weber gallatin upgrade

[mmukav]

Has anyone played the weber gallatin upgrade with maple back and sides? The price is pretty good, but was wondering if it has good chop, is it bright, woody sound? Just wondering. Mike

[mandoJeremy]

I have played one and they do sound very good, especially for the money. If that is what your budget is I would buy one. The Webers are all very consistent. Some are better than others but they still remain very close in sound and the workmanship is perfect.

[rose#1]

I have had some experience with the Gattlin but it was the one with mahogany back and sides it actually was the best sounding weber I had played but it had been played alot for a couple of years by a boy in a gospel group called all for him. I did some work on it for him... radiused the finger board put med frets in it and scooped the extention after the upgrade it made it even better.

Darby

[om21ed]

Where does one find this upgrade and how much is it ?

[mmukav]

Apparently Weber does lots of these custom upgrades. The one I'm referring to is on the 'Folk of the Woods' site.
The upgrades are maple back and sides(instead of stock mohogany), and gloss finish instead of satin. The price is $2,080, which doesn't include price for upgrade nor the discount price. I'm just curious about the maple back and sides as opposed to the mahogany.

[Furnman]

Just this past week I had the opportunity to play multiple variations of Gallatins at a local shop that is a major Weber dealer. #My conclusions in short:

1) The maple back & sides did offer a nicer chop-friendly tone than the mahogany version (but the difference was not massive, to me).
2) There was a surprising difference to me, however, between a maple Gallatin w/the satin finish vs. maple w/gloss finish - the satin finish had much more open, woodier tone (I preferred it myself).
3) While this dealer doesn't normally carry Gibson, they happened to have a 1973 Gibson F-5. #I picked it up and was shocked by the difference, frankly (believe me, I would have picked this up blindfolded - it was pretty dramatic). #Much boomer and chop-worthy. #I was pretty happy w/the Gallatins till I picked it up! #Reinforced my need to test drive some A9/F9's before I make my final decision.

In short, the maple version does improve the Gallatin if you're looking to play some BG, but I wouldn't call it a major BG instrument. #It still strikes me as a more flexible choice than a "pure" BG instrument (which I may be leaning toward... I play multiple styles, but I'm still not sure!).

Hope this helps some.

[mmukav]

Very interesting stuff. I play a Gibson A9 and recently had the opportunity to play a friend's Stiver F, one he purchased new around 1980. The Stiver really impressed me, played nicer, but I had to admit the A9 held it's own. The A9 is very woody sounding. I haven't played a Weber, so I was just curious how the upgraded Gallatin sounded. Your comparison was very helpful. Also interesting about the different finishes. One of the complaints I had with the A9 was the thin finish. I was used to the heavier nitro finishes and was bummed when I started to wear through the finish on the top where my fingers contacted it. But I have to admit, the thinner finish seems to transmit sound better. And you found similar results with the mandos you played.

[rnjl]

Hmm, but aren't we comparing apples and oranges here?

A decent instrument that has had 20+ years of playing is a different beast than a decent instrument right out of the box, isn't it?

Unfortunately, there aren't any 20 year old Webers out there, but there are a few that have had years of hard playing- maybe that's the better comparison.

Not trying to sell Webers nor knock Gibsons- both are great mandos- just adding a thought.

Neal