Cool 4 string EM150 in the classifieds right now.
Posting a few pictures here for posteriority.
Mick
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Cool 4 string EM150 in the classifieds right now.
Posting a few pictures here for posteriority.
Mick
I might make it down to RetroFret in the next week or two and will take a look if I do and report back, Captain!
Have seen that before. Thought it was cool, but overpriced. It is supposed to be rare.
I spent a couple weeks in Brooklyn a year ago (summer of 2015), so I did visit Retrofret. First of all, a great shop to visit. I had been there once before. Very friendly staff & plenty of Mandolins to play.
I did play this Em150 4 String, and the 10 String Bigsby. The Bigsby is a monster. It sure sounded cool, but I had trouble navigating around those 10 strings. Not the Mandolins fault. I would need to spend a year with that baby to get used to it. I thought it was really cool.
The Gibson 4 sounded ok with P90 pick up. I didn't get a good feel on playing it either. I will say I have 2 4-strings, A Mandobird & a Mandostrat. So I am used to playing 4 strings. Those 2, the necks are built for 4, while the 150 felt like a neck meant for 8 with wider gaps. Also, I see in the picture there is no pick guard. Good. I think the pick guard was warped and I thought it was in the way
I put Almuse pick ups on my 4-strings and a I am more used to that sound.
I do like EM 150's, I used to have one. There are good utility electric Mandolins. I think this is a cool Mandolin, just sharing my observations. This was over a year ago so take that into account.
Joe B
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"Banana" Had one in his Inverness Cal Store., Too
Some MC member Bought that one. maybe they resold It or there are at least 2. :whistling:
An EM150 was my first mandolin as I was switching from electric bass to melody instruments, so I've remained partial. Still have that mandolin. I'm keen to Mandopops feedback.....I've got a 30+ year old Schwab 5 string and the switch from single to double string "mando" still takes me fingers a bit by surprise, even if it is in the same playing session.
I thought about getting Kevin to make me a 10-string Schwab but backed off at the last moment all those years ago. It has been a constant companion through thick and thin but I sometimes I wistfully regret that early choice.
I've struggled with the P90 through the life of this, loving and hating it at almost equal intervals. As our new Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan sang, we're together through life. EM150s are like the weather. One of the great joys of mando-dom. How do you live without it?
Send me back word, Bro' J.
Mick
Mick,
I lived without the EM150, but in it's place for years I had it's big brother, EM200. A great piece of Mando-dom. I think it's P90 was a little hotter. I recently parted with that, so I have 2 four strings. For now they satisfy my itch to plug in & bend a few notes. Who knows if I will again pick up on some Gibson EM at a later date. They are fun to play & show off.
As far as fingers, the single to double course doesn't bother me as much as going to a 5-string (or as with the Bigsby a 10). It just throws me. A Schwab-Tele Electric would be wonderful to have. I'd probably go with a 4-stringer.
If you pass thru Chicago on the way between Ann Arbor & Austin, let me know.
Joe B
Will do, Joe. We've gone through Chicago and StL as a route down south a number of times. Would be fun to visit with you some time.Quote:
Originally Posted by mandopops
Mick
Just to close the loop on the this thread, I own the EM-150 four-string in question. I had it for sale on consignment at Retrofret for a while, but have had a change of heart (and financial circumstances) and decided to keep it. Steve Uhrik is a great guy to work with, by the way, and very knowledgeable. He did warn me when I first brought it in that it would likely either sell immediately or take a really long time--and it turned out to be the latter.
In the photos that Mick included in his post, the one on the left is one I took. In it, it has 4/6ths of a set of Waverly guitar tuners with ebony buttons, and no pickguard (the pickguard is indeed a little warped, and makes playing it uncomfortable). The other photos were after I put it up for sale, with the original Klusons and the pickguard back on. Now it's got the Waverlys back on, the pickguard off, and a new set of Thomastik mediums on it, and is sounding great.
This is the very same mandolin that Banana had for sale many years ago, as Mandroid recalls--that's who I bought it from. So as far as I know, it's the only one--and I've asked about other Gibson four-string electrics in posts on this forum in the past, with no luck. I'm still hoping to discover a four-string electric F-12 some day, and, my personal holy grail, an original four-string EM-200...
I have a Bit of confusion since my 4 string conversion still has 8 Knobs ..
If someone makes some black Plugs, 4 of those can fill the places where the Schaller grommets come out.
and I can remove 4 worm gears , off the plates . (a benefit of how those tuners are Made)
and It will still Look Good from the front (and be reversible to go back to an 8 string. )
Now if there were a black button to replace the Schaller bushing,
then I could take off 4 round gears capstans, worm shafts and buttons and have 4 black plugs,
filling visually, from the front..
Making the 4 back to 8 conversion practical.. by just reversing that process..
:whistling: