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Thread: Mandola Plans

  1. #1

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    I'm hoping to start work on a replica of an old h2 mandola (like this one: http://www.vintagemandolin.com/16gibsonh2_27782.html )
    I've been poking around here and there, but thought I'd put it to all you talented people in hopes of saving time. I hope that flattery will grease the wheels thanks for any help

  2. #2
    Registered User Bill Snyder's Avatar
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    Bill Snyder

  3. #3
    Adrian Minarovic
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    I believe Roger Siminoff sells Gibson H-5 mandola plans. Ask if there is info on H-4 style in them too...
    Adrian

  4. #4

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    I have the H-5 print, and there are no specs for the H-4 included. Don't know where you can get H-2 prints.
    Very nice set of F-5 prints Adrian! I'd vote for you doing the H-2. How bout a 'cello? # # #

  5. #5
    Adrian Minarovic
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    Hans, give me all the specs and three years and you'll get the plans!
    Adrian

  6. #6

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    Thanks for your help, I've checked Siminoff and Watson Bailey, but they aren't H2 or H4. I'll be checking w/ mr Siminoff. Can anyone tell me what Gibson made mandola necks out of? Was that Mahogany?? Any tips on the Gibson Mandola tonewoods recipe?? I'm particularly interested in that sound. I'm working with a maker who made me an F4 kind of hybrid (15 frets clear of the body and a deeper body....very woody) and he's keen to get the cocktail right. In the absence of drawings, I'll probably be picking a few brains.

  7. #7
    Adrian Minarovic
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    I believe H-2 has same woods as F-2, maple body (may be also birch), spruce top, mahogany neck with ebony center.
    Maybe if you compare f-4 prints with f-5 and do the same to the H-5 prints, just some changes to the top arching and neck.... back and sides are same as H-5.
    Adrian
    Adrian

  8. #8

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    Yes, the necks were mahogany, with an inlayed strip of "ebonized wood" on the very bottom of the neck. Some Gibsons were made with cedar necks, but I think they were early instruments, although I have a 3 point 1912 F-4 with a cedar neck. H-2 would likely have birch for the back and rim.
    Unless you have access to an H-2 mandola, the best way to get the box size would be to compare the F-5 to a H-5, get an idea of the percentage of enlargement (should be somewhere around 15%), and then enlarge an A-4 plan. That should get you close. Don't know what length the neck was, but the H-5 is 11 frets to the body if I remember right. If you want that kind of tone, you should stick to a similar neck. A 15 fret neck will not sound the same.
    Someone on Cafe undoubtedly has one of these mandolas...a few quick measurements would be helpful. # #

  9. #9
    Adrian Minarovic
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    Yes, that's right, Hans. It is ebonized maple in the necks. I don't know why I wrote ebony. Maybe too much work hurts the rest of my brain cells. -g-
    And the peghead overlays were pear...
    Adrian
    Adrian

  10. #10

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    Any thoughts on birch instead of beech??? We're working on the 15% formula at the minute. I bet you're right about someone having an H2...any idea about who that may be??? Should I post a new thread somewhere else?? You may have guessed I'm an infrequent ciontributor. I have some ebony...but would that be a waste of ebony to use it in the neck?? How does one "ebonize" maple anyway. Is considering a truss rod( it is a long neck after all) utter heresy??

  11. #11
    Registered User PaulD's Avatar
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    Do a search in the 'Cafe archives... maybe some of the owners would be able to grab some dimensions for you.

    Here are a few I found:
    fiddlernelson
    grsnovi (has some dimensions)
    Mike Thomas (nice blacktop)

    I hope you'll share whatever you can find out.

    Paul Doubek



    "... beauty is not found in the excessive but what is lean and spare and subtle" - Terry Tempest Williams

  12. #12
    Adrian Minarovic
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    "Ebonized" means that it is thoroughly dyed black. Just like the colored veneers sold at hobby shops, only thicker. You can use maple in natural color if you don't mind the color. Or you can use some masking tape after sealing, and spray black color on the strip... Would look almost identical to original...
    You may also use one piece mahogany.
    Adrian

  13. #13
    Registered User Steve Davis's Avatar
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    Here are some measurements.
    Steve Davis

    I should really be practicing instead of sitting in front of the computer.

