... since i said anything about my new bowlback - anybody want to ask me any questions?
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... since i said anything about my new bowlback - anybody want to ask me any questions?
How do you like your new bowlback, bill?
You have a new bowlback?
(thanks mike - 5'er's in the post)
well ... since you ask - i'm nuts about it - can't put it down. there's a definite "bowlback" tonality" and i don't know why it never appealed to me before. i don't imagine it's suitable for a lot of music but for playing ethnic and early music "ditties" it's absolutely great.
one thing i've noticed is the way - the angle - at which i place my fingers between the frets to make the notes - they sound better if the very top of the finger-tips are used - closest to the nail - instead of a bit further down towards the pads of the fingers.
Welcome to the Order of the Bowl. They have very interesting voices. Remind us, here, what kind did you get?
Jamie
Some pictures would be nice...~o)
I dunno... sometimes I pick up whatever mandolin is at hand and often it is a bowlback. I have even played old time music, swing and a Swedish tune or two on my Embergher. The tonality is different and puts a different accent on whatever music you play on it. Hey, I would even try some bluegrass, in spite of what everyone says. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by billkilpatrick
i've seen it played for blues ... a tad eccentric, however. here's my flavor of the month:
Attachment 85706Attachment 85707Attachment 85708Attachment 85709
It's a beauty. Do you have to adjust your overall playing position for the larger body?
the bowl is a little deeper than "normal" but no, not much - once you get used to the bowl (any bowl) it's easy to adapt
...And some of us started on the bowl and have much greater difficulty adapting to those skinnier mandolin formats. Enjoy, Bill!
Ah, that is the one you got off of ebay a bit ago. Post 747 of
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...others)/page30
I am really glad you got a good one. It is lovely. Sort of a gypsy jazz version of a bowlback.
I would love someone to sus out who makes that one and what else they make.
It is possible that whoever made it for Wunderlich is no longer in existence. In fact, I am not sure if Wunderlich is in existence. if they are, there is a slight chance they would have records, but I would not count on it. Markneukrichen was the Chicago of Germany and there prob were hundreds of makers and distributors and it was prob as tangled and incestuous as Chicago was in the musical instrument heydays.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffD
there's nothing inside the bowl to indicate where or by whom it was made.
the position of the oval sound hole is interesting (unique?) as is the absence of a "girdle" around the rim of the bowl - feels much lighter.
It's entirely typical of these Markneukirchen instruments that there is no mark of the individual luthier in them. I don't think Wunderlich are in existence anymore either -- keep in mind that the Vogtland region was part of East Germany for forty years, and that the instrument making industry was nationalised and small workshops amalgamated into factory-type manufactures under the control of centrally-appointed bureaucrats. While some of these kept their name, they did not keep their identity, and the only surviving outfits are either individual-craftsman lutherie shops (which were never fully nationalised, or which had enough individual skill to set up on their own after 1990 from the wreckage of the state-owned industry) or companies that were big enough and nimble enough to relocate to or reincorporate in the West after the War, sometimes in greatly diminished form. The latter category includes Framus, Hoyer, Optima, Zimmermann and a few others. I don't think it includes Wunderlich. So, your chances of finding records are slim.
Martin
Bill, does your picking position vary with the longitudinal oval hole? Is there a 'sweet spot' in the expected place or elsewhere?Quote:
Originally Posted by billkilpatrick
Mick
martin - graziemille! - love those inconclusive, dr. zhivago stories from the old soviet bloc - grainy, b/w photos of the mandolin workshop with airbrushed gaps in the line-up of craftsmen after the latest purge - adds to the mystery.
mick - sweet spot (for me) is at the base of the soundhole, just after the extension but i generally pick over the base of the fingerboard - more comfortable that way with my little finger stretched out and anchored to the rim below.
interesting thing is i had to swop the strips of tuners around as the guy who repaired/refurbished it had the tuners turning counterclockwise to tighten the strings - very annoying.