Not according to Siminoff...Found the mention on Roger Siminof's page...it is a L.Loar innovation of adding a fingerboard extension similar to that of the violin, to avoid damping of the systems vibration.
http://siminoff.net/damping-prevention/
Innovation number 4
2007 Weber Custom Elite "old wood"
2017 Ratliff R5 Custom #1148
Several nice old Fiddles
2007 Martin 000-15S 12 fret Auditorium-slot head
Deering Classic Open Back
Too many microphones
BridgerCreekBoys.com
2007 Weber Custom Elite "old wood"
2017 Ratliff R5 Custom #1148
Several nice old Fiddles
2007 Martin 000-15S 12 fret Auditorium-slot head
Deering Classic Open Back
Too many microphones
BridgerCreekBoys.com
I think you're confusing this a little. Raising the fingerboard extension (the Florida) off the top stops the fingerboard from damping the top because the fingerboard doesn't attach to the top. Violin fingerboards are raised above the top. That's what Loar was doing. Having a Florida does nothing other than that.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
2007 Weber Custom Elite "old wood"
2017 Ratliff R5 Custom #1148
Several nice old Fiddles
2007 Martin 000-15S 12 fret Auditorium-slot head
Deering Classic Open Back
Too many microphones
BridgerCreekBoys.com
Well Matt, I read the Siminoff article as well as the quote from Don MacRostie. I'm not saying I can wrap my head around the principle or that I'm a believer (yet).
There seems to be little doubt though that those two guys believe that the existence of the extension (Florida) effects tone. Those are two guys whose opinions I highly respect.
"I play BG so that's what I can talk intelligently about." A line I loved and pirated from Mandoplumb
Very nice playing, thanks! But I did have these observations to make after watching:
An F5 mandolin has a significantly longer neck to the body. Those classical 'bowlback' mandolins, with their shorter necks, ~13" scales, and fretboard extensions up over the sound hole, seldom go past the 24th fret! An F5 style mandolin with a full Florida, by contrast, has 29 frets. I've been questioning the musical utility of the last 6 or so frets on the F5, and none of the bowlbacks that I saw even have notes that high!
I listened to several of these recordings (not all), but the highest note that I heard on them was the very high D, played at the 22nd fret. That particular can be played pretty cleanly, with practice, on both a bowlback and many an F5, even ones that already have a scooped extension, or those that come with a shorter 'modern-style' fretboard extension, like Weber F5. These F5 tend to have about 24 playable frets. But the G or A above that? These sound terrible, and they are basically unplayable, even with light gauge strings!!
So, I remain unconvinced that mandolins need more than 24 frets. 26, maybe. But certainly not 29!! I am still waiting to hear the 29th fret played convincingly on any kind of mandolin at all. And even Dave Apollon's tricked-out gimmick Florida extension was rigged to get him easier access to the 28th fret, not to the 29th. And remember -- that was strictly a gimmick!
Just hold a fiddle by the shoulder and thump the fingerboard, it sounds like a marimba block, very able to contribute to the melange of vibrating wood pieces creating the blended tone. There is special luthier attention to the backs of fiddle fingerboards, and their resonance. Part of the tone voodoo.
The Florida (scooped) on my Ratliff has a tone when thumped, this leads me to deduce that it vibrates along with the rest of the deal. The overall tone is a sum of the parts.
2007 Weber Custom Elite "old wood"
2017 Ratliff R5 Custom #1148
Several nice old Fiddles
2007 Martin 000-15S 12 fret Auditorium-slot head
Deering Classic Open Back
Too many microphones
BridgerCreekBoys.com
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