What’s The Best Wood For A Mandolin Top?

Makers of cheap mandolins do their best to disguise the materials used to construct their mandolins. High-end luthiers, on the other hand, often overwhelm you with a deluge of details about the wood type(s) used in their hand-crafted masterpieces.

But is the type of wood used in a mandolin really important?

Best wood for the mandolin soundboard

I can’t claim to know the best mandolin wood. But general consensus seems to anoint spruce as the wood of choice for the top plate on the world’s best mandolins.

Spruce is both light and strong: the perfect combination when it comes to making a soundboard that’s expected to resonate and vibrate, but also stand up to the strain of 8 steel strings all trying to pull the instrument out of whack. The high strength to weight ratio, coupled with the knot-free grain, is prized by instrument makers everywhere.

Some makers use cedar (which, like spruce, is an even-grained conifer). Good spruce is increasingly difficult to find. In fact, the sitka spruce used by many modern luthiers grows in areas which are gradually becoming overforested.

Laminated mandolin soundboards

Inexpensive mandolins often feature plywood tops.

Although these laminated tops are strong, they may not sound as good as spruce. However, there’s quite a bit less time and expense involved in their manufacture, so it may be the best choice for certain folks.

Pressed or carved mandolin tops?

There are three common ways to make the top of a mandolin:

1. Flat top mandolin — Like a guitar, this type of mandolin has a flat top, usually of quartersawn, bookmatched spruce, but sometimes made of mahogany. It is a fairly inexpensive style of instrument.
2. Carved top mandolin — These mandolins are not mass produced. Or, at least, not until the development and introduction of computer-controlled carving machines. The very best mandolins are hand-carved by luthiers who shape the mandolin top until it’s the perfect blend of strength and tone.
3. Pressed tops — All plywood tops (and some others) are given their arch shape by pressing the wood into shape with steam and pressure. This is a perfectly acceptable way of forming arches and curves in plywood, but it may not result in a mandolin whose tone is as perfect as one carved by a master luthier.

So, let expense be your guide; but don’t forget about tone. As long as you’re ultimately satisfied with your mandolin, the choice of wood used for the soundboard is secondary to your enjoyment.

Tagged as: mandolin, mandolin soundboard, mandolin top