my instructor, who is skeptical about the whole "opening up" thing feels that the sound keeps getting better and better... the mando had been virtually unplayed until I purchased it. Anyhoo, when I saw the photos of that Eastman I got to wondering if this rather uncoventional profile was the way it was built or simply the result of a bit of top collapse. Does anyone else have an a5 jr that has this type of profile? Whatcha all think? s
Just saw this post. I have an 86 JR that I purchased new at Mandolin Brothers many years ago. It has the same profile, always has. The original bridge sits vertically to the plane of the mandolin body, rather than the top, and does not appear to lean forward as do those on the Eastmans on the accompanying thread. There is nothing wrong with your mandolin. It was made that way.
I gave up on someone answering and finally checked back again... in April! Thanks so much for sharing your information.