Richard Morgan - Tasmanian Mandolin Maker

[Jim Garber]

I am always interested in the oddball/fringe makers and those who are experimenting outside the norm. I happened on a Greek site which sells instruments made by Australian luthier named Richard Morgan who lives in Tasmania.

Radial Braced Pretensioned Soundboard

The uniquely designed soundboard is radial braced, with each of the divergent pieces under tension to form an S curve. If the tension was removed the pieces would return to being straight. The tension or torsion is what “enlivens” most soundboards and this is a different way of achieving it.

I think that this link leads to his blog.

Some unusual features like adjustable neck and (I think) radial-braced multi-pieced top and back. The bridges look really clunky on these but the sound doesn't sound all that bad. I guess these are technically flattops.



Some videos:

[Ron McMillan]

It's great to see builders following their own design cues.