Hardwood tops

[John Bertotti]

Have any of you tried to make a hardwood topped instrument?

[Jeff Mando]

I've never made one, but birch was widely used for inexpensive guitar tops. Harmony brand, for example.

[Marty Jacobson]

Have a look: https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...d-Concert-Jazz

[John Bertotti]

Interesting guys, thanks.

[Marty Jacobson]

Arik Kerman also used (before he retired - though his son is supposedly building in his style) a hardwood top paired with an internal 2mm thick spruce soundboard near the back of the instrument. The Labraid internal back is carved, I believe, and similarly thin, maybe 3mm or so.

[ProfChris]

I make ukuleles, so most of them have had hardwood tops.

If you're asking specifically about mandolins, I doubt there are many around with hardwood tops. Hardwoods tend to dampen out the higher frequencies, which helps to stop a uke being shrill. But one of the main points of a mandolin is that bright, treble voice.

If you wanted a softer sounding mandolin with a hardwood top, then I think it would have to be a flat top or cylindrical. Carving an archtop would be challenging because the cellular structure of hardwood is quite different from softwoods - I suspect you'd have to make quite a few experimental tops before you got one which worked (if any of them did!) and didn't collapse.

[billhay4]

Brian's instrument doesn't look like a hardwood top to me. If so, it's very clear grain hardwood.
Bill

[Marty Jacobson]

The Grand Concert models have walnut or maple tops (at least so far... Who knows what he'll come up with next).

[Magnus Geijer]

This is partial hardwood rather than all hardwood, rather visibly. I don't know that I can tell any difference in sound from it's sibling models that were all spruce.



Thanks,

Magnus