New 'used' Ellis "A" style has arrived.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Ray - I don't care what the 'next' owner does, & there's no way on this planet that i'd ever put a strap pin on the neck. As for the hole annoying me,it doesn't, but it's unwanted & unneeded,so i'll have it plugged & the area re-finished. I'm going to make a strap that lies under the fingerboard extension. For me that's the closest approximation to a strap on the scroll of an 'F' style. There's totally no need for strap pins screwed to the neck. I did put a strap pin on the back of a mandolin once,but i wouldn't do that again either,despite the fact that it was completely unobtrusive.
Re.a visit to Ged Green - i haven't received a reply to my e-mail yet & i have a feeling that he's on holiday. If i do hear anything,i'll let you know.
Thanks for that Susan - The mandolin is in good condition,there are a few dings & scratches on it,but very minor ones that don't concern me. It plays well & sounds superb,that's all i'm concerned about (apart from the 'screw hole'),
Ivan

[Willie Poole]

While an owner of a mandolin has the right to put a strap pin anywhere he desires I put one on my A model exactly where Ivan says he didn`t like his, I put mine on the underside of the neck heel and it balances the mandolin just right...I would guess that most A model owners put theirs there also, but as I said they can put it where they choose....I don`t believe the pin will change the value of a mandolin but what do I know?

Willie

[lflngpicker]

Ivan, This is just stunningly beautiful. I am happy for you!

[Bradley]

Welcome to the Ellis Clan ! I have had an A and now own a F and to be honest they both are equally amazing.
The A maybe had a little bit of sweetness especially on slower single note stuff. As far as owning an Ellis, Tom is a great guy
I might add. If you have any questions I am sure he would love talking to you and helping in anyway

Happy Picking !

[Ivan Kelsall]

The 'big' problem with the strap pin in the neck was that it WAS in my way. When i'm jamming along to recordings i try my own improvisations & they take me well above the 12th fret. I'll barre across the 12th & play all the melody up there - the strap button where it was,at the 11th fret was a darned nuisance. Others may do what they wish,but for me - no neck strap buttons !!.
Many thanks Dan & Bradley. I'm more lucky than i really care to think about.I already had 2 terrific mandolins,but the offer that i was made allowed me to achieve 2 things - firstly,to own a good "A" style once more & secondly, to own an "A" style made by my (possibly) favourite luthier,although if i was loaded with cash there are 4 other builder's who's 'wares' i'd like to get my grubby hands on.
I spent some more (a lot) time on the Ellis yesterday,just getting to know the feel & sound of it - ie.where the 'sweet spot is' for picking & hearing how it responded above the 12thfret regarding it's clarity. It's not as clear above the 12th as my Lebeda right now,but i think that's due to the lower action it has,but it's still pretty good & i just might raise the action by a few .000" to get a bit more "E" & "A" string clarity,but i'm content with it. I'm hoping that the leather i've ordered with which to make a strap will arrive today.The over the right shoulder thing drives me nuts. It's like having an itch i can't scratch,but what a nice problem to have,
Ivan

[lflngpicker]

I know how it is Ivan to go through the adjustment period of a new instrument, no matter how high quality it is. There is the familiar feel of previous instruments that are tried and true and then the new one. Plus, there are always the question about the things you notice regarding the action and frets at different points along the fretboard. Well, I find that when I get a guitar or mandolin it takes me doing my own string changes and bridge adjustments, intonation and things, and then I begin to feel at home with it. That process is all part of the initial fun, though, isn't it? Do you wear your strap on just the right shoulder or do you do the guitar-like around the neck arrangement?

[stevedenver]

Ivan congrats

hard not to love an Ellis

and after all these posts
you still haven't included the new boy in your list of Ivans toys......
preoccupied are we???LOL

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Dan - " Do you wear your strap on just the right shoulder or do you do the guitar-like around the neck arrangement?"
I like to have the strap go around my back as per a guitar strap. Right now i have a leather bootlace strap which is too short,so over my right shoulder does it at the moment - or rather,it doesn't do it,it's uncomfortable in that it's constantly sliding off my shoulder. I understand now why guys like John Reichsman & other 'over one shoulder' players pull the mandolin to one side to keep it on their shoulder. I should have a flat leather strap in a couple of days time,
Ivan

[stevedenver]

!!!!

[Ivan Kelsall]

My 'saddle string' arrived this morning & here's the finished item.I wouldn't have believed it,but apart from a 4" piece of leather,it took all 6ft of it to make the strap. It's a simple loop under the f/board extension,2 holes punched through the top & bottom part of the strap & the loop closed with round leather thong. At the t/piece end pin end,it's the usual 'hole & slit' scenario. Not bad for £6 UK ($10 US) & as comfortable as you'd ever wish for,
Ivan

[Ivan Kelsall]

When fitting the new strap yesterday,i noticed something that i'd failed to notice when giving the new arrival a clean up - the bridge foot is flush to the surface all the way across ie. no centre recess (if that's the word). Does anybody know if all Ellis mandolins are the same ?. I must say that the bridge fitment is almost surgically precise,
Ivan

[doc holiday]

Yes, Ivan, to my knowledge all the Ellis bridges are full contact...BTW so is the bridge on John Reischman's Loar.

