Tone modifications?

[hardryde_mando]

Hey, just wondering if anybody has any experience in making a finished mandolin get more of that woody sound. I am aware of Mandovoodo, but i would like to hear some tips from people who have tried this themselves. I am an apprenticing luthier, so you don't have to be scared of me destroying my mandolin while trying your suggestion.
Thanks

[Red Henry]

One cheap and easy way to change the tone of a mandolin is by changing the bridge. Several different bridge woods can give different characters-- for example, hard maple for a brighter sound; soft maple for a mid-sound; mahogany for a bassier sound (sometimes too bassy). You do need a one-piece bridge (made to a good design) to achieve this, but that's easy for someone used to woodworking. A bunch of design trials and about 30 different wood-trials, as well as reports from a couple of dozen bridgemakers, are on the bridge page at

http://www.murphymethod.com/redbridge.html .


Red.

[Stephen Perry]

On new mandolins, squeezing the instrument to flex the top and back can really jump start break in. Can also poke around inside with various tools to do this and that.

Try a light bridge and then gradually add mass. See if there's a sweet spot for mass. I've done this in a near-random way, so I'd like to hear about systematic experimentation.

Another experiment would be to add mass to the afterlength.

Have fun!

[Red Henry]

Try a light bridge and then gradually add mass. See if there's a sweet spot for mass. I've done this in a near-random way, so I'd like to hear about systematic experimentation.

On two occasions I have made an extra-heavy bridge, and played it while lightening it gradually while the sound improved and then deteriorated. Bridge weights heavier than 12 grams seemed to mute the instrument, and weights lighter than 5 grams thinned the sound badly. Most weights in between, interestingly, sounded about the same; bridges from about 6 to 11 grams sounded very good.

These tests were performed on a high-quality F-5 copy.

. . . . .

Note that adjustable bridges are generally heavier than 12 grams...

Red

[Shade of the Cross]

I have missed somthing. What is mandovoodo?

[Bill Snyder]

Steve Perry (giannaviolins) has a process of helping wayward mandolins get on the right path of making pretty music. His name for it is mandovoodoo.
His signature line above lists mandovoodoo.com. You click THIS LINK to go there and read up on it.

[hardryde_mando]

Thanks, I tried shortening the feet on the bridge, and it made a slight difference. But I was wondering more about actually thicknessing the top. Anyone tried this without taking the top off?

[Ken]

If you haven't tried it yet, try a one piece bridge. I've found that they often help that woody tone. If you think the top is too thick, the back is probably also and you'll need to deal with both. Doing it from the outside is risky because unless you've got a Hacklinger gauge, or it's one of your own builds, you don't know where you're at with thicknesses. I would not do it on a good instrument. On an oval hole I've worked a smaller light bulb inside to let it shine through and check for thin spots. I re-thicknessed one of my early mandolins and it worked out, but it is a risk. Also if it is an inexpensive mandolin, make sure that it is solid wood before you start scraping or sanding.

[elvisNoir]

Hey, just wondering if anybody has any experience in making a finished mandolin get more of that woody sound. I am aware of Mandovoodo, but i would like to hear some tips from people who have tried this themselves. I am an apprenticing luthier, so you don't have to be scared of me destroying my mandolin while trying your suggestion.
Thanks

On my pac-rim mando I put the Weber Brekke bridge that is all wood and uses little wedges to adjust it. The result was a considerably woodier sound.

Removing wood from the top is not necessarily a way to achieve a woody sound.

[Red Henry]

I was wondering more about actually thicknessing the top. Anyone tried this without taking the top off?

I re-graduated a good mandolin that way several years ago. I made a long u-shaped top-gauge with which I could measure any point within about 4 inches of an f-hole, so I could tell what I was doing. I stripped the mandolin's finish and started sanding. I used the graduations on my favorite mandolin as a guide, since the one I was working on had been left a little heavy. When satisfied with the graduations, I refinished the instrument in an amber stain and oil varnish.

The eventual results were outstanding, though of course the the varnish finish took several years to cure completely. But by six or seven years later, the mandolin had a terrific dry, bluegrassy tone and exceptional volume.

This is the mandolin that my son Chris plays now.


Red