Handmade flat tops

[tater71]

Who makes high-quality flat top mandolins?

[cooper4205]

will parsons, chris baird (arches), brian dean, keith newell are a few i can think of from a recent thread, there are probably more but i can't think of them. you've also got the mid-mo's and old flatiron pancakes, too.

i have aParsons Flat-top (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=15;t=40611) that i really like. great sounding and looking flat-top. he's worth checking out if you live in TN and usually can have one to you pretty quickly.

since i have one of will's mandolins i am pretty partial to it, but i have heard nothing but good about the other builders, so they are definitely worth checking out.

[MikeB]

Ever heard of Stefan Sobell? Probably the #1, in reputation, at least.

[Steve L]

Hmmm, I thought Sobell's instruments were all induced arched tops. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[roan]

Gypsy's Music (http://www.gypsysmusic.com/) in Arizona makes some nice flat-tops. There's some good information about them in the NAMM 2007 thread.

http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin....64;st=0 (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=15;t=41064;st=0)

[Bill Snyder]

Most flat tops have a bit of induced arch. Eventually if they start life as truly flat they usually suffer from a sinking top at some point.

[David Newton]

Another shameless self-promotion:

[Dave Hanson]

Fylde make wonderful flat tops, both mandolin players in The Dubliners play Fyldes.

Dave H

[Fliss]

I visited Phil Davidson's workshop yesterday and tried a beautiful flat top (photo attached) again with a slight arch to both front and back. It has a very ergonomic, easy to play neck, and a great tone with bags of sustain.

Other British based builders of high quality flat tops include Moon, Oakwood and Kai Tonjes.

And I have to put in a good word for Canadian-built Garrison mandolins, since I have a Garrison flat top! The Garrison is a true flat top and doesn't have any kind of arch; it does have carbon fibre bracing which is unusual, and it has a great tone, very warm and mellow.

Fliss

[gypsy1]

Thanks for the mention roan, we have just put up our first sound track. Kevin Haung, jazz player, laid down an original tune, we recorded 7 in all, the rest are to come. We also will have some vid. coming soon of his unique fingerstyle playing. So you are welcome to give a listen. If you go to my page scroll down past beautiful Susie, and hit the play button.

Thanks,
Walt

[Darren Kern]

Another Cafe member loaned me a Bill Davis flattop for a couple months, and it is one sweet mandolin. If I could have, I would've bought it on the spot. I can't find my pics, but Scott posted some of his, here's the thread- LINK (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=15;t=22637;hl=bill+and+davi s+and+flattop)

[odeboy]

Davis mandolins in the Wichita, KS area are great, but you can't go wrong with a Weber ( Y2K ) flat top. They have several models available.

[PseudoCelt]

Hmmm, I thought Sobell's instruments were all induced arched tops. #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif
I'm pretty sure the majority of Sobell mandolins and OMs have carved tops, with flat rosewood or carved maple backs. I think he has made a few OMs with guitar-type bridges that would have a flat or induced arch top.

Patrick

[Joe Mendel]

Peter Sawchyn make a flatiron pancake that is very nice.

[Mike Crocker]

Also, Jimmy Moon of Scotland, www.moonguitars.co.uk.

Peace, Mooh.

[Bruce Clausen]

Guitar builder Bob Laughlin in Vancouver BC has built a small number of high quality flat top mandolins (slight induced arch, fine woods, CF rods in neck, beautiful work): www.laughlinguitars.ca. He has actually lowered his price since building mine a few years ago.

BC

[steve V. johnson]

I got a used (very, very little used) Arches Flat Top from a guy in the SF Bay Area. Walnut b/s, spruce top. It was splendid.

As it turns out, it wasn't 'mine,' but a friend here in town bought it, so now I can play it whenever I want. I'm blown away by how beautifully it has changed, since I had it, with regular playing. Just lovely. Really an outstanding instrument.

stv

[Chad Thorne]

If you go to my page scroll down past beautiful Susie...
Yeah, I wasn't able to do that, Walt...http://www.websmileys.com/sm/happy/058.gif

My wife, another Susie (Susanna), looked at the pic and said, "Wow, check out Susie!"

Kidding. We did play the audio link and it sounds wonderful.

[Steve L]

The design and construction section of Sobell's website describes his tops as "curved or carved". I don't think he makes flat top mando family instruments.
Dave Freshwater's name doesn't come up as often as it used to. A lot of folks her a few years ago had some of his instruments and seemed to like them.

[Narayan Kersak]

Andrew Mowry is making me a top secret (different) flat top. You may want to contact him.

[stevem]

I spent the weekend with an Arches flattop that was perfect in every way. Chris' wait list is probably longer than Lincoln's beard though.

Looking forward to seeing what you and Andrew come up with Ralian...

[Joe Mendel]

Arches are very nice, too. I have # 13 and it is without a doubt, the best sounding flat top I've ever heard.

[Phil Hopkins]

Well, I think Chris has stopped making flat tops.

I posted pics of my new Newell in the post a pic section if anyone would like to see it. But I'll certainly weigh in with a big recommendation for Keith's mandolins. A similar thread on flat tops ("Under the Radar") actually pointed me toward him when I was looking for a flat top, so I thought I'd chip in my thoughts about mine. I got mine last week, so pretty darn fast build.

I've never played a freshly built mandolin before, and it's kind of amazing to me the changes they undergo the first hours of playing. Keith told me last weekend when I worried a bit about the setup and the tone from the G string that it's still (the first few hours) trying to figure out if it's an airplane or a mandolin. After playing it several hours everyday, all I can say is that it's figured it out! It is a mandolin! What a mandolin! It may not be an airplane, but this little baby flies!

I put an arm rest on it, and I had to adjust a little to the different geometries of a flat top; but every day I'm more and more impressed with it, and I started pretty impressed. It's hard to imagine a sweeter sounding mandolin. It's got gorgeous tone. It is balanced across the courses, has tons of sustain, and is just so easy to play. I'm about three times a better player than I was a week ago, it seems like.

And the quality of his craftsmanship is incredible. I can't believe the quality of mandolin I got for the price I paid.

[John Flynn]

Big Muddy, formerly Mid-Missouri Mandolin Company, makes great ones.
http://www.midmomandolin.com/index.php