Post a photo of your flat-top mandolin!

[fatt-dad]

I'll go first. My '84 Flatiron 1N. Yesterday on my grandpa's hammock.

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f-d

[Steve Zawacki]

First, only and recent addition (am the third owner) is this 2009 RedLine Traveler GoldTop. This mandolin was highlighted with it's own thread during its build and still as sweet as ever.
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[JeffD]

Weber Aspen II 2006. Looks great. Plays even better.

Custom art applied after market. :grin:

[Bill Snyder]

Still play it. First mandolin I designed and built. It is ten years old and hasn't started falling apart yet. :)
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[Bob Clark]

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Here's my Crystal Forest. Great sounding, beautiful to look at, fun to play. And if that's not enough, my cats approve of it as well!:grin:

[Charles E.]

Here is a Lyon and Healy inspired flat top I built for myself in 2010, it rings like a bell. :)

[James Rankine]

Here is the sound hole on my Ozark 2240e. I understand they use a laser to cut out this design. The grain lines up with the top showing it has been cut out from the top wood, not cut from a separate piece.

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[rgray]

My Davy Stuart.

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[pheffernan]

I'll go first.

I feel compelled to ask: which flattop? :)

[fatt-dad]

I feel compelled to ask: which flattop? :)

You must start somewhere!

f-d

[Jim Adwell]

This is a Swedish Levin flat-top mandolin. The serial number stamped on the end of the peghead indicates it was made in 1938. The mandolin has had a tough life. When I got it, the top had a number of cracks inexpertly repaired with some kind of brown glue, the finish had been completely stripped off but the dark brown dye apparently used was still in the wood, and most of the top braces were loose. The label looks like someone dropped silver paint on part of it, but it's still recognizable as a Levin label. I pulled the top off (instead of the back because it was loose anyway), reglued the braces, and fixed yet another crack that had developed after the previous "repairs", and slapped some oil varnish on it just to seal the bare wood. The neck is slightly bowed (no truss rod), but still playable, although I had to lower the bridge to make it so. I levelled and dressed the frets and put extra-light gauge strings on it, and it sounds pretty good; not much bass butit has clear bright treble and midrange, a nice melody mandolin even though it looks like it's been run over by a truck. I suspect someone put heavy gauge strings on it at some point in its life which caused the problems previously noted. No idea why the finish was stripped off, though. It came with a nice old case in pretty good shape, too.

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[Al Bergstein]

116817 bandolim.

[Randi Gormley]

My two bandolims.

[Rosemary Philips]

Big Muddy M-1 Special Edition with Cedar Top and Curly Mahogany back and sides. Awesome to look at and play!
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(sorry it's sideways...)

[fatt-dad]

my Romanian-made, "Montana." This was my original beach/fly-about mandolin, but the fretboard finally decided it couldn't remain flat any longer. Just a wall-hanger today.

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f-d

[Jim Garber]

I don't mean to steal your thunder but this thread, Flatbacks of Note (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?37644-Flatbacks-of-note), has been going for awhile in the Classical section as a companion to Bowlbacks of Note.

[Jim M.]

Here's mine from Chris Baird (Arches Mandolin). This is early Arches, and was impressive enough that I got him to build me an F-4 also.

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[brunello97]

I don't mean to steal your thunder but this thread, Flatbacks of Note (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?37644-Flatbacks-of-note), has been going for awhile in the Classical section as a companion to Bowlbacks of Note.

Is FD talking about proper Flat-Tops here as a separate category from the Canted-Tops that usually wind up in the FBoN thread? I realize they probably aren't dead flat....

I've got a flat-top from Michoacán which is my 'prop up the axle when fixing a flat' mandolin. Intonation is perfect and 17 hippies sanding--randomly or not--couldn't get through that finish.

Nice photo, FD. I didn't know the Shenandoah Mountains got so craggy. ;)

Mick

[fatt-dad]

Nice photo, FD. I didn't know the Shenandoah Mountains got so craggy. ;)


Every once and awhile I go out west to see some real mountains. Maybe you'll notice Half-Dome in the background?

Regarding the earlier flat-backs of note thread. . . I know nothing about that! Oh well, I don't much play classical music and don't frequent that forum. My bad. I just love my flat-top Flatiron and wanted to share my photo and was thinking others may want to play too. I'm still looking for my KM-11 photo. I'll find it. . .

