Does anyone know when the first F Style mandolins started being built? Were the A style ones first? It seems like that would be the case.
Does anyone know when the first F Style mandolins started being built? Were the A style ones first? It seems like that would be the case.
Orville was building both styles before the creation of the company on October 11, 1902. His original patent was for an A style mandolin. The company built them from its inception although they quickly abandoned the method that Orville had patented. Take a glance through the Mandolin Archive by year to see some early examples. For more on Orville Gibson take a look at Roger Siminoff's Orville page.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
Well, what were mandolins like prior to A and F ones?
Most pre-1900 mandolins are what we call "bowl-backs," with construction derived from Renaissance lutes. They had bulbous bodies composed of a number of "staves" or "ribs" glued together, a top that was essentially flat but had a bend or "cant" across it latitudinally, a round or oval sound-hole, and a generally slightly shorter scale.
This YouTube vid compares a bowl-back, a '20's A-model Gibson with a carved top and oval sound-hole, and a modern carved-top, F-hole mandolin. It doesn't include an F-model instrument, but the body points and carved scroll that characterize F-models are (basically) ornamentation, not acoustical features -- though you can get an argument on that point from a few Cafe regulars!
Bowl-back mandolins are still built, as are flat-top, flat-back mandolins, but the "A-style" and "F-style" mandolins which I'd guess you're thinking of, both have carved, graduated tops, and either oval sound-holes, or the "f-holes" of the Ellis instrument played in the vid.
Orville Gibson is generally credited as the originator of the carved-top mandolin, derived from his belief that the violin family, all of which have carved tops, represented the ideal of musical instrument construction. His designs have become pretty much standard in the US -- not without significant exceptions -- and lead to the general vernacular of "A" and "F" mandolins. Those initials, of course, represent Gibson model designations, and don't stand for verbal descriptions (like "Artist" or "Florentine"), as some will tell you.
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
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
I had downloaded this shot for another thread, but this would be one of the earliest F models made by Orville before there was a Gibson company.
I really prefer A style mandolins, but I would like to have a playable bowl back. Maybe just as a wall hanger though. My belly would probably keep me from playing it.
I like that Gibson is the capitol.
There's a work-around. It involves slipping the back around so it's pretty much down, with the top level or horizontal, or, well, at the top. Yes, it's a bit odd, and involves a bit of a reach with your left arm to fret it, but it works.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
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Ha! Where there’s a will, there’s a way! I guess one would call it a “lap mandolin”.
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