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What is the consensus about using Brazilian (or similar species) rosewood for the sides and back of a mandolin. You never see it - although a friend mentioned recently that there are some Monteleone mandolins with rosewood - and I assume there is a reason
James Condino does.
Check this out
https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...wood-mandolins
I visited his shop and played one and it was amazing!
Thanks - his mandos are gorgeous
You see it on some mandolins made for Celtic music. I played a Trinity College TM-450 with rosewood sides and back. It might add a dry, woody note to the tone without creating excess bark. It seems like it's tricky to ship brazilian rosewood across borders though.
Interesting thanks. I've been exploring the idea of building one with a local luthier here in Portland who mostly builds guitars and ukuleles, but has built several A model mandos in the past. He has a piece of BRW of the right size
Many different types of hardwoods can be used for the back and sides of a mandolin. Provided that the choice wood is fairly hard, this has only a moderate effect on the tone. Weber successfully used mahogany on some instruments. You will also find koa wood, and yes, rosewood as well. Flamed maple is, arguably, still the best choice if you want to avoid any possible CITES issues, and if you seek a traditional look. You also have options like bird's-eye maple and quilted maple for other type of look. But other species of figured woods can be quite beautiful and make your mandolin stand out in the crowd.
Elkhorn Koa and Mango F-5's both native woods from Hawaii. Both are amazing sounding paired with Red Cedar soundboards!
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And to your original post...here's a Cocobolo F-5
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Stan Miller built some with BRW, and I'm pretty sure that John Reischman was playing one on the first two Tony Rice Unit albums.
I just bought a classical guitar with bocote back and sides, haven't seen any mandolins with that yet but it is said to be similar tonewise to rosewood. It's an invasive species so harvesting is encouraged.
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Seattle mandolin great Tom Moran had a Stan Miller rosewood mandolin for years. There was also a great mandolin player from Portland that had an ebony body Miller mandolin.Quote:
Originally Posted by jd.panko
I have a larger-bodied Sobell, strung as a mandola, that's rosewood -- super instrument, but of course in a "bassier" range. And a huge number of bowl-back mandolins had rosewood bowls; that was standard for higher-end instruments, pre-Gibson. My theory is that the dominant use of maple for mandolin bodies, especially for carved-top instruments, stemmed from Orville G's idea that the mandolin should emulate the violin as much as possible. Of course, European violin makers mainly used European woods to build with, not tropical products like rosewood, so if you copy an 18th-century European violin, you'll use maple.
Were I to theorize, I'd guess you might find some of the tonal differences that you hear among rosewood, mahogany, and maple guitar bodies. Just a guess.
stunning!
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wow
My Paul Shippey has rosewood back and sides, it sounds superb.
Dave H
I've recently been eyeing up this beautiful Takamine Parlour guitar - Rosewood back & sides & quilted Maple center panel. I've seen a couple of Paul Shippey mandolins which used Rosewood back & sides - they looked & sounded superb !,
Ivan;)
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http://www.institutefortraditionalst...vids-mando.jpg
My Fischbach flat back mandolin, with rosewood back and sides.
It has a great balance of brightness and bass, so in this case rosewood worked out very well.
Thanks for putting Paul Shippey on my radar - he makes beautiful instruments. I don't think I've seen them pop in the classifieds, but I probably overlooked themQuote:
Originally Posted by Dave Hanson
Nope. Impossible...."whole lotta nuthin'..."
The modest but good sounding flattop Big Muddy M-4 uses what he calls Bolivian rosewood.
ok. that explains itQuote:
Originally Posted by grandcanyonminstrel
I have a Stan Miller with Brazilian rosewood back, sides and neck, with CITES certificate. A fine instrument that compares well to my previous Heidens, Gilchrist and Red Diamond.Attachment 177998Attachment 177999Attachment 178000Quote:
Originally Posted by jd.panko
Tut and Mark Taylor built at least two carved mandolins with Brazilian back and sides under the "Crafters of Tennessee" brand: an A-5 and an F-5. They were good mandolins.
Brazilian rosewood was frequently used on flat back mandolins in the old days. 100 years ago, we were swimming in the stuff. It was often used by Martin, the Larson Brothers, Lyon & Healy, and Regal, among others.
Good Brazilian is getting expensive and scarce.
Condino Brazilian rosewood A5
I remember seeing a Rosewood build of Skips here at the Cafe a while back. Are all the alternate wood builds shown open pored? I’m finishing up on my Claro Walnut stump salvaged F5. There’s been plenty of messy fill work on the body and Black Walnut headstock and neck. Attachment 178106Attachment 178107