Archtop mandolins

Main page The instruments Buyer's guide Handbook Lessons Message board Links Site map Site last updated . This particular page was created 15/12/2004 and last updated 17/05/2005 Site updates		Picture from Music123 Data: Strings: 8 (in pairs) Courses: 4 ( 2 - 2 - 2 - 2) Scale: 332 - 365 mm During the 1890s a number of US instrument builders developed a new kind of mandolin and guitar, the archtop mandolin and archtop guitar. These instruments had an arched (and usually carved) top and back like a violin. This became known as the archtop mandolin or occasionally American mandolin. The invention is usually credited to Orville Gibson. Although this is not true, Gibson's agressive marketing was certainly what made these new instruments popular, and his A style and F style mandolins are the models for almost most all later archtop mandolins.   Web www.mandolin-player.com