Nice Copy..but

[Darryl Wolfe]

Here is a really nice job. #It's a real shame that the person didn't take some credit for his efforts. #Anyone recognize it. #I see some Stew-Mac kit traits, but someone did more than a typical kit job here

ebay mandolin (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10179&item=3759125232&rd=1)

[kudzugypsy]

i agree, someone did a really good job on this one. got a lot of things "right" that a generic copiest would overlook. someone in the area should go to this pawn shop and check it out. give us a report.
modern tuners and lack of playing wear lead me to assume a recent maker.
there may be a clue in the heel button??? and ohio location....early BRW maybe???

I think its literally amazing visually.

[Scotti Adams]

..looks like a Buckeye...they are made by Pete Hart...played by Johnny Staats...tho most of Pete's have a fern inlay..

[Skip Kelley]

Whoever built the mandolin did a fine job. It looks great.

[kudzugypsy]

if someone were to play that one hard for about 10 years, fit it with some of f5journals loar hardware, and put it in a paganoni case.......

interesting how the maker did not intently try to label it as a real gibson with fake LL labels. makes it more convincing that it was a legitimate maker, possibly making a one off for a customer.

i was called once by a pawn shop owner who knew i played mandolin. he said he had an old gibson some farmer had pawned. i rushed over to find a refinished pac-rim mando, the top caved in, and a really ###### gibson inlay job. i tried to tell him the real deal, but he still wanted $3000 for it.....basiclly a $100 mando. i even pointed out where the old "Made In Japan" label had once been!!! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

someone should check this one out, those are good photos, and i just cant see that mando not being worth at least $2500.

[Scotti Adams]

..I just went back and read the ad again..its in Columbus, Ohio...right up the road from me. Buckeye mandos are built in the Athens, Ohio area.....Im still leaning towards it being a Buckeye.....its not an early BRW like was mentioned before.

[jim simpson]

If that thing sounds half as good as it looks, it could be a real buy!
Scotti,
Isn't Athens the location for Red Diamond mandos too? I remember taking the trip to Athens with a friend who was having Bob White work on an old Gibson black top guitar. His work and finish touch up was amazing. It sounds like no shortage of talent in Ohio.
Jim

[Darryl Wolfe]

Red Diamond..agree..remember there is connection between StewMac and red diamond...f-holes and Peghead shape...fingerboard extension are all StewMac patterned

[jim simpson]

Good point Darryl! Isn't it McRostie? (spelling?) of StewMac I played a friends early Red Diamond and was pretty impressed. It wasn't as refined finish wise but great sound.

[Scotti Adams]

,,yea..and some of those Buckeyes were made from Stew-Mac parts.....so Im told. They are great sounding mandos made by a great guy. Pete Hart fronts his own band ..The Hart Brothers....hes actually in Guysville, Ohio...not far from Athens. I visited Bob Whites shop a few years back...nice man and craftsman. A couple of years ago at Darryl Adkins fester in Columbus Ohio a Bob White mando was raffled off.....it was a real nice one. Bobs sorta one of those unsung heros of the mando world.

[Darryl Wolfe]

Scotti...Dad and I used to run down from Cleveland (where I was raised until 16yrs) to see Bob White...got a nice old A-50 from him. He turned us on to an old codger named Adolf Eiselt from whom we bought my first F-model Gibson...a dandy 1966 F5 (aka a "boat anchor")

[Scotti Adams]

Darryl..do you remember a mando player that played with Katie Laur named Jeff Terflinger?....he had one of the finest F4 to F5 conversions I have ever seen....the last time I saw it was in the 80's. I hear he split for San Fransisco. I dont hear anything about him. I bet that mando is lying under some bed somewhere. I didnt know you were an Ohio boy....congrats.

[Darryl Wolfe]

I remember Jeff from the late 70-80s festival circuit. haven't heard from him since...

[dasspunk]

Scotti, go play that thing and give a review...

[Scotti Adams]

Scotti, go play that thing and give a review...
Man..I would love to...but its not feasible..Im a very busy man this week...

[Brian Aldridge]

What I heard of Jeff Terflinger was he went to San Fransisco to indulge in a certain lifestyle that was/is happening there in unusual perportions, and contracted AIDS, and has been deceased for several years now as a result. He was a very good mandolin player. I have been watching that mandolin in question too. The thing that has me wondering about this mandolin is the metal strap button. Ray Sparks does this on all his mandolins. But this is not a Ray Sparks mandolin. I suspect it may be someone who has spent some time in Ray's shop. Quite a few would-be builders go to Rays shop to use tools, get imput from Ray, and spend time around other folks interested in building. I myself have spent quite a bit of time there observing and getting a little hands on time. This looks like it could be a mandolin that Bill Flemming built at Ray's shop. Regardless of who built it, it does look good.