[Jordan Ramsey]

Hey Ivan, beautiful mandolin, congrats! I'll be over in your neck of the woods at the Lancaster Music Festival in October, hope we can find some time to get together and swap axes for a tune or two. All the best,

Jordan

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Doc - Many thanks for that info.
Jordan - That would be terrific - if i can only find my way there. I'll have to look up the info.regarding the Festival to see if i can make it,
Ivan
PS - I just had a look at the website - 40 different venues & locations !!. Hell fire, you could miss Bill Monroe & the boys in that crowd (or maybe not )

[Paul Cowham]

Hi Doc - Many thanks for that info.
Jordan - That would be terrific - if i can only find my way there. I'll have to look up the info.regarding the Festival to see if i can make it,
Ivan
PS - I just had a look at the website - 40 different venues & locations !!. Hell fire, you could miss Bill Monroe & the boys in that crowd (or maybe not )

Hi Ivan,
If I'm free I'll try and make it, and if that's the case then happy to give you a lift. I've got a gig too on the 11th which may clash (at the Marsden Jazz festival), could be a great weekend of music

[Willie Poole]

I don`t like the strap installed like that because as the mandolin moves around when being played it will rub some of the finish off of the back and sides of the instrument, at least that is my take on it maybe it won`t but it sure looks like it will/should...

Willie

[Jordan Ramsey]

Hi Ivan, sorry, I didn't know there were that many venues... must be a huge festival. My rough itinerary has me in Lancaster from the 10th through the 13th, I'll PM you when I get more details about specific locations. Paul, I'd love to meet you, as well, hope we all have time to pick and swap instruments. Take care,

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Jordan - You've pre-empted me !. I was going to PM you to ask which venue you were going to be at. I was thinking of going up to Lancaster on the 9th of Oct.,but as you won't be there until the 10th - it'll be the 10th then. http://www.lancastermusicfestival.com/ Hopefully me & Paul will make it & we'll bring along a our instruments - i'll bring my BANJO !.
Seriously, i'll have to pick a mandolin to bring,maybe my new to me 'used' Ellis,but an 'F' style is better for 'posing',
Ivan

[Bigtuna]

Yes, Ivan, to my knowledge all the Ellis bridges are full contact...BTW so is the bridge on John Reischman's Loar.

Mine is not on my F and the one A I've played was not. However a custom F I got a chance to play did.

[Pete Jenner]

Ha - I just saw this thread Ivan. Well done mate. I think you should give the neck the Ivan treatment. I assume you put DRs on it?
Has it settled in to Manchester? It's probably not the same one I played at trevor's place - I think that one was new.
How about an update? I suppose a sound clip is out of the question?

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Peter - Unfortunately i have no way of recording a sound clip or i'd have posted a few on here before now. I was due to take it to my local luthier's this week to have the offending screw hole plugged & the neck locally re-finished,but i've been having some work done on my home (decorating) so it's going over next week.
DR's went onto it straight away after i'd given it a good clean up & it sounds very good indeed. I need to raise the action a bit on the treble side so that the notes above the 12th fret sound more cleanly,but as i did yesterday,i pick it up & don't put it down long enough for messing around with it. A 1/16 " rise at the bridge should do it,
Ivan
PS - The strap i made & fitted works superbly well. It's as close to the way a strap works on an "F" scroll as i could get & it was so simple & inexpensive - £6.0 UK ($10.US) & 20 minutes work.

[Paul Cowham]

This morning I popped over to Ivan's house for a couple of hours and played his Ellis. Really enjoyed it - I am lucky enough to own a lovely Heiden A which I took with me. From where Ivan was sat he couldn't really tell them apart - from what I could tell the Ellis was a little sweeter and the Heiden a little "woodier", both great mandolins

[Ivan Kelsall]

What Paul said is true - I really couldn't make out any tonal or volume difference in either Paul's Heiden or my Ellis,played with either Paul's Blue Chip pick or my Primetone pick. There again,Paul has the advantage of not having 69 year old ears.One thing i did notice in Paul's mandolin,is that since moving on to DR strings,his Heiden now packs a heck of a punch. It's light years away from when i first heard it with Thomastik strings on it,they simply didn't 'drive' it - now it's in 'warp drive',a superb mandolin for sure,
Ivan

[trevor]

IMHO Thomastiks aren't suitable for carved top/back mandolins.

[stevedenver]

IMHO Thomastiks aren't suitable for carved top/back mandolins.

Trevor
I feel I need to offer my own thoughts on these amazing strings,

with all respect, and simply my experience with 3 higher end Fs, each having had Tomastiks at some point , and my Gibby fern for almost 4 years exclusively

They do NOT drive as well as noted, but oddly, seem to record very close to J74 and J75s. Simply, the best analogy is like having a high end turntable with a low end cartridge-the mando's quality is not as fully revealed, or, worse, like having the color on your tv set adjusted to about 65%.
They don't sound as loud in a live situation, and they do sound a bit plinky compared to phosphor bronze of equivalent gauge.

In fact, after Tomastiks and going to J75s, it made me giddy to hear not only the huge bass but powerful crystalline trebles.

otoh,

I think it important for a would-be user to know why, imho, they merit consideration, even for a pricey or not so pricey carved top mandolin. And I guess I think it would be no different for a flat top, based on my own experience with guitars, both carved and flat, having used both PB and nickle flatwounds, ie I think they are analogous.

Tomastiks are slinky, smooth and soft to the touch, not unlike a les paul fret less wonder, truly different in feel and smoothness;
make playing past the 15th fret effortless, and, fretting easy due to relative flexibility (for those tiny little frets way up in the clouds-and I try to do this!);
are THE most stable string regarding tuning -I realized this last night at a jam when my F simply would not settle down and become stable tuning-wise. Save you hundreds over Waverlies....LOL.

I have found them to be THE longest lasting string
and
if one begins to get hand or finger issues, or, simply, plays long periods, has issues with the effort it takes to play a mando, does not have calluses, etc, ie needs something nicer to the fingers and grip, or for the occasional player or beginner.
they are unequalled

and finally, mic'd they sound great-to my knowledge, indistinguishable from 74's or 75s