Editing Mandolin (section)

== Construction ==
[[File:Parts of the Mandolin.png|thumb|upright=.65|Anatomy of a bowlback mandolin in schematic drawing]]
Mandolins have a body that acts as a [[resonator]], attached to a [[Neck (music)|neck]]. The resonating body may be shaped as a bowl ([[List of musical instruments by Hornbostel-Sachs number: 321.321|necked bowl lutes]]) or a box ([[List of musical instruments by Hornbostel-Sachs number: 321.322|necked box lutes]]). Traditional Italian mandolins, such as the Neapolitan mandolin, meet the necked bowl description.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://omeka1.grinnell.edu/MusicalInstruments/items/show/256 |title=Mandolin – Neapolitan |author=Roger Vetter|website=Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection |access-date=September 5, 2015 }}</ref> The necked box instruments include archtop mandolins and the flatback mandolins.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://omeka1.grinnell.edu/MusicalInstruments/items/show/452|title=Mandolin – flat-back
 |author=Roger Vetter|website=Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection |access-date=September 5, 2015 |quote="a newly developed resonator design pioneered by the Gibson Company with arched top and back boards with f-shaped soundholes, like violin resonators"}}</ref>

[[String (music)|Strings]] run between mechanical tuning machines at the top of the neck to a tailpiece that anchors the other end of the strings. The strings are suspended over the neck and [[Sound board (music)|soundboard]] and pass over a [[Bridge (instrument)#Construction|floating bridge]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?84748-OM-floating-bridge |title= OM floating bridge?|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= April 20, 2012|website= Mandolin Cafe|access-date=September 5, 2015 }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=September 2020|reason=forum threads are not reliable sources}} The bridge is kept in contact with the soundboard by the downward pressure from the strings. The neck is either flat or has a slight radius, and is covered with a fingerboard with [[fret]]s.<ref name=McDonaldp1>{{harvnb|McDonald|2008|p=1}}</ref><ref name=Britannica>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Mandoline |volume= 17 |last= Schlesinger |first= Kathleen |author-link= Kathleen Schlesinger | pages = 565&ndash;566 }}</ref><ref name= Mandolincaferadiusedfingerboard>{{cite web | title= Radiused vs. flat fingerboard on mandolin?|date= May 3, 2010 | url=http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?61875-Radiused-vs-flat-fingerboard-on-mandolin | access-date= March 28, 2015}}</ref> The action of the strings on the bridge causes the soundboard to vibrate, producing sound.<ref>{{cite book |last=Siminoff|first= Roger H.|date= 2002|title=The Luthier's Handbook |location= Milwaukee, Wisconsin|publisher= Hal Leonard Corporation|page=13 |isbn=978-0-634-01468-0}}</ref>

Like any plucked instrument, mandolin notes decay to silence rather than sound out continuously as with a bowed note on a [[violin]], and mandolin notes decay faster than larger chordophones like the guitar. This encourages the use of [[tremolo]] (rapid picking of one or more pairs of strings) to create sustained notes or chords. The mandolin's paired strings facilitate this technique: the plectrum (pick) strikes each of a pair of strings alternately, providing a more full and continuous sound than a single string would.

Various design variations and amplification techniques have been used to make mandolins comparable in volume with louder instruments and orchestras, including the creation of [[mandolin-banjo]] hybrids with the drum-like body of the louder [[banjo]], adding metal resonators (most notably by [[Dobro]] and the [[National String Instrument Corporation]]) to make a [[resonator mandolin]], and amplifying [[electric mandolin]]s through amplifiers.