Bluett brothers

[Curtis]

When my parents found out I was looking for a new mando they started asking around since they knew someone from church who was trying to unload one. Ends up the one for sale was a used POS but they DID find out there was a luthier in town. So next time I'm visiting I will definitely pay a visit. Has anyone played one of their mandos?

http://www.bluettbros-violins.com/index.shtml

[MikeEdgerton]

Mark Bluett maks the rounds of the festivals in eastern PA and NJ displaying his instruments. I've played a few of his mandolins. He's a nice guy, his mandolins don't set me on fire but I'm sure there are others that love his stuff.

[bradeinhorn]

hey curtis,

i've had the opportunity to play several of mark's mandolins. two are owned by good buddies here in brooklyn. one can be heard on the clip "pig in a parlour" in the mp3 section on this board (i think it recorded very well). additionally, i hung out at mark's booth at the windgap festival quite a bit last june. mark was there as well as one of his shop apprentices.

my reviews are kind of mixed i'd say. of the two here in brooklyn, one is a super mandolin, the other just good, and pretty finicky over the years as far as the set up/playability is concerned. i should note that the newer one, i believe a 2006, is the nicer, so for sure mark's skills have been improving (his prices have increased as well).

at the festival, he had about 6 mandolins at the booth. two, imo, were absolutely outstanding. one of them sold that weekend and the other, a blond (and in my opinion the best one there) was still available. don't know if it still is. as mike mentioned, the others did not do much for me. not sure if was because the others just outshined them or what. i also played one at mandolin brothers fairly recently that did not stand out in there at all.

one other thing - at windgap, mark brought along an a-5 made by one of his shop apprentices. that thing was steal at around $2000, and i think it was the kid's first or second mandolin. see if you can find him around your town!

hope that helps.

[woodysny]

My first mandolin was a 1992 Mark Bluett. It was a really fine mandolin - kind of wish I still had it. However, I have played a few of his newer ones at the local festivals and I have to agree with the previous opinions. They are fairly inconsistent with the good ones being quite good. Mark has a good sense of which ones are his best and you should stick to the best ones. Also, as previously noted his prices have gone up and there are lots of great mandos available in the $5-6K range.

[Curtis]

I should have said I'm not in the market for one just wanted to stop by the shop since it's so close to my parents. And if I get to play one it would be nice to kind of know what I'm listening for. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Damn this Josh Pinkham kid is good (as I listen to GTV in the other tab. . . )

[trevor]

Somebody lost £2722 appx $5500

[trevor]

Ooops, wrong thread, can't get the delete button to work.

[Givson]

Mark makes nice sounding mandolins. I am not crazy about the details of the headstock and body scrolls shape.