Electric mandolin and "EM-8", with carved top bodies and four and eight strings respectively. Blue Star produces four and five string models under the name "Mandoblaster". Jbovier produces four and five string "EMC" electric mandolins, which resemble the Fender electric mandolins, and a four string "ELS" electric mandolin. EMC stands for Electric Mandocaster and ELS stands for Electric Leo Smith. The Eastwood Guitars manufactures solid body eight string electric mandolin under the name "Mandocaster". It has Telecaster resembling body, two single coil pickups and a pickup switch known from Stratocaster guitars. They also make "Mandocaster 12" which is actually an octave guitar.
Mandolin this is often called a 'Celtic' mandolin. American forms include the Army-Navy mandolin, the flatiron and the pancake mandolins. The tone of the flatback is described as warm or mellow, suitable for folk music and smaller audiences. The instrument sound does not punch through the other players' sound like a carved top does. The double top is a feature that luthiers are experimenting with in the 21st century, to get better sound. However, mandolinists and luthiers have been experimenting with them for at least since the early 1900s. Back in the early 1900s, mandolinist Ginislao Paris approached Luigi Embergher to