I think some of the flat-top mandolins that are in this thread are quite cool too!

f-d

[brunello97]

I've got a KM11 which is around my workstation at home that gets a lot of play. The neck is just great. I don't really think of it as a flat top, though. More of a Dish-Top or Bowl-Top. I have a bridge from a pal of mine's Big Muddy on it. With a shim or two added for good measure.

I don't play much classical either, pero masticamos la grasa allí tambien. I mean in a metaphorical sense, FD....

Mick

[Jim Garber]

I honestly don't know if there is such a thing as a true flattop mandolin. Don't all of them have some sort of induced arch to them or wouldn't they just cave in?

Here is my bandolim by Manoel Andrade. Most bandolims are flattops.

[Jim Garber]

The French makers like flattops as well. This is a Euterpe I believe made by JTL workshop mostly known for violins.

[Jim Garber]

This is a Vega Amati mandolin. I have no clue when this was made, say, in relation to the cylinder backs. I have only seen one other of these. It is on my list for restoration. Ah, one of these days. The back, esp., has seen much better days.

[rgray]

My Redline Traveler.

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[John Flynn]

My Parsons flat-top.

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[Bill Snyder]

I honestly don't know if there is such a thing as a true flattop mandolin. Don't all of them have some sort of induced arch to them or wouldn't they just cave in?

Here is my bandolim by Manoel Andrade. Most bandolims are flattops.

Jim, not knowing any better I built mine (shown above) flat. No caving in after 10 years. Sometimes being lucky works out as well as being good. :)

[mandroid]

kinda looks like this one http://www.elderly.com/vintage/items/90U-4364.htm
though small oval soundhole and 14 fret neck.

my Leo Pocket mandolin, I brought with me on my long bicycle tours is a flat top too.


.. sorry not up on this picture posting thing . just a craptastic camera, or film.

a picture of another Djangolin posted here a while back , same body style as mine.

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?93457-Djangolin-Buzz

[bratsche]

Do flat-top mandolas count? I hope so! Here's my deluxe Sawchyn Beavertail.

bratsche

[pheffernan]

You must start somewhere!

Well, let's begin where it began: my 1998 Mid-Missouri M-0!

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[fatt-dad]

These instruments are cool!

f-d

[Tiderider]

Regal (old)
http://i59.############/16lgx1h.jpg

[Marty Jacobson]

Flat top from 2003... (flat top with a recurve).
http://martinjacobson.com/id/wp-content/uploads/2004/08/Basilisk3.jpg

[jesserules]

I honestly don't know if there is such a thing as a true flattop mandolin. Don't all of them have some sort of induced arch to them or wouldn't they just cave in?

.

????????????
See Post # 1.
I have one of those too. It's as flat as ... as a pancake!


Flatter, actually.

[fatt-dad]

The little one on the right is my old KM-11.

The big one is a 1930 L-1. I kept the big one.

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f-d

p.s., I understand the "true-flat-top" comment. I'd just say, the builder started with planed wood and induced any/all arching via the bracing.

[fatt-dad]

the ultimate embarrassment. The Gibson Opryland pancake!

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I bought this thinking it was like a Flatiron 1N, but it turned out to be a tourist souvenir sold at Opryland. This was the seller's photo.

Boo!

f-d

[JeffD]

There is something wonderful about playing a flat top, IMO. At least in the US. At an OT festival or a jam, somewhere mandolins players are not uncommon, the flatty is the "baggage free" "genre free" choice. No expectations when I take it out, folks just waiting to see what I am going to do. No performance anxiety to live up to an expectation as I pull up a chair and join a jam, because its an unaffected, unassuming, straightforward flatty that says nothing in particular about what or how I play.

That is the way I experience it anyway.

[derbex]

My Hathway, flatter than a flat thing.

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although Jim now has me worried my top is collapsing, reminds me of "Three Men is a Boat (http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/jkjerome.html#.UylclqYbDyU)"

[Oliver R]

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Posted this before but heres my Mark Mawby.

[Jim Garber]

????????????
See Post # 1.
I have one of those too. It's as flat as ... as a pancake!
Flatter, actually.

Check the top of your Flatiron with a straightedge. I would bet that there is some sort of subtle arch to it. The StewMac Campfire kit I am building specs a 8 foot radius arch for the braces that induces a very slightly concave profile for the top and the back. The back prob doesn't matter much but the top would sink if there is nothing pushing up a little bit.

