Randy wood mandos

[mburkes]

Howdy!
Would like to get some feedback from Randy Wood owners.
I am looking at a couple of his mandos.
How do you like them?
Mike

[jim_n_virginia]

Mike this is like asking a bunch of Humvee and Corvette owners how much they like there cars! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Randy Wood builds one heck of a mandolin I doubt you gonna find many that don't like theirs. The guy has made a career out of taking other mandolins and regraduating them and making them sound better.

I've never owned one but I hope to one day! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[f5loar]

Let's see, Bill Monroe had to have one. Enough said!
Randy is the "Granddaddy" of the F5 copy revolution.
You seldom see them for sale used. That's always a good sign. Ashby Frank is playing one these days.
Roland White made a career off of one and Red Henry lives by them.

[AlanN]

Garrett Criscoe, a local boy has one. Well-built, well-crafted, well-balanced. I guess that about, well, says it all pretty well http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[BBarton]

I have a RW 2-pt A5 that I custom ordered from Randy 5 years ago, and I don't plan to part with it!! (And that's after parting with a Flatiron and a Givens.) It's just starting to mellow out nicely now, although I confess I don't play it nearly enough. Of all mandos I've had and played, it has one of the smoothest and responsive fingerboards.

[Red Henry]

After playing Randy Wood #1 for 38 years and RW#3 for 6 years, along with various other RW mandolins and a RW mandocello, I'd say that Randy makes terrific mandolins. Their tone, response, and playability are excellent for all the kinds of music I play, which ranges from bluegrass to Celtic to classical.

Red

[jasona]

The one mandolin that really haunts me is a Wood F5 converted and regraduated F12 that the Twelfth Fret sold several years back. What a cannon that mandolin was!

[Brian T]

Just pulled the trigger on a 2004 RW. I'll post my findings soon. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[cgwilsonjr]

I played with Brian T this weekend and his RW sounded outstanding (Brian might have had something to do with that:) I played it briefly and it had a great chop and played like silk. I certainly think RW's reputation is well deserved. Chuck

[Red Henry]

I'm the current proprietor of Randy Wood #1 and #3, and I've also played RW#2 and #4. I also own a couple other of Randy's instruments. All I can say is that Randy didn't take any time learning how to make great mandolins-- he made terrific instruments starting with the very first one.

--and so, I'd recommend that you try Randy's instruments out if you're looking for a mandolin. One advantage is that prices of RW mandolins (either new or used) can be quite a bit less than the prices of instruments made by some more famous builders. This means that you can sometimes find a really fine-sounding RW mandolin for much less than the going rate of a comparable Gil, Dude, or other better-known make.

Try out every mandolin you can!

Red

[sgarrity]

I'm looking forward to seein' Brian's recently acquired RW....

[mandolooter]

so Mike how do the ones your looking at measure up, or is this a sight unseen deal that ya want more info on? I've only played one but it was a fine mandolin in every aspect.

[Brian T]

They're everything they say they are. Great mandolin. Very powerful and it's still needs to open up some more!

[sgarrity]

I played Brian's tonight. It's a mighty powerful manalin now. When it opens up, it's gonna be a hoss! Not to mention it's a beautifully made and finished instrument. Truly first class work.

[Red Henry]

Speaking of all that, somebody may jump on this at its $7995 "Buy it now" price--

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/2002-Randy-Wood-F-5-Varnished-F-style-Mandolin_W0QQitemZ260212950258QQihZ016QQcategoryZ1 01
79QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/2002-Ra....iewItem</a>

--considering that Randy's selling them new for $12k, and other comparable mandolins are going for a lot more, this seems like one to go for.

Red

[mburkes]

Wow!

I am supposed to venture out to Mandolin Central this weekend for some test drives. I am really excited. The feedback has been a big help for me.
Thanks to all you Cafe buds for taking the time to write!
I will post my trip results next week!!!
Mike

[Timbofood]

I just sent out a mass e-mail to friends telling them that since they missed out on getting me the Loar (eBayed last summer) for my birthday they can all band together and get me this as a second choice. I think it would (Wood) make me happy!
Y'all can get on the bandwagon if you are feeling generous too.

