Help, Height of an Octave Mandolin Bridge.

[Phil]

I'm busy drawing up my plans for an Octave Mandolin with a flat top (slightly arched, but not carved)

No matter how I tweak the angles, I keep coming up with a bridge 30mm in height, which seems too high to my mind.

If anyone has a OM with a flat top, could they please measure the hight of the bridge and post here. I would be very greatful for any response.

Phil.

[graham mcdonald]

Bridge height of no more than 18mm, and preferably in the 13-15mm range. You will have to sort the neck geometry out and think very carefully about the soundboard bracing. There is very sound historical thinking over a couple of centuries about why carved instruments like violins have floating bridges and flat-topped instruments like guitars have glued on bridges. There are certainly lots of instruments with floating bridges and flat soundboards, but few of them still work after a few years because of their fundamental structural unsoundness.

Cheers

Graham

[Phil]

Graham, many thanks for your informative reply to my query.

It caused me to rethink my design, where I could not get a decent break angle over the bridge without arching the "flat" top from side to side in a rather short radius.

So, I'm going to use a pinned bridge. A much simpler solution, and easier to construct.

Grazie mille, Phil.