Top sinkage

[manjitsu]

I was reading a description of a 1918 Gibson A-4 on a very reputable dealer's website, and part of the text caught my eye:

"top has a some sinking but the instrument plays and sounds great; The tone is much more woody than a mandolin with a fully arched top"

I have never seen a mandolin with a sunken top represented in such a way before. Does top sinkage in and of itself really have much of an affect on an instrument's sound?

-Chris

[Jim MacDaniel]

He could have been even more creative, and billed it as a "depressed arch" model.

[Bob A]

Thrill to the Enhanced Acoustics of the Power Recurve design (patent applied for).

Sometimes a bit of snake oil helps to get the description down without choking.

[sunburst]

Sometimes a bit of snake oil helps to get the description down without choking.
As in:
"good for slide"

I must admit, that one's creative. Who wants that big ol' high arch anyway?

[manjitsu]

Well, it certainly sounded like a highly questionable spin on a structural issue that is to my knowledge universally considered detrimental to an instrument's value. Snake oil indeed!

-Chris

[peteymando]

I would like to know the answer to this question also and the question was,does the top sinkage affect the sound in a detrimental way? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[Bob A]

Well, I'd say the detriment comes after you hear the CRAAACK/TWAANGGG.

There's frequently a little bit of a dip beneath the bridge; hard to quantify. One should check the condition of the transverse brace regularly. (Just look thru the endpin hole). If it is detaching, get it reglued pronto. Serious depressions are usually attributable to a loose or missing brace.

[allenhopkins]

Serious depressions are usually attributable to a loose or missing brace.

Or to the end of a long relationship...

[sunburst]

As for the sound, in general, a lower arch/flatter top has more of a flat top sound, and a higher arch has more of the characteristic archtop sound. As a top flattens/sinks, it might move in the direction of a flat top sound. Is that detrimental? I guess it depends on who you ask, and on the instrument in question.

[bgmando]

I've wondered the same about a Gibson snakehead archtop guitar that I let pass through my hands at a good price because of a sunken top.

[mythicfish]

A number of Gibson As that I've played with perfect arches have been relatively unresponsive ... perhaps as a result of having been carved too thick. Others with slight (stable) sinkage at the bridge have shown excellent volume and sweet,fat tone. Tubbiness? ... That's a term I reserve for good, open-back banjos. And no, that's not an oxymoron.

Curt