Possibly dumb question, but I've seen seen an explanation of this before. Why do some mandolin have a carved top? What is the benefit of a carved top over a flat top from a sound perspective?
Possibly dumb question, but I've seen seen an explanation of this before. Why do some mandolin have a carved top? What is the benefit of a carved top over a flat top from a sound perspective?
1. Mandolins basically have carved tops, historically, because Orville Gibson, back in the 1890's, thought the violin was "the king of instruments," and that a mandolin with a carved, graduated top, like a violin's, would sound better than the flat or canted (bent) tops that were standard on mandolins. His mandolins also had carved backs, again similar to violins. His designs caught on, and other makers emulated them.
2. Whether flat top or carved/arched top mandolins sound "better" is a matter of taste -- what kind of music you play, what kind of sound you like. They do sound different.
That's my very shorthand summary.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
Has anyone ever come across a flat-topped violin?
Carved top provides its own bracing, to some degree at least, permitting heavier stringing without additional risk of collapse. This would seem to encourage more volume. For the most part, carved mandolins retain far more wood mass than the violins which sparked their design, which creates a filter of sorts, damping higher frequencies.
It's interesting to note that most bowlback mandolins are built with arched tops as well, for the same purpose: increased strength and correspondingly louder sound. This approach in bowlbacks creates lighter instruments, which are capable of superior high-frequency response. The shape of the bowl also decreases the contact of the instrument body with that of the player, again decreasing the damping of higher frequencies.
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