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Thread: hollow scroll?

  1. #1

    Default hollow scroll?

    would a hollow scroll, (as opposed to one that was solid) make the mando give off a more mellow tone, similar to that of an A style? is this recommended at all?

  2. #2
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: hollow scroll?

    There's no reason to assume that a "hollow" scroll would make any difference in sound. I don't know of any builders who make the body scroll completely solid. Almost all are open inside to some extent.

  3. #3

    Default Re: hollow scroll?

    strange, the plans i have for my mando say that almost everything in the scroll needs to be solid.

  4. #4

    Default Re: hollow scroll?

    also i seem to have accidentally double posted this thread. how do i delete a post?

  5. #5
    Registered User Rob Grant's Avatar
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    Default Re: hollow scroll?

    I can't see that it would make an appreciable difference in tone or volume. Like John says, most builders cut their headblocks so that at least half the scroll area is hollow. I like to eliminate wood in the scroll area as a form of cutting down on a few grams of over all weight. On a recent Octave F style I built I not only left over half the scroll area hollow, but I drilled out and end plugged some other positions in the overly substantial headblock.
    Rob Grant
    FarOutNorthQueensland,Oz
    http://www.grantmandolins.com

  6. #6
    I may be old but I'm ugly billhay4's Avatar
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    Default Re: hollow scroll?

    Dave Cohen makes a hollow scroll I do believe.
    Bill

  7. #7
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: hollow scroll?

    Yes, Dave bends a piece of side material for the inside curve of the scroll rather than using part of the head block as most of us do. That opens up the inside of the scroll a little more, but he does it to save weight and makes no claim of a contribution to sound from his scroll construction other than the weight saving. (Hopefully he'll correct me if I got any of that wrong.)

  8. #8
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    Default Re: hollow scroll?

    No need for any corrections, John.

    http://www.Cohenmando.com

  9. #9
    Registered User George Roberts's Avatar
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    Default Re: hollow scroll?

    Has anybody tried putting a plug in a hollow scroll, and then playing with and without the plug, to see if there is any variation in tone? It would certainly be easier with an F2 or F4. Also, once again, very subjective.
    George

  10. #10
    Registered User Timbofood's Avatar
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    Default Re: hollow scroll?

    My old Alvarez has a solid scroll, I seem to remember Bill Halsey making one with almost no block in the scroll (LOOOOng time back)
    Timothy F. Lewis
    "If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett

  11. #11
    Registered User Bill Halsey's Avatar
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    Default Re: hollow scroll?

    Right you are, Tim -- mid-70s. I used Tom Morgan's sketches for that one. That old beater has ribs little thicker than a violin (perhaps 1.3mm avg.), and still has no perceivable "potato chip" distortion.
    ~Bill~
    "Often wrong, but never in doubt."
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