[Red Henry]

The seller has reduced the "Buy it Now" price on this RW varnish F-5--

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/2002-Randy-Wood-Supreme-Varnished-F-style-Mandolin_W0QQitemZ260212950258QQihZ016QQcategory
Z10179QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/2002-Ra....iewItem</a>

--Nobody's taken him up on it yet. I guarantee that if I had $7500 to buy a mandolin with, this is where it would go.


Red

[coelhoe]

For a year or so in the early-70's I played a Gibson F-12 from the late 1930's that had been re-worked by Randy Wood. It was probably the best instrument I've ever used on a regular basis (and that includes a 20's F-2, a 50's A-50, and two 70's F-5's). The fellow who owned it just played a little and he graciously let me use it many times. I wish I could have had the bucks in those grad school days to buy it from him but he didn't want to sell it, anyway. I've since lost touch with him and the mandolin. I've played most of the newer Gibson top enders and that F-12 had them all beat.

[Jeff Hildreth]

There is a local "steel" player who owns(ed) a Randy Wood F-5 with "The Gibson" on the headstock

[Red Henry]

Jeff, where is that mandolin? That one could be RW#4, which I've lost track of since Tom McKinney sold it; or it could RW#5, which I've never seen.

Red

[Gary Hedrick]

I owned a Randy Wood reworked F12 in 1970 and kept it until I bought my Loar in '84. It was a very, very good instrument. He is a master of reshaping and reworking those instruments into something of great value.
A number of them made their way into Indiana during the early 70's via Roger Smith (a former Bluegrass Boy and banjo, fiddle and mandolin instructor).

[Danny Clark]

hey Red isnt that #3 Rolands old RW?
Danny

[Crowder]

I'd never played one before last weekend. I was really impressed. The one I played seemed to be more true to Loar proportions than most mandolins I've owned (body seemed a little shallower at the edges, etc.). It had a very nice tone and was quite strong in all registers.

[Danny Clark]

i have owned a couple and they both were great mandolins,Randy told me one time that not all Loars were the same dept,some were a little shallower and he made some of his to those specs.

[Red Henry]

Danny--

Randy Wood #1 was made in 1968 and was sold new to Bernie Michelle for $750. Bill Monroe wanted to buy it, but fortunately Randy had already promised to sell it to Bernie. I bought it from Bernie (through instrument trader Amos Bigham) for $800 in early 1971. With a tone much like Monroe's old F-5 but with much more volume, to me it is the perfect, compete bluegrass mandolin. It taught me to play.

Randy Wood #2, made in late 1968, was bought new by Roland White, and he kept it until recently. Its tone reminded me (and others) a lot of #1.

Randy Wood #3, dated Jan. 15th, 1969, was the one Bill Monroe asked Randy to make for him. Bill played it some and then lent to Marty Stuart, who played it while he was with Lester Flatt. Later, Roland borrowed it for several months while his mandolin was in the shop, in the early '80s I think. A few years later, Larry Sledge borrowed it for a while. By about 1986 I heard that it was lost, but it came up in the Monroe estate sale in December 2001, and Murphy bought it out of the sale and gave it to me for Christmas.

(#3 has a terrific dry, projecting sound which makes it ideal for jam-sesson and on-stage playing. You'll never be the invisible mandolin player if you have #3 in your hands, no matter how many banjo players are in the jam session. This is the one I normally take out of the house and play.)

Randy Wood #4 belonged to Tom McKinney for a long time. It was actually the first really good bluegrass mandolin I ever played, in the dark at the Florida Folk Festival in about 1969. Tom kept it for many years but sold it several years ago.


Red


PS-- I'll put this photo up again, for those who didn't catch it the first time, of Randy Wood #1, #2, and #3, along with a RW showpiece 2-point and RW 1281, and a party in Nashville in early 2002. (It was a complete experience. Randy was there too!)

http://www.murphymethod.com/rwmandolins.html



.

[Rick Schmidlin]

What did Roland Whites sell at Grunhs for?

[Red Henry]

When I looked the listing up soon after the sale on the Gruhn website, the price appeared have been about $20k plus George's commission. I don't know who got it.

Red

[jroark]

I just got my RW varnish back #2698 and I still love it. I just suits me to a tee. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif