Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey all!
ive been fooling around with the idea of building a triple-neck guitar for a couple of years- ever since seeing jimmy page playing one, and i think i finally have the time and "clear head" to do it.
already worked things out with Steve @ colonial and ill soon have an extra large set of sapele.
ive done lots of planning, measuring, thinking,corresponding(luthiers Mike Doolin and Andy mason- creator of john paul jones' and jimmy pages triple necks).
only thing i feel my research lacks is some more info/diemnions of flat-top mandolins.
if anybody has some info please let me know.

thanks a lot,
Udi.

Hi Udi!

Does Tom "mandomaniac" Durr build any flattops, or only carved top mandolins? If he's not a resource directly, I'm sure he could point you to some flattop mandolin builders/info.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Are you talking about a solid-body, or a hollow body?
I build flat-topped Octave mandolins. I've not yet built a flat-topped standard mandolin, I have been thinking about it and planning on drawing one up sometime soon so I'll be watching this one too.

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Mark Swanson
Swanson Guitars
http://www.MarkSwansonMusic.com

Dennis,
i checked back into some of Durr's threads over at the other forum, seen only carved top mandos, though i m sure he could at least have some decent info on the subject and was indeed planning on PMing him.

Mark,
i m talking a full on acoustic thing.
kindda like this:


should be challenging and interesting

Udi.

Ahh, that is cool. A flat-top, with a pinned bridge. Is that one built by Andy Manson? It's very good.
I prefer to use floating bridges and a tailpiece. I can see how that may not work well for a triple-neck kind of instrument, but that's what I am going to use.

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Mark Swanson
Swanson Guitars
http://www.MarkSwansonMusic.com

I make flat top mandolins. Some things that I think are important is to use an X brace. Most FT mandos are ladder braced. I also put a 15' radius into the top. This allow for the bridge to be taller and gives the strings a bit more down pressure. Also the neck can lay flat on the soundboard without having a wedge or a cantaliever. The X brace was chosen to maintain the 15' arch. Make the sound hole smaller than you think you should be just a bit.

I've never made a pin bridge mando so I can't comment on how that would turn out. I try to find a way to isolate the mandolin part of the sound board from the other part. A big fat brace seperating them should do the trick.

Mark,
yep, thats the one built by mason indeed.
its pretty cool i think, even though not the most practical musical instrument...and i guess theres a reason why Jimmy Page only used the mando, and none of the other two necks.
but figured itll be cool having this thing hanging on the wall in my room.

Mike,
do you brace them like small guitars? finger braces and all or just the X braces?
what do YOU use for scale lenght? spring spacing at nut/bridge? also since you mentioned soundhole diameter, which one do you use?
manolins, just like steel string guitars arent the most popular instruments in Israel, and itll be difficult to find a mandoto measure and look into.

thanks all!
Udi.