Weber's Custom Vintage F

[blackhawkjoe]

Anyone have any experience with these? I've wanted one of these Mandos for a long time and I've heard good things about how powerful the tone is on them, But I can't help but wonder.... Will it be powerful enough and have enough chop to play bluegrass? I know that most people prefer an f hole mandolin over an oval hole for bluegrass, but I've never had a chance to see for myself because no music store nearby has a big enough mandolin selection for me to experiment with.

[Rick Crenshaw]

I don't know if it was a Custom Vintage, but I played Cafemember Tim's Custom Yellowstone with a Red Spruce top... it was a bluegrass monster. Maybe he'll chime in on what exact custom model Yellowstone it was. That mandolin was exceptional.

[robertson]

I think it would be a fine bluegrass mando. Is it x-braced or
bars? I have always heard braced sounds about as good as
it is going to get, where tone bars seem to "open up" as it
ages. One thing for sure, Weber builds a quality mando

[mandolirius]

Anyone have any experience with these? I've wanted one of these Mandos for a long time and I've heard good things about how powerful the tone is on them, But I can't help but wonder.... Will it be powerful enough and have enough chop to play bluegrass? I know that most people prefer an f hole mandolin over an oval hole for bluegrass, but I've never had a chance to see for myself because no music store nearby has a big enough mandolin selection for me to experiment with.

You could always rely on the "wisdom of the crowd". Many others have gone before you and the overwhelming consensus is that F's are better for bluegrass, especially the chopping part. There are, of course, exceptions - Red Rector, Curly Seckler, Ira Louvin, Andy Statman, Nolan Faukner and Norman Blake (sometimes). I believe Bill Monroe used an oval early on in his career (early Monroe Bros?) and I'm pretty sure I've seen a pic of PeeWee Lambert playing an F2 or F4 with the Stanley Bros.

As for the Weber, I haven't played an F but I was fortunate enough to have an A Custom Vintage live at my house for about ten days. It was a pumpkin top model and absolutely beautiful. The workmanshop was flawless. It had a slim, modified V-shaped neck with larger frets so it felt very comfortable to me. The sound was wonderful. I kept having to remind myself it was a new instrument. There were a lot of reasons to buy that mandoln but playing bluegrass on it was not one of them. I think I could have done it, but it would take work to get that kind of tone out of it. Also, I don't think playing bluegrass would be using the instrument to it's fullest potential.

[tburcham]

I don't know if it was a Custom Vintage, but I played Cafemember Tim's Custom Yellowstone with a Red Spruce top... it was a bluegrass monster. Maybe he'll chime in on what exact custom model Yellowstone it was. That mandolin was exceptional.

Hi Rick, My Yellowstone isn't a Vintage model, its just upgraded from standard Yellowstone specs with Red Spruce Top, Honey/Amber Finish (w/ Tortis trim), and highly figured maple back and sides. I personally feel the sound of this mandolin is due to exceptional tone-wood in the top. The folks at Weber did an outstanding job of carving/graduating the top in a manner that maximized/accentuated the red-spruce top's true potential.

Played it all day at the Smithville Fiddlers Festival yesterday...hardly touched the tuners.

Regarding the question in this thread regarding a Vintage Oval-hole Weber. I have a Silverangel that is X-braced and I love the tone and attach of that mandolin, but it is not as loud as the tone-bar braced Weber. In a festival picking scenario (everybody pickin everywhere!), volume is very important, while tone and attach can be emphasized in a performance mode, e.g., when you're performing into a mic. Ultimately, a decision on the purchase of a mandolin comes down to how IT speaks to the the player and how IT projects the player's musical personality.