Chronic MAS episode - Weber Soprano

[allenhopkins]

Picked up one of these today at Bernunzio's:



Very very nicely made, great sound, neat custom rectangular case.

Don't even ask "How many does that make?"

[JeffD]

YES! And how do you like it?

I am still playing mine. I don't usually go out with it exclusively, but I bring it with a mandolin and find a cool excuse to play it.

I absolutely love it.

[bohemianbiker]

Oh man, I am so jealous. Congrats!

[Londy]

Soprano? This is smaller than a standard mando? I thought Mandos were considered soprano in the mando family. Im confused.

[JeffD]

Weber is making a sopranino mandolin, pitched a fourth above the standard mandolin. Great fun to play, very high very lonesome.

When I got mine they were called sopranino. I dunno.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Jeff - Any instrument pitched above a 'Soprano' one is as you rightly say,a 'Sopranino' instrument ie. 'Sopranino' Sax for one. We had a thread on 'Bluegrass instruments' re.what other instruments would 'fit into a Bluegrass band'. I put forward the Mandola,but i'd bet that arranged properly,a combo.of Mandola/Mandolin & Sopranino Mandolin,could sound terrific. I haven't heard that anybody's tried it out yet,
Ivan

[Charles E.]

Nice Allen.

Here is another look......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fld1SCQBToE

[Rodney Riley]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EzmRS6hfXdg
Eva playing one

[ollaimh]

i'd love to try one someday--looks good allen

[allenhopkins]

Weber sometimes calls it a "sopranolin." Well-made, pretty unadorned like most of their Gallatin series, built-in arm-rest. Very cool mini-rectangular fitted case. Nice sound -- oddly, not as thin-sounding as my Howe-Orme mandolinetto, which is in standard mandolin tuning. The Weber's tuned CGDA low to high, an octave above the mandola.

Lists for $3K. Bernunzio had it at $2.5K, and I traded in a 1916-17 Martin Style 1 ukulele, a K & S Mexican-made Weissenborn clone, and an armadillo-shell charango that I bought from John a few years ago, and which he wanted to get back.

So in the past year I've hit both ends of the "mandolin spectrum," picking up a Waldo mandocello and the Weber. MAS marches on...

[JeffD]

I find there is more "kinship" between the sopranino and the mandola and even the mando-cello, as they are all pitched to the same notes. Something about the common fingerings, (way different stretches), same available open strings, I don't know, but they really work together well.

[Bob Clark]

Beautiful! As I said in the other post, Congratulations! The day will come when I cannot resist one of these. I also really like Campanella's two-point version which he calls a piccolo mandolin, as shown here: http://www.campanellastrings.com/piccolo-mandolin/

[allenhopkins]

By the way, the YouTube vid and the Weber catalog pic show an earlier version of the Gallatin soprano, with a sort of "horned" scroll. The one I got has a fully carved scroll, like other Weber models.

[JEStanek]

Nice, congratulations. Enjoy it, Allen.

Jamie

[Bob Clark]

Hi Allen,

Could you please tell us the dimensions of that rectangular case? Would it easily qualify as an airline carry-on?

Thanks,

Bob

[Mike Black]

Here is a good visual of the size difference between a mandolin and piccolo/soprano mandolin.

[allenhopkins]

Hi Allen,

Could you please tell us the dimensions of that rectangular case? Would it easily qualify as an airline carry-on?

It's 25.5 inches long, 10.5 inches wide, 4.25 inches deep. No problem carrying it on.

[Bob Clark]

It's 25.5 inches long, 10.5 inches wide, 4.25 inches deep. No problem carrying it on.

Thanks Allen, now I even have a way of justifying it to myself...it would be easy to travel with. I really don't need another mandolin family instrument, but...

And to make matters worse, prompted by Mike Black's pictures in post 16, I've just had a look at his web site. Oh no...I've got PMAS ('piccolo' variant of the dreaded MAS) really bad!

[Russ Donahue]

Mike Black's instruments look quite handsome, and I bet they sound to match. His prices look quite reasonable.

[metrognome]

and I thought I was immune to MAS... fascinating!

[bratsche]

I find there is more "kinship" between the sopranino and the mandola and even the mando-cello, as they are all pitched to the same notes. Something about the common fingerings, (way different stretches), same available open strings, I don't know, but they really work together well.

It's a travel mandola! Actually (and more accurately, voice-wise) it's a "mandola castrata"!

bratsche

[JeffD]

Beautiful! As I said in the other post, Congratulations! The day will come when I cannot resist one of these. I also really like Campanella's two-point version which he calls a piccolo mandolin, as shown here: http://www.campanellastrings.com/piccolo-mandolin/

You had to show me that, didn't you. That is yummy.

[JeffD]

Here is a good visual of the size difference between a mandolin and piccolo/soprano mandolin.

Here is my comparison.

[allenhopkins]

...Here is my comparison.

Just to reiterate Post #13: the Weber "sopranolin" JeffD depicts has the "horn" rather than a full scroll. The one I bought from Bernunzio's has a fully-carved scroll. Don't know if this is a "one-of" or if Weber's gone to the more conventional (and more labor-intensive) "regular" scroll on the newer soprano Gallatins.