New flattop from hte Coombe workshop

[peter.coombe]

I have been working on a new flattop mandolin/mandola design, and would be interested in some of you guy's comments. The idea is to make a flattop mandolin that sounds great, but is cheaper to make so I can offer them at less than half the price of my carved top mandolins. This I guess is my "junior" model mandolin and mandola, same body shape but as a flattop.

A lot of effort has gone into the sound, I have been unimpressed with the sound of most flattops I have come across so wanted these to excell in the sound department. The other aim has been to ensure they are structually sound since flattop mandolins do have a bit of a reputation for top collapse. These are X braced, but the X is reinforced with carbon fibre, and there is additional support around the soundhole and under the tailpiece, so they are completely different from the Gibson army navy flattops. The body shape and neck is the same as my oval hole mandolins (neck has a carbon fibre rod reinforcement). I have retained the dovetail neck join, varnish finish, and wood bindings, but the soundhole is round and the rosette simple to save on labour costs. A simple fan tailpiece and Rubner tuners are also used to save costs.

I am pleased with the sound, although that as always is a never ending work in progress. They are not as refined as my carved top mandolins, nor do they have the solid feel and sound, but that is to be expected. However, they are significantly louder and have a huge ring and sustain. Excellent session instruments IMHO. The main thing is the sound is nice and clean.

So far I have made 7 mandolins and one mandola. 2 mandolins have been sold, both to learner players.

Anyway, judge for yourself. Here are soundclips of the 3rd mandolin -
http://petercoombe.com/Flattop_sound/Beg_Si.mp3
http://petercoombe.com/Flattop_sound/S.mp3

and the mandola -
http://petercoombe.com/Flattop_sound/Mandola/Drover.mp3
http://petercoombe.com/Flattop_sound/Mandola/JYG.mp3

Pictures of the most recent mandolin. Engelmann Spruce and Tasmanian Blackwood.
953159531695317953189531995320

Pictures of the Mandola.
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[Dobe]

Really nice Peter; I've always thought the Flatiron pancakes sound great; underrated for sure. Nice to see the more trad body shape.

[Marty Jacobson]

Peter, excellent idea. Thanks for sharing your construction techniques. That mandola sounds particularly good. I am sure you'd have good demand for octave mandolins along these lines.

[rico mando]

nice clean lines on those mando's . any thought of adding a sound port on the side ?

[peter.coombe]

That mandola sounds particularly good. I am sure you'd have good demand for octave mandolins along these lines.

I agree, that mandola turned out sounding exceptionally nice, and it did get me thinking about an octave mandolin. An octave mandolin is on the would like to do list some time in the future, but it is quite a bit more work because I will need to make a new mould and truss rod, plus more expensive wood because of the increased width -> instrument will be more expensive and may be harder to sell.

A sound port goes against the principle of keeping things as simple as possible so as to keep the cost down, so have not thought about it.

[roberto216]

Beautiful work. They sound really sweet! Are the tops dead flat or is there some induced arch?

[peter.coombe]

The top and back have an induced arch of 15ft, same as the back of most guitars.

[DougC]

This concept for a mandolin has been my muse for a few years now. Great job Peter. I had wondered if this style of mandolin could be made by some really good craftsman in order to provide real quality for a low priced instrument. They are beautiful. I'm going to listen some more to the sound samples. Maybe someone can describe the sound here. BTW I like the sound. (not enough time to write more...)

[Pete Jenner]

Do the Chladni patterns appear at the same frequencies on these tops and back as the carved versions Peter?

[Jim Garber]

Excellent, Peter. I love the look of the blackwood and I was going to ask about whether they had induced arches which, I would think would be necessary in a flattop instrument.

[margora]

These are very lovely instruments. I am wondering if it would be possible to extend the fingerboard on the treble side, say to 24 frets.

Also, I wondering if there are an updates, Peter, on the availability of your classical model (a la L&H).

[Josh Kaplan]

I agree with the way you have described the sound. They sound great. I like flattops, but this doesn't sound like it's obviously a flattop. This mandolin would definitely get someone off to a good start.

-Josh

. The idea is to make a flattop mandolin that sounds great, but is cheaper to make so I can offer them at less than half the price of my carved top mandolins. This I guess is my "junior" model mandolin and mandola, same body shape but as a flattop.

A lot of effort has gone into the sound, I have been unimpressed with the sound of most flattops I have come across so wanted these to excell in the sound department. The main thing is the sound is nice and clean.


9532195322

[fatt-dad]

I'll be the first to offer my services as a test driver. Yeah, I'm a long way away, but would just love to play one. You won in the looks department and if you say it sounds good, I'm sold. I'll return it in a few months - or send you a check - ha!

Well done!

f-d

[peter.coombe]

The Chladni free plate frequencies are on average lower than the carved tops, but there is some overlap. So, the frequencies are in the low range I would expect from a carved top. The carbon fibre is necessary to get the frequencies in the same ballpark. These mandolins are extremely stable, and I put that down to the carbon fibre. They settle and stay in tune in less than 24hrs, and stay in tune better than my archtops. The bridge barely moves at all when I string them up.

My "classical" mandolin has been on hold for a while because I have been very busy on this project and trying to get a couple of guitars finished.

[Skip Kelley]

Peter, that is great looking and sounds great as well! Nice work!!