View Full Version : Weber Beartooth Custom: Bracing?
telepbrman
Nov-01-2004, 9:40pm
How is she braced, also, has anyone A/B-d her with the Gibson A5-L?
PCypert
Nov-13-2004, 9:19am
Hey,
Can't speak for all of them. But mine has Tone Bars. The sound is fantastic, but I think part of that has to do with the matte finish over a gloss job. Blows away any Gibson I've played, but mandos vary. Very sharp instrument.
Paul
According to their website, they can have x-bracing or tone bars, the traditional as they call it is the one with the tone bars.
Buddah
Nov-17-2004, 8:06pm
Funny you should ask. A few months ago, I was making this same decision. I played two beartooths, both with tone bar bracing. They each sounded really thin. Decent highs and mids, but very wimpy lows, and the chop was not terribly impressive. The Gibson A5-L that I tried was head and shoulders above the Webers. Not quite as "defined" on the high end tone, but much throatier and more powerful mids, lows, and chop. I would say that the Webers were more meticulously fit and finished, but I sacrificed this for the much better tone of the Gibson. Keep in mind that opinions of tone are highly subjective, and you might have wildly different preferences in this regard.
All three mandolins were nearly brand new, and the Webers will most certainly "mature" with age, but to my ears, the new Gibson was quite a bit closer to that bluegrass sound that I wanted right out of the box, and it's already started to open up. It'll be a real cannon in a couple of years.
telepbrman
Nov-17-2004, 10:56pm
Yep, right out of the box bluegrass tone is an A5-L. You don't get the looks of bluegrass with an A5 or Weber in this case, but tone is tone...side note: I dig the fact that I don't play an F body for my main number one, and it is so versitile in types of settings...I like my A5-L a whole bunch. Now I do have a plan for some mods by John Hamlett...I will fill you in as the time grows near. It is my birthday present to myself, later, dy.
Buddah
Nov-17-2004, 10:58pm
Just read my post, and realized that it might come across as overly anti-Weber/pro-Gibson. Definitely not the case. I've played many terrific Webers, and owned and loved a Gallatin for a long time. Important to note that individual instruments will have individual voices. The Gibson that I wound up buying sounded better to me than the Webers that were available at the time. Play 'em side by side if you can, and let your own ear be the judge.
Buddah
Nov-17-2004, 11:04pm
My bad telepbrman, I thought you were looking for buying advice; sorry for crashing the thread. Just out of curiosity, are you looking to buy a Beartooth? Seems to me that there would be a certain amount of overlap between the two mandolins (A5-L and Weber).
pickinNgrinnin
Nov-18-2004, 10:22am
[QUOTE]Just out of curiosity, are you looking to buy a Beartooth? Seems to me that there would be a certain amount of overlap between the two mandolins (A5-L and Weber).
You ask why??? telepbrman may have the most serious case of M.A.S. ever documented here at the cafe http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif