Flat-top Mandolin 'Full frontal' view of a flat-top mandolin. Top is Sitka spruce, back and sides are Cocobolo - a South American wood.
Owner - Lloyd Thomas
Flat-top Mandolin Side view of Lloyd's flat-top mandolin.
Fred believes in using every possible piece of valuable wood. The sides of this mandolin consist of three pieces of Cocobolo in order to make use of some short pieces that were left over from another instrument! The diagonal yellow line visible in this picture, a narrow strip of sapwood from the same board, marks the join between one side piece and the end piece.
Flat-top Mandolin Back view of Lloyd's flat-top. The Cocobolo used for this mandolin had a beautiful figure to it. The heel cap is also Cocobolo sapwood, as are the binding and the diagonal side separation strips.
Arch-top Mandolin The soundboard on this hand-carved archtop mandolin came from a block of Douglas Fir which Fred found on a building site. It had formerly been used to hold up a house trailer! It had absolutely perfect grain for soundboards and we think it is much better as a mandolin top than a support block!
Owner: Roger Desilets
Arch-top Mandolin The back view of Roger's arch-top mandolin. It's carved from curly maple, and the design comes from an instrument made in the 1930's by the Chicago-based Kay-Kraft Company.
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