[Cary Fagan]

I can't reposting this pick of the small flat-top travel mandolin I built. It's about a year old now and I take it with me often. Added a black pickguard, cut from a guitar pickguard. 116955

[Bill Snyder]

Jim if you glue your braces on so that the top is concave you glued them on backwards. ;)

[Jim Garber]

Jim if you glue your braces on so that the top is concave you glued them on backwards. ;)

You are absolutely correct. My typing mind is a sieve... I meant convex. Then again, maybe I should glue the braces on the outside.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dnm8N9JbvU

[dustyamps]

My beloved 33 KM-11.

[Shelagh Moore]

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My Gary Nava 2-point.

[bratsche]

There is something wonderful about playing a flat top, IMO. At least in the US. At an OT festival or a jam, somewhere mandolins players are not uncommon, the flatty is the "baggage free" "genre free" choice. No expectations when I take it out, folks just waiting to see what I am going to do. No performance anxiety to live up to an expectation as I pull up a chair and join a jam, because its an unaffected, unassuming, straightforward flatty that says nothing in particular about what or how I play.

That is the way I experience it anyway.

For me, the flat-top, along with the bowlback to a slightly lesser degree, is simply the "default" mandolin type. It's just what has always come up in my mind whenever I think of the word "mandolin". Sort of like the Webster's dictionary illustration, I guess.
:)

bratsche

[Jim Garber]

Ah, bratsch! I know why you posted that picture. That drawing is either a very small person or a regular-sized person playing a mandola!

[bratsche]

I didn't even think of that, but you could be on to something there, Jim!

(I did notice where the definition says "dim. of mandola, mandora", though!) :)

bratsche

[fatt-dad]

At the beach today. (Playa Grande, Costa Rica)

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f-d

[Jim Garber]

That kid looks a little sad prob because his mandola has no frets and his left hand has only three fingers. I certainly do not blame him.

Then again: I tried it in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary and got this:

mandolin

The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary. Click on a spelling suggestion below or try again using the search bar above.

[pheffernan]

The sister to Fatt-Dad's vacationing 1984 1N:

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[bratsche]

While we're on the 1N subject, here is my mandola big brother of fatt-dad's and pheffernan's.

bratsche

[fatt-dad]

Pheff, that 1N's in great shape!

f-d

[pheffernan]

Pheff, that 1N's in great shape!

f-d,

It really is. I give all of the credit to one of those form fitting five latch cases that you admire!

Pat

[GarY Nava]

Interesting thread,as all the mandolins I build are flat-tops!
You might like this page on my web-site.
http://www.navaguitars.co.uk/twin_point_gallery.html
Cheers Gary

[Jacob]

BUILT 2 LAST by Mike Orr

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[cayuga red]

One of Andy Poe's newest, a Scout Mandola (Cedar top, Koa back and sides)117069117070

[JeffD]

Interesting thread,as all the mandolins I build are flat-tops!
You might like this page on my web-site.
http://www.navaguitars.co.uk/twin_point_gallery.html
Cheers Gary

Gary I played one of your mandolins, a few years ago. It was a standard plus, I think. I really liked it. I played a bunch of great waltzes on it.

[Michael Wolf]

My Bandolim from Jon Piguet, Switzerland:

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And some soundfiles:

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[Bruce Clausen]

Looks and sounds excellent, Michael! Nice playing on the 7-string too.

Here is Laughlin #3, built for me in 2004. Great all-around mandolin, spruce and cocobolo with mahogany neck. Good photos and a sound clip on the Laughlin site.

[James Rankine]

My Jimmy Moon mandolin, made in Scotland.

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[Michael Wolf]

Thanks Bruce, nice to hear from you. I really like the design of these Laughlin mandolins, very special. And they seem to be very versatile instruments. I would love to try one.

Btw.: I had a nice talk to a canadian mandolin player lately, Andrew Collins. The "Foggy Hogtown Boys" have been in Germany, that was a totally great concert.

[James Rankine]

My Tom Buchanan tenor mandola, made in West Yorkshire England.

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[fatt-dad]

If I only had the foresight, I'da called this, "Post a photo of your flat-top mandolin family instrument." These are cool!

f-d

[pheffernan]

Just back from the repairman, my Redline Traveler:

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[Denman John]

I love this thread!

Thanks for sharing

[James Rankine]

Mandolin from the German democratic republic (?1960s). No maker's name as they were banned from putting their names on the mandolins - everything was a product of the state.
This is the 4th instrument I have posted on this thread. I've realised I may have a touch of the flat top mas.

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[Jim Adwell]

As long as we're doing mandolas, here's a walnut flat-top mandola I made last year:

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Love the sound, not too fond of the turquoise reconstituted stone fretboard dots.