Jonathan Mann Mandolin Reviewed In May/June, 2006 Issue of American Songwriter

By Matt Reasor
June 10, 2006 - 1:49 pm

American Songwriter magazine

The following review was published in the May/June, 2006 issue of American Songwriter and is reprinted here with their permission.

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Manndolin - Two Point Mandolin
List Price: $1,250
includes gig bag

Jonathan Mann is a Paul Bigsby kind of guy—a genius with a basement, practical ideas, one of a kind handmade machines and delivery. This master craftsman is only four years in the luthiers game. He is a master craftsman to say the least, and his new Two Point "Manndolin" is living proof of his tasteful originality in design and construction.

This instrument is essentially based on an F5 style body with the top curly ornate piece (the expensive strap button) scaled down to a point and the bottom back point eliminated. F holes on a nice flat back create excellent projection for the instrument's slightly thin body. The Two Point hits the notes across the room.

Sorry to keep making comparisons, but the Two Point feels like the mando version of a Gibson SG with the body depth of a Martin Auditorium mixed with Jerry Garcia's Doug Irwin "Tiger".

One thing Mann has pegged is his through neck design. All of his mandolins have a through body neck, single piece body front and then it gets woody. The body of the Two Point starts out with a single piece of curly redwood with quilted mahogany for back and sides. The neck has three pieces of wood, consisting of curly maple, a walnut strip down the middle and a 12-inch radius ebony fingerboard. The peg head board has a curly walnut plate over-top, and lastly, the body bracing is made up of spruce parallel tone bars.

Go to this website, www.manndolins.com, and look for his numbers. Call, e-mail, whatever... just get him on the line and find out what he's got cookin.' Custom orders are available.