oval holes?

[reb0964]

Are mandolins with oval holes braced different from those with f style holes....thinking of trying my next one with an oval hole....thanks,,, Russell

[Mando Medic]

Russ, They sure are different. Usually one or two braces horizonitally across the underside of the top. Though I have seen a couple that used X braces. Kenc

[Bill Snyder]

Frequently the modern oval holes are X-braced whereas the more common bracing for f holed mandolins is the tone bars. See Peter Coombe's site (http://www.petercoombe.com/Construction.htm) for examples. Also there are several old threads about x-bracing that you can find by doing a search.

[bluegrassplayer]

There is also the transverse(I think that's how you spell it) brace. Here is a pic of one on an '24 Gibson snakehead. #
LINK (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=7;t=21495) Just scroll down a little.