Hey all, I posted a few weeks ago (the thread has been closed) and got a ton of valuable advice from many generous luthiers on this forum. I've almost finished my (tiger maple top, walnut back and sides) mandolin carved out of two solid pieces of wood. I've gleaned that maple tops are not ideal, but I was thinking if I don't like the sound I can use an ultrasonic depth gauge to assist me shaving off excess wood, the idea being to compensate for the denser maple by making it thinner than the traditional spruce. I'm still learning (1st mandolin) so I don't know how much effect removing 1/3 of the material will have on the tone. Can anyone give me some advice about material thickness ideals on each of the surfaces of a mandolin? I also have one more important question: The bridge is the last piece of my instrument which I need to attach before I can test it out, but the bridge I bought has the "steps" so that each string will not be the same distance from the nut as the others. Is this normal or do I need to angle the bridge a bit? Do you fellas glue a bridge without first playing it somehow? Though I'm using hide glue, it would still be a pain to unglue and refinish the mando if the placement is a little off. I am very grateful in advance.
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