Check Out the Distress

[banjo1]

What a piece of art.I wish I had one.
Great job Gibson OMI

[cbogle]

Being that the Supergrass organizers were both out-of-town the week prior to New Year's, I was elected to receive this wonderful DMM at my place of business, and have custody of it for 5 days (that was rough)! I am telling you......if any of you have been considering a mandolin of this magnitude.....this IS the ONE. It has SERIOUS Loar tone (yes, I've been fortunate enough to play a half-dozen or so), and is a b*njo-killer extrordinaire! Better than probably 3 of those Loars that I've played.....no kidding!

I must admit that when I unpacked it, set the bridge in the correct position and tuned it up, it sounded weaker than my expectations, so I played it for about an hour, and it warmed up a little. I then spent the next 30 or so minutes looking at it very carefully, amused (and amazed) at the authenticity of the "distressing"....some real, uh..... thought..... goes into this. #I carefully put it back in its replica case (which is NOT distressed, by the way), and went to bed.

After dinner the next evening, I took it out to test-fly it a little more, chopped a Bb chord on it, and the sound EXPLODED throughout the room....my wife yelled from the living room "which mandolin is THAT"? ----- I told her that "it seems like the DMM is settling in now". I played it for about an hour-and-a-half, and it just kept opening up....this is one ASTOUNDING instrument. It's no longer in my custody, but I sure enjoyed it while I had it.

If I had the sheckles, Scott would not have had to put those photos up on display because I would have already bought it.
Someone's going to get themselves an amazing mandolin!

Steve D.

[J. Mark Lane]

So now it's...used! Oh, no!

[JEStanek]

No, further Distressed!

Jamie

(yes, I've been fortunate enough to play a half-dozen or so), and is a b*njo-killer extrordinaire! Better than probably 3 of those Loars that I've played.....no kidding!
Wow, you are probably going to catch heat for that statement, but I believe you. I have also played some Loars that weren't all that great to me (could be the same ones)...

I am sure that the thinner finish is definately helping the sound. I find that a lot of new mandolins have too much finish, and way too much gloss coat.

If you like it now, imagine what it is going to sound like in 5 years when the finish cures.

[craigw]

First of all, a great big thank you to Gibson for their generous contribution of this truly magnificent instrument to help underwrite the SuperGrass/LoarFestWest effort.
I have been privileged to act as it's caretaker for the last several days and have been amazed at how Gibson has been able to recreate the look and feel of a vintage F-5 with 80+ years of service. What has really blown me away, though, is the tone, volume, clarity and sustain that this fine mandolin has after less than 30 days from it's birth date (12/14/05.) I was a proud owner of one of the better Loar F-5s (2/18/24) for over 34 years and have had opportunity to play many other Loars over the years as well as many new F-5s including MMs and DMMs. With that said, I have to admit that this particular Distressed MM comes about as close to "classic" Loar tone and volume as anything I've played of recent vintage.

[cbogle]

J. Mark---

I was extremely careful not to put a scratch on it! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

Steve D.

[craigw]

OBTW, the digital photos of the DMM were done by my brother John of John Wilson Photography here in Bakersfield. If you're here for SuperGrass/LoarFestWest, and need some instrument photos, look him up.

[f5loar]

Maybe your brother should be there with camera in hand to offer his services to the many hundreds of Loar owners that will be there. Nothing like taking home that memory photo of holding your Loar at LoarFest West.

[craigw]

There will be no shortage of great photogs on-site. The official photographers of the California Bluegrass Association, Bob Calkins and Tom Tworek will be working the crowd and Dan Beimborn of Mandolin Chronicles(and one of our LoarFest panelists) will be there. Dan will also be presenting a workshop during the festival on "Irish tunes for Bluegrass mandolin and bazooki." (Or should that read bazooki and Bluegrass mandolin?)

[Ray(T)]

Maybe its me but I'm at a loss to know why a new "distessed" instrument attracts a premium price whilst an old instrument attracts a higher price if it is closer to mint condition.

[craigw]

It must be my sensory overload coupled with old age. My error and a correction: Dan Beimborn is of "Mandolin Archives" fame.

[zzoundss]

The thing is beautiful. A question though. This may seem obvious to you but I don't know much about the DMM. What makes it worth its 25550 price tag?

[Rich Evans]

WOW!! That last question sure stopped this discussion cold.

I would answer the question with:

1. The sound.
2. The quality.
3. Limited production.
4. Historic and intrinsic value.

These mandolins may end up being a good investment if they age gracefully. The Distressed models have a head start on the aging process.

If I didn't already have a Master Model, I would sure be thinking about this DMM.

Rich Evans