Why don't the Randy Wood mandos

[Tom C]

I see Randy Wood mandos for under 10K. Why don't these sell for as much as Monteleones or Gils which are usually over 20K. I thought he was da man in reproducing that traditional loar tone.

[Amandalyn]

Yes they are excellent mandos, and I heard the price will soon be going up for new ones.

[Atlanta Mando Mike]

I own a Randy Wood and have wondered the same thing-here is my take. I think in the past he has tried producing a pretty large amount of mandos per year when compared to some of the other high end makers. I also think that in doing so his mandos don't have the meticulous workmanship of some of the others. I do think tone wise they are very comparable. I heard a rumour that he is going to stop making 20+ mandos per year and instead is going to make about 8 a year and charge 15 grand a piece. these will be called the Fern and will be extremely detail oriented Loar replicas with superior workmanship.

[August Watters]

I think the price difference has more to do with the perceived value by collectors than with tone.

August W

[ericwall]

Not a rumour. I heard it from Randy direct in February that he was going to build a higher end model for around $15k. I only got to play that fancy inlayed model on his website (price supposedly aroun $30k) but the strings were shot. It surely was a blast to play. He's truly a legend in this business and there are few who know as much IMO.
Eric Wall

[Mandoe]

As mentioned in this forum many times before, mandolin prices are often greatly influenced by who is playing/promoting them.

Here are a few examples: Monroe/Gibson; Grisman/Monteleone; Grisman,McCoury,Compton,Flinner/Gilchrist; Steffey/Apitius; Lawson/Paganoni; Lawson,Benson/Tucker; O'Brien/Nugget; Geaudreau/Rigel; Reischman/Heiden; Vincent/Sargent, Thile/Dudenbostal, etc.

How many of is would have ever heard of a Dudenbostal mandolin without Chris Thile or an Apitius mandolin without Adam Steffey? Not that these aren't great mandolins from great builders. They are.

The only pro I can think of who plays a Randy Wood mandolin is Roland White. Many folks probably think Roland's mandolin is a #Gibson because it says so in the headstock. Alan Bibey played a Randy Wood before he got his Loar. I am certain that if Chris Thile or Mike Compton played a Randy Wood mandolin today, the price would increase.

Tony Williamson told me one time that Randy Wood believd in building mandolins that musicians could afford to purchase/play. Mandolins for players, not collectors. Hence, he did not put the attention to detail in to his mandolins as, say, Dudenbostal. The details that matter most, however, like playability, tone, and durability are all there.

Lastly, I had the priviledge of playing the new RW Fern prototype the other day. I thought it was fantastic. The attention to detail is definitely there. I have never seen/played a better new mandolin. Tony had pictures of the Fern at his web site, mandolincentral.com. Check it out (no fincaial interest to me).