In the photo from the vid clip above, the players are Monroe, Joe Stuart, Bill Keith and Del McCoury, circa 1961-2.
Jimmy Martin told me that he got his job with Monroe based entirely on his...
Type: Posts; User: coelhoe
In the photo from the vid clip above, the players are Monroe, Joe Stuart, Bill Keith and Del McCoury, circa 1961-2.
Jimmy Martin told me that he got his job with Monroe based entirely on his...
Played a couple of gigs in late '65 in Denmark on the same bill with Ian Campbell Folk Group, which included Swarb. A little jamming back stage in the warm-up room on mando and fiddle, nice as you...
I used to tell my students, in the phrase "...the music business" the larger word is "business." If you want to get paid for what you offer, you need to realize that it is a product, and mediocre...
I think George Shuffler, with the Stanley Bros. may have been the first to record acoustic guitar leads, though I had an album of "Guitar Instrumentals" by an unknown group (Barnstormers?) that I...
Last time, I just carried it over myself. Saved everybody trouble. Little more expensive, though.
Strad (the maker) worked and built usually according to specific orders and price grades. Some were part of quartets, many were made with extra trim and effort for nobility, and others are associated...
I think you will get a lot more for your money if you drop the idea of a scroll and look at some of the better quality A-5 models, both Gibson and Weber.
I played with a professional entertainment group for twenty-nine years, and handled bookings for part of that time. We played all over the country but mostly in the mountain west. We almost always...
Met Sam,and Wayne Stewart, at the fiddle contest in Weiser, Idaho, (near where I lived) in '67 or '68. He was on his way to winning the junior division for the third time in a row. I'd just bought an...
There are different kinds of issues involved. One issue is the hand (s) / eye coordination, i.e. the physical requirements of the instrument. While scales are close together, some chord postures are...
I think the guitar is a dead loss. For the cost of repair, you could get a Martin Dx series, or something similar. That amount of damage took more than just a"knock-over." Think of renter's...
I played it for half-hour or so when Tut Taylor had it in Nashville, maybe '73. Drove down from Indiana to go to the Opry, see the mando, (Sam Bush had told me about it), and then it turned out...
Thanks, John. That answers many of my questions. I am thinking of adding simple white binding but not enlarging the sound hole.
One more: when you and others refer to the "Helmholtz," what is that...
I wonder if there is some formula for establishing the relative size of the sound hole(s) in proportion to the size of the air chamber. Or is this is all a matter of cut and tap?
I ask because I...
One of the best, maybe the best, mando I've ever played was a long neck F-12 that had been re-worked by Randy Wood. The owner loaned it to me for a couple of gigs in '72, and then had the gall to...
Tremendous contribution to our understanding of F-5 and Gibson issues. In '74 I bought a slightly used '72 Gibson F-5. Before that I had owned an A-2, F-2, and an A-50, and the chance to get a...
This is an interesting thread. Having played mandolin and flat picked guitar since the mid-60's, I have found that there is a great deal to be gained in taking mandolin technique to guitar, rather...
Nothing to be sorry for. Never had a problem with the instrument. When I bought the Flatiron in the fall of '84, I sold my '72 Gibson F-5, and I have never had cause to regret either part of those...
I, too, am the original owner of an '84 A-5-2, which is why I posted the question. I have the original warranty card which I keep reminding myself to cover in plastic. Signed by Carlson, which...
Has any one had any experience with warranty repairs for pre-Gibson Flatiron mandolins? I have one from 1984. There is nothing wrong with it at the moment but in doing some standard maintenance I...
You can get an ID and appraisal from Gruhn Guitars in Nashville by sending photos and thorough description. I think it costs around $25. It's been a few years since I had one done.
I'd been playing guitar, mando, and a bit of banjo for a few years when I started playing backup at dances for the Old Time Fiddlers in northern Idaho in '66. One day a pal stopped by, and said...
For a year or so in the early-70's I played a Gibson F-12 from the late 1930's that had been re-worked by Randy Wood. It was probably the best instrument I've ever used on a regular basis (and that...
In the early 70's a friend who lived in Alton, Illinois bought a Loar F-5 from Mandolin Brothers that had been brought over from England to sell. Apparently it had not been played in seeral years,...
In 1984 I bought an A-5 from Steve Carlson at Flatiron, that is just wonderful. I had been playing a '72 Gibson F-5 that looked nice, but sounded awful, and the F holes didn't quite line up with the...