  14. #14

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    Thanks to one and all...those measurements are great...I'll keep you posted of progress. We're sourcing the wedges for the top at the minute

  15. #15

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    I was looking at the measurements off o Smart's website, the link that Steve Davis posted, and I was curious about the maximum arch heights. On a mandolin it was 3/8"+ and on a mandola 1/2". I thought that they would be closer to 9/16" on a mandolin and 5/8" on a mandola.
    I am also curious of the top thickness. Doesn't a longer scale instrument have less string tension, and if so, wouldn't you want to make the top thinner for that reason?

  16. #16
    _________________ grandmainger's Avatar
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    I also have a question about the measurements from the Lawrence Smart page. I was looking at the Mandola and Mandocello measurements... They are the same! Does that mean that the only difference would be tuning? Or is it a mistake?

    Germain

  17. #17

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    oy

  18. #18
    Registered User PaulD's Avatar
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    Germain wrote:
    Quote Originally Posted by
    I also have a question about the measurements from the Lawrence Smart page. I was looking at the Mandola and Mandocello measurements... They are the same!
    I looked at the page and didn't catch that... I assume it's a mistake, because in the body of the Web page he states:
    Quote Originally Posted by
    Gibson mandocello scale length is 24 ¾". When I designed the mandocello in my quartet I settled on a scale length of 25". This gave me a body size (with the bridge sitting near the middle of the top) that seemed manageable and playable, but large enough to produce the desired low-end response. I know of a few mandocellos with a 27" scale which seem to work well, and since the cello will probably be mostly playing bass lines, 27" is likely not too cumbersome.
    Paul Doubek
    "... beauty is not found in the excessive but what is lean and spare and subtle" - Terry Tempest Williams

  19. #19
    Registered User Tom Smart's Avatar
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    Re: Lawrence's "The Modern Mandolin" article. You're right that the cello measurements given in the sidebar are the same as the mandola measurements. The cello measurements are wrong. It should be much larger, as Paul notes. It's also worth mentioning that the article is 10 years old, and Lawrence's ideas and models have evolved since then. Most of the concepts still apply, but he's changed his approach to a couple of things.

    I would not necessarily recommend using his measurements to make an H-2 copy, because that's not his model. Lawrence does things different than the old Gibsons, and that's especially true with regard to mandolas. That said, if you're interested in doing things more his way, I have a brand-spanking-new A model mandola that I can take measurements from. I can't measure graduations, and I might have to just eyeball arching heights, but let me know if there's anything specific you want to know and I'll see what I can do. Again, this mandola does NOT resemble an H-2.

    With regard to Thistle's question "Doesn't a longer scale instrument have less string tension...?" I think the answer is, "Not necessarily." All things being equal (same tuning, same string gauge), a longer scale means higher tension, not lower. So a 17" scale mandola with the same strings will have higher tension than a 16" scale. On the other hand, it's more likely that the 17" version will be built with light-guage strings in mind.

    TS
    "Few noises are so disagreeable as the sound of the picking of a mandolin."

  20. #20
    Registered User PaulD's Avatar
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    Tom; I don't necessarily need measurements off your mandola, but I'd sure like to see it in person! If I made it to more of the local BG jams I would more likely run into you and your mandola. My limited jam time has been relegated to Folk/Hippie Rock jams and occasional Celtic sessions lately. Too little time and too much good music to be played!

    WRT Gibson Mandola plans: I don't know if anyone contacted the folks in the threads I listed above that say they have the instruments. At least one of them might be more than happy to get you measurements to start from, even if they can't measure graduations.

    Paul Doubek



    "... beauty is not found in the excessive but what is lean and spare and subtle" - Terry Tempest Williams

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    _________________ grandmainger's Avatar
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    I'm curious. Has anyone ever tried to build something in between a mandola and a mandocello? Maybe with a scale length of 20-21" ?

  22. #22
    Registered User Tom Smart's Avatar
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    grandmainger: Lots of octave mandolins (sometimes called octave mandolas) have a scale in the 20-21" range. These are usually tuned GDAE one octave below a regular mandolin. That tuning puts an octave mandolin halfway between a mandola (sometimes called a tenor mandola to distinguish it from an octave mandola) and a mandocello. Mandola is CGDA one-fifth below a regular mandolin, and mandocello is CGDA an octave below that.

    Paul: I'm not going anywhere, and I definitely won't be selling my baby, so I'm sure the three of us will cross paths sooner or later.

    TS
    "Few noises are so disagreeable as the sound of the picking of a mandolin."

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