[Scotti Adams]

..I heard that story about Jeff too..so sad....any scoop on his mando?.....

[Brian Aldridge]

no scoop on Jeff's mandolin. It was considered a great instrument; I played it once and coveted it big time. I was playing a brand new Ibanez at the time that was pretty tight, and I believe Scotti was playing an Alvarez that you had dug into the top and insetted the bridge into the top. I wonder how Jeff's mandolin would stack up to today's standards? I know Bob White did the conversion, and he makes a good mandolin.

[ethanopia]

I'll swing by and check it out on my lunch hour since the pawn shop is close to my work place. Brian I thought the same thing about it being Ray's but it doesn't look much like any of his that I've seen.

[Scotti Adams]

..ouch...that ol Alvarez..my dad about killed me over that....nothing a little wood putty and sand paper didnt fix.. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[G. Fisher]

Ethanopia,

Do you have access to a small dental mirror? If so take it along and look inside to see if it is signed on the top by the tone bars. That is where some builders sign their instruments.

We expect a full report. # http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Greg

[ethanopia]

Ok I went to take a look at it.

I didn't have a dental mirror and unfortunatly neither did they. SO idon't have all that much more info to offer other than my impressions so here goes.

I think it sounds pretty good. Not blow your socks off good but it sounds as good as something like this should. It needs a new bridge as the current one is up too high and subsequently leaning forward and not making good contact with the top. The action is ok certainly playable. The intonation seemed good and the neck seemed straight and I checked for up-bow, none that I could tell. The top shows no real signs of sinkage but the graduation was a bit shifted to the tailpiece it seemed, and the neck is comfortable, but a bit on the thicker side but not clubby. It has a skinny mandolin frets with a flat finger board and could probably use a refret or crown.

The finish on it makes me think and this is just gut reaction, that it might be made by Don McRosite. The photos don't really show this but it has an Orange center burst and transparent Olive/Brown outside. It reminds me a lot of Brinkman's Red Diamond. But it could also be a Buckeye though Ive never seen one of those so I can't say for sure.

The inside of the body looks pretty new the wood is fairly light and doesn't show much age. But the binding is suffucuently yellowed so suggests a bit of age maybe 10 years maybe more but not much. As does the tailpiece, a bit of patina and wear.

It doesn't look like something that was made by someone who had made a few instruments and was tinkering around. The scroll is pretty good the detail on the inlay was pretty good too.

All in all my gut reaction was at $2000 it's probably a bargain, $3000 you would be ok, and $4000 you probably ought to pass on this one. But that is just me. If however you could prove it was an old Red Diamond I think that adds to the value don't you think? I need a mirror!

[Darryl Wolfe]

Good work Ethan...I think that leans it toward Don M./Stew-Mac..as my gut first thought

[Steve Williams]

I know Bob and I seem to recall that he made at least a few F-5 copies back in the 80's with "The Gibson" peghead inlay. He showed up at a show I was playing in Athens County a couple weeks ago and we talked for quite a while during a break...he's had some health issues lately but otherwise is still the same old Bob. He was telling me about a black F-5 copy that he recently finished with a horse inlaid in the headstock...calls it his "Black Beauty".

I don't recall ever seeing one of Pete's "Buckeye" mandolins with Gibson markings, but that's not to say that it's never been done. I played one of his early ones recently that belongs to Terry Sheppard with the Sheppard Brothers and it was marked "Buckeye"...'less I'm mistaken Johnny Staats played that one on his "Wires and Wood" project. Typical Hart mandolin - played easy and barked like a bulldog!


Good to read about Bob and Pete here...they are two of the finest fellers you'd ever want to meet. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[danmills]

Somebody finally bid on it (jeffpropert). Anybody you know? I admit I've been strangely tempted, but sanity prevailed (so far).

Dan

[ethanopia]

Looks like with 2 hours left someone is going to get a good deal, that is a cool mandolin for 2000 bucks.

[HoGo]

The shape of the f-holes should disclose the name of maker. They look quite distinctive and not much like any MacRostie I've seen.

[Scotti Adams]

..ok..who ended up with this beaut ?