Butch's mando ?

[Tom F]

Ok, I admit, I am new to the mandolin, so I am allowed to ask naive questions. I have Butch Baldassari's Old Town CD. Excellent. What really impresses me is his clean notes and tone.

And here's the question...(and this could apply to any top picker). So what fraction of that great sound is Butch, Butch's pick, and/or Butch's mandolin? And if the pick and mando are involved, what does he use?

Thanks!

Tom

[AlanN]

His mando is a 1925 "un-signed" Loar. And yep, it's a good 'un. As for his pick, only his hairdresser knows for sure http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Ken Sager]

It's all Butch. Just like Grisman has said about himself, he can coax his unique tone out of almost any mandolin. Butch is no different. He has a unique style that comes through regardless of which instrument he plays.

Ask Butch what he played on that album (most likely his unsigned Loar or one of his other Gibsons). He responds quickly and politely to email. His address is available on his website:
http://www.soundartrecordings.com/

Butch IS SoundArt, so he'll reply to the info address there.

Best,
Ken

Butch is one of the best. One of my favorite players hands down.:)

[sunburst]

I heard Butch at Telluride several years ago and was impressed with the tone of his mando. I saw him just sort of standing around later and asked him what he was playing and he said it was the '25. I didn't know he had it before that. True enough, he can get tone out of a gourd, but that mando has tone!

[Big Joe]

He does have great tone, but the mandolin he uses does make a difference. His 25' is pretty darn good! He often uses TS picks.

[Skip Kelley]

Butch also has a killer blonde Nugget. He gets the same tone out of it as the 25 Gibson. The last time I talked to him, his pick of choice was an old clown puke Grisman. My favorite player hands down. Killer tremelo!!!

[doc holiday]

Butch is one of my favorite players. I recently got a copy of his cd/book 30 fiddle tunes for mandolin, just to hear his playing, there's some great tunes there but it was worth the buy for just the 2 cds of him playing w/ occasional guitar back-up by Jeff White http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif


Doc

[Crowder]

One way to sound like Butch is to play super duper clean. But very few people work on that enough to approach his sound. I know I don't!

[Joe Mendel]

Butch also plays an oval hole Sawchyn, model 0-2.
He's one of my favorite players, also. Check out his "A Day In The Country" CD too, very nice.

[johnwalser]

Butch's "Evergreen" CD is Christmas music you want to hear all year long. "Cantabile" and "The Mandolin Tribute to Andrea Bocelli" CDs will inspire you to improve. I took a workshop with Butch last June and got ask him questions and watch his technique from 6' away. He says that he still is constantly working on things to improve that technique and it is a good lesson for us all. If I could choose between Butch's Gibson (he bought it for something like $4500 and said it was now valued at $70,000) or his technique, it would be his technique every time. I practice two or more hours everyday in hopes someday of being worthy to carry his case. Great player and seems like a truly nice guy.
John

[Christopher Howard-Williams]

Everything he plays turns to gold - whether it be straight up Bluegrass as in Weary Hearts or his own delightful stuff.
The tone is wonderful but a lot of it is in the timing too.
The annoying thing is everything he plays seems to be accessible until you try it and just can't get that sound http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[Strathspey]

I was at a NME concert last night. Wow! - they cover about 4 centuries of music in 2 hours! My only disappointment was that they don't talk about their instruments at all. The names of each are mentionned once, but no details about the instruments, which I think would enhance the evening. At drinks after the show, my friends referred to the Mando-cello as "the big black thing" and the Mandola as "the one the short guy plays." Butch was playing a Gibson, which I might assume was he '25 Loar.

I really enjoyed the show, though. I'm not much of a networker, so I'm didn't talk to the guys after - where I could have gotten the instrument details.

Matt

[Clamdigger]

Butch is one of the most underrated mandolin players around. #He could be playing mandolin for just about any bluegrass band but went that route and left it. #Can play any kind of music and is super guy. #Clamdigger

[Frank Russell]

Yeah, Butch is the man. He also gives a great workshop occasionally at festivals. Last year at Huck Finn here in SoCal, he mentioned that he tries to make "every note a home run," and that he prefers staying within the confines of the tune, so people can stay with him while listening or playing. He's not a big believer in playing as many notes in a phrase as possible, but making those fewer notes as clean and sweet as he can. I agree. He was using his unsigned Loar-era Gibson when I saw him, and from thirty-odd feet away, it sounded like he was standing next to me. Not just volume, but killer tone. Tortoise shell picks that day, but he did mention the clown barfs. Great guy to deal with, super cd's. Frank