We've been given a sneak peak of Kirk Morrison's new C# mandolin coming off the workbench of noted luthier/researcher Dr. Dave Cohen. The Richmond, Virginia builder is legendary for his passionate combination of chemistry, physics, and woodworking (as well as designing some award winning mandolins), and has published such in-depth subjects as the geometry of curtate cycloid arching in the latest issue of American Lutherie. (#96, Winter, 2008)

"Mandolins, guitars, and the physics of both have been such a large part of my life since 1999 that it is hard for me to give a concise statement of what I do, what I think, and what guides my lutherie," confesses Dr. Cohen. His interest in mandolins and guitars dates back to his years in school in Florida State University, but building would not be his full-time career until retiring from teaching college chemistry in 2003.

You might recall the good doctor's work was profiled in the December 2001 issue of Mandolin Quarterly; "A Scientific Approach to Mandolin Construction." He also submitted an abstract in 2003 (Acoustical Science and Technology, 24, 1, pp 1-6) with Thomas Rossing using electronic TV holography studying the vibrational modes of four mandolins and a mandola. "The lowest (0,0) modes may appear as a triplet (as in a guitar) or as a doublet. The modal frequencies correlate well with the frequency response curves. Sound spectra indicate that sound radiation is quite uniform over the 0-5 kHz range with some roll-off above 2.5 kHz."

We're looking forward to bringing you more of the information and art of Dave Cohen with an official review of one of his instruments in the not-too-distant future.

Stay tuned...

Builder's website: Cohen Musical Instruments

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Posted by Ted at February 1, 2009 12:50 PM