Black top Mandolins

[Quanah]

Looking at a Black top mando. Just curious if anyone has one. Are they harder to keep clean? Harder sell later?
Finish were sooner? Just trying to look at all the angles before jumpin out there. Any words of wisdom from experience. I know Tim Obrien's new one from Collings/Nugget is black.

[jjboone101]

I've owned a couple of Blackfaces (Flatiron and Pomeroy). I like'em but I think it is a personal choice. More folks seem to prefer the sunbursts, but I think the BF's have a certain mojo. Not really harder to keep clean or anything like that.

[Jasper]

What are you thinkin' of gettin'?

[Richard Russell]

My Flatiron is a Black-face. I love it! It is a fact that they show any kind of scratch or scuff much more than the typical sunburst finish. They show dust, so you may wipe the mandolin off more. Some people like them, some don't. I don't think it hurts resale. There is something about the black faced look that is classy and down to business!

[SternART]

I like them!

[John Flynn]

I have a black faced Old Wave oval that I bought new. I agree with arrich. Black faces really do show every little scratch, smudge and bit of dust. I think they look great, but do prepare yourself for that. I would not buy one again unless I felt I could take meticulous care of it. I started a similar thread on black faces some time ago and there were a lot of good posts with some similar opinions.

[Fuzzyway]

I have a black Rigel G5 which shows every smudge,and fingerprint...but then I bought it for the sound not the color, although I think it does look kinda classy.

fuzzy

[sgarrity]

I just posted pics of mine over in the "Post A Pic" section.

[fatt-dad]

Why hide the grain on a nice piece of spruce? (Then again, maybe it's not a nice looking piece of spruce.)

fatt what-I've-heard-from-others dad

[Quanah]

Thanks for your responses to my question. I'm kinda looking at the BRW he has on his website. I have a Gibson F5G which I really like. Just kicking tires, you know MAS
can attack you from any direction. That sure is a pretty thing he's got(BRW) just dangling out there to cause a person to do something allful. I don't know why they have to torment us like they do. My wife says, "there ota be a law agin it". But they (women) just don't understand our needs. Well I'm sitting here trying to justify the harm in
"one more". I know I'm not alone on an island... there a lot of you people with the same affiction. Oh well.....
I'll keep you posted. Maybe it will pass! I hope not.

[Klaus Wutscher]

If designed tastfully, nothing beats the beauty of a blackface (particularly an A style) except maybe a blonde. But then again, I´m probably biased since I own a blackface Kimble myself and used to have another one which I had to sell. As far as the scratches, I never thought of it that way since for me, all the wear just adds to the charme.

[Tom C]

I like black tops more on F4 and "A" styles where a rosette around the sound hole breaks up the stealth of it.

[billkilpatrick]

one of the first mandolins i ever really noticed was an all-black two point in a film. the music was classical and the mandolin was part of a quartet ( i believe ... they were only on the screen for a second ) but everyone was dressed in evening wear and the whole thing looked and sounded elegant beyond belief. every now and then scott trots out a b/w photo of some dude (an apt description, in this case) with his hair slicked down, dressed in a dinner jacket and patent leather evening pumps, holding what i think is a black faced gibson. what class ...

- bill

[Bill Van Liere]

Black top, what do I think about them?

I think SternArt's is drop dead gorgeous. What make is that Arthur? Beautiful.

Yes Fatt-Dad, hiding that spruce seems slightly awful right now, but a healthy amout of playing will bring that grain out in time.

[SternART]

Mando-lynn.......my black face is built by Lawrence Smart, up in McCall, Idaho.

[Gary S]

A black top with a matte or satin finish might help with the smudging and dust showing so easily. It could also give it that teens gibson look...Gary

[Fretbear]

I patterned the finish on my self-built BF F5 after Tim O'Brien's famous Nugget, with the russet coloured sides and back, I love it immensely. Somebody posted a picture of a mint 1917 F4 here once with a solid black face, it was one of the most beautiful mandolins I have ever seen.

[kyblue]

That Lawrence Smart is to die for. I think I just found my dream oval hole.

Paula

[Santiago]

I think it's a sharp look, but it can be used to disguise scratches in the original wood.

[Dale Ludewig]

Black tops?

[JEStanek]

Emory Lester Quintet! That's a lot of mojo in 6 square feet.
Jamie

[kyblue]

Those are sharp looking, Dale!

[Mojo]

Nice touch with the matching TPs.

[Dale Ludewig]

TPs? Pardon my ignorance. Boots are ostrich. Probably un-PC.

[grandmainger]

TP=Tailpiece
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Dale Ludewig]

Oh wait- Tailpieces? Or throat pieces (neck tags)- IBMA 2004.

[Seth Austen]

I have a Gibson snakehead and Brentrup 21v, both black face. I love the look of them, although I bought them both for sound, not appearance.

Seth

[Mojo]

Oh wait- Tailpieces? #Or throat pieces (neck tags)- IBMA 2004.
Very funny http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif I was referring to the Black on Gold job on the tail pieces - very nice touch to go along with the black faces, which I love.

Loren

[Dave Reiner]

Just got the blackface BRW shown on the BRW site. Looks beautiful, plays very nicely...

Dave

[barry k]

..a black face...sort of?