Mandolin: A-Style, F sound hole

Four A style mandolins with F holes are being made. All have some very nicely figured Australian Blackwood Acacia melanoxylon back and sides. The tops of these two pictured mandolins are made with King Billy Pine Athrotaxis selaginoides, and braced (with spruce), one in a longitudinal bracing that Gibson used in the early 20th century (and sometimes later), and the other is a cross brace, which most modern mandolin makers now use,(though not only, or all the time).

I am also making two spruce topped mandolins, with similar bracing, which I’ll feature on another page.

The shape is similar to a Gibson or a Washburn, though somewhat modified.