What is the F-style?

[EdtheSquid]

Where did the f-style come from? What florentine design did Gibson draw on to design this body style? Is there any functional intent for the little point on the bottom bout?

[JEStanek]

I've always felt Bob Develis's page explained it very well. (http://bellsouthpwp.net/r/d/rdevelli/Gibson%20F-4.htm)

Jamie

[MikeEdgerton]

The F word.... Florentine.... :crying:

When playing with the mandolin in your lap the little bottom point will actually help keep the mandolin in the proper position. That doesn't mean that was the reason it was put there but I suspect it was.

[mrmando]

If the player to your right hits a wrong note, you can poke him in the thigh with that point. If the player on your left hits a wrong note, you can poke him in the ribs with the headstock.

[Paul Kotapish]

To my eye, Orville Gibson's original designs and their later refinement by other engineers at Gibson are very much in keeping with many popular design ideas of that era. Art Nouveau (AKA Jugendstil) was all the rage throughout most of the western world at the turn of the century, and other luthiers were drawing on some of the same influences for different, but equally curvilinear instrument shapes.

I suspect that "Florentine" was just a marketing term that hinted at that extravagant and exotic form of the new mandolin and guitar designs. There is nothing that hints of any particular inspiration from Firenza in the shapes, other than the references to the classical Ionian order suggested in Develis's article (linked above).

For a nice little tour of the history of curves in the world of six-string luthiery, check out this online exhibit at the MOMI. (http://www.themomi.org/museum/mfa/Montage.html)http://www.themomi.org/museum/mfa/Montage.html

For a one-stop overview of the visual context of the era, the Wikipedia entry on Art Nouveau (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Nouveau) isn't bad and has a lot of images and links.

[MikeEdgerton]

They weren't described as Florentine until many many years after they were introduced.

[mandozilla]

I think we should call flat back and carved mandolins "American" mandolins in honor of old Orville Gibson. And instead of calling the scroll on F style mandos "Scrolls" how about calling it a more genteel term like "Volute". I think the "Scroll" on a violin/fiddle head stock is called a or the volute.
Just funnin' with ya. :mandosmiley:

[desaljs]

Jamie,

GREAT link. I printed that off, and will read the entire article. I have a feeling I will be learning a lot about mandolins.

Thanks,

[Bob DeVellis]

Glad the link is still proving useful. Apologies for the parts that are out of date. I keep hoping to get a chance to re-vamp all the stuff I have out there but real life keeps interfering, darn it.