Editing Mandolin (section)

=== Double top, double back ===
The double top is a feature that luthiers are experimenting with in the 21st century, to get better sound.<ref name=brent>{{cite web |url=https://www.mandolincafe.com/news/publish/printer_1420.shtml |title=Joseph Brent's Brian N. Dean Grand Concert Mandolin |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=20 November 2011 |website=mandolincafe.org |access-date=29 May 2017 |quote=[He told the luthier:]..."I want to hear the wood, and not the metal." And, "I want it big and dark and loud, like the engine note on a Ford GT." ...I know there are lots of musicians like me who would love the chance to create an instrument that's more geared to the music they're making...It's got a lot of crazy features, like that aforementioned false back... |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803203557/https://www.mandolincafe.com/news/publish/printer_1420.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, mandolinists and luthiers have been experimenting with them since at least the early 1900s.

Back in the early 1900s, mandolinist [[Ginislao Paris]] approached [[Luigi Embergher]] to build custom mandolins.<ref name=Speranski>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/TheRussianEmbergher_201501 |title=The Russian Embergher |last=Speranski |first=Victor |date=November 2014 |access-date= 29 May 2017}}</ref> The sticker inside one of the four surviving instruments indicates the build was called after him, the ''Sistema Ginislao Paris'').<ref name=Speranski/> Paris' round-back double-top mandolins use a false back below the soundboard to create a second hollow space within the instrument.<ref name=Speranski/>

Modern mandolinists such as [[Joseph Brent]] and [[Avi Avital]] use instruments customized, either by the luthier's choice or at the request of the player.<ref name=brent/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?102738-Avi-Avital-and-the-Arik-Kerman-mandolin |title=Re: Avi Avital and the Arik Kerman mandolin |last1=Daniel |first1=Bernie |last2= Garber|first2=Jimi |website=mandolincafe.org |access-date=29 May 2017 |quote=...What is [the luthier] Kerman doing so different from the approach taken by American luthiers...The difference from the German models is that it has the sound holes on the edges and, even more important(?) has a double top.}}</ref> Joseph Brent's mandolin, made by Brian Dean also uses what Brent calls a false back.<ref name=brentfalse>{{cite web |url=https://www.mandolincafe.com/news/publish/printer_1420.shtml |title=Joseph Brent's Brian N. Dean Grand Concert Mandolin |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=20 November 2011 |website=mandolincafe.org |access-date=29 May 2017 |quote=[Brent's instrument has] ...maple sides/false back, spruce true back...It's got a lot of crazy features, like that aforementioned false back... |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803203557/https://www.mandolincafe.com/news/publish/printer_1420.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> Brent's mandolin was the luthier's solution to Brent's request for a loud mandolin in which the wood was clearly audible, with less metallic sound from the strings.<ref name=brent/> The type used by Avital is variation of the flatback, with a double top that encloses a resonating chamber, sound holes on the side, and a convex back.<ref name=israel1>[http://www.thebluegrassspecial.com/archive/2011/jan2011/bordercrossingjan2011.php Artist To Artist: 10 Minutes With Avi Avital.] ''The Bluegrass Special'', January 2011 by Joe Brent.</ref> It is made by one manufacturer in Israel, luthier Arik Kerman.<ref name=mandoKerman>{{cite web| url=http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?102738-Avi-Avital-and-the-Arik-Kerman-mandolin| title=Thread: Avi Avital and the Arik Kerman mandolin| website=mandolincafe.com| access-date=September 3, 2015| quote=This thread digressed into the topic of Avi's Kerman, where it was established that it has a double top and a convex back. … it looks like it is based on the modern German flatback as made by makers such as Seifert, a little deep-bodied. The difference from the German models is that it has the sound holes on the edges and, even more important(?) has a double top.}}</ref> Other players of Kerman mandolins include Alon Sariel,<ref name=israel2>{{cite web| url=http://www.mandolin.org.uk/interviews/sariel.php| title=Alon Sariel interview| website=Mandolin.org.uk| access-date=September 3, 2015| quote=What mandolins do you own? Which one(s) is(are) your favourite(s)? Whoever knows the Beer-Sheva school of mandolin must have heard of the Israeli type of modern mandolins. A mandolin maker called Arik Kerman who lives in Tel-Aviv, invented a formula to make the mandolin in a way for which it has a much of a round and sweet sound, and can easily produce a very soft sound other than the metallic Neapolitan one...| archive-date=April 2, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402213428/http://www.mandolin.org.uk/interviews/sariel.php| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=israel3>{{cite web|url=http://www.alon-sariel.com/repertoire/instrumentarium/|title=Instrumentarium|website=Alon Sariel – mandolinist, conductor, lutenist|access-date=16 March 2018|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305092522/http://www.alon-sariel.com/repertoire/instrumentarium/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Jacob Reuven]],<ref name=mandoKerman/> and Tom Cohen.<ref name=israel4>{{cite web| url=http://frusion.co.uk/artists/concert/global/Tom_Cohen.html| title=Concert artists: Tom Cohen| website=frusion.co.uk| access-date=September 3, 2015| quote=The mandolin that Tom plays was built especially for him by Israeli artist Arik Kerman and new instrument is currently being built for, and inspired by him, by internationally-known luthier Boaz Elkayam.}}</ref>