The search continues...

[Jeff Mando]

Maybe he made an offer they couldn't refuse...........

[Canoedad]

Maybe he made an offer they couldn't refuse...........

Or maybe Demetrius made an offer he couldn't refuse. Wait for it ...

[catmandu2]

I still don't understand. I don't want to know price, etc, but I think you owe it to this thread and the people who've contributed by explaining the timeline. I'm not accusing you of deception, but there's a lot of questions unanswered as you kept this thread going on and on. There seems to be some things that just don't add up. You sent the Gilchrist back, said they wouldn't sell it back to you, it was then listed on their site for sale, then 2 days after that, about August 6 or 7 it was taken off and said it was sold. Now, fast foward to 8/26/16 and it arrived at your house again. But in the interim, you purchased the Wiens and then listed that for sale.

It's up to you to respond, but I really do think it's the least you could do for the thread followers.

Kmaynard, I havent read the entirety, but i read "the wife speaks" part, where it says: "...what are you passionate about sometimes to the point of insanity?"

Does there have to be a "rational" explanation to any of this? Maybe they just like to buy expensive mandolins...?

[Mandobar]

The transaction is between Dem and Gryphon. Period. If he says he will not discuss it let's all respect his decision. He owes us nothing. Everyone who has signed in here has done so of their own free will. Let him have some privacy over the transaction.

[William Smith]

Very Nice Gil Dem. I'm glad that they fixed the issues you had with it, curious did they fit a full contact bridge on her? If I remember correct there was some dipping going on, on the top from the bridge feet, my 82 Gil also had this and I fit a full contact and problem gone!
Yours sounds pretty much like my 82, I wonder what top wood was used on mine? Mine is X-braced.

[houseworker]

The transaction is between Dem and Gryphon. Period. If he says he will not discuss it let's all respect his decision.

It would have been far better if Dem had exercised some discretion in his dealings with Gryphon from the outset rather than appearing happy to trash their reputation.

[sgarrity]

No one's reputation was thrashed here. Gryphon sold a high end mandolin and I'm sure made a profit. Dem got the mandolin he wanted. Case closed!

[JKA]

No one's reputation was thrashed here. Gryphon sold a high end mandolin and I'm sure made a profit. Dem got the mandolin he wanted. Case closed!

I'm in total agreement with you on this one. Dem got the mandolin he wanted, Gryphon got a sale, we've been endlessly entertained, nobody died, the sun will come up tomorrow (well, maybe not in the North East of England) and we'll all continue with our passion. Life is beautiful.

[Franc Homier Lieu]

No one's reputation was thrashed here. Gryphon sold a high end mandolin and I'm sure made a profit. Dem got the mandolin he wanted. Case closed!

Exactly. In fact I just went to Gryphon's website and found this testimonial on the main page:

I sent it back because I felt it had a couple of cosmetuc issues.
Issues that I thought I could see in the Website pics, so I inquireed about them
Before ordering. Unfortunately the sales person or no one else could see what I meant so I was assured it was fine.
When it arrived I inspected the instrument and those issues were not my imagination.
Nothing big,just binding separation issues. Needless to say it still made me uncomfortable. So I immediately contacted Gryphon and they were very cooperative and offered to fix it. There is also some set up issues that I just didn't feel like dealing with.I just felt like it was a lot of money to spend to have to worry about some of what it had going on. I communicated with Steve Gilchrest about this mandolin and he is just an unbelievably cool person. I can't even get over it to be honest. He makes an incredible mandolin, and as a human being he is equally kind hearted and passionate about what he does. That said, someone got their hands on this mandolin, somewhere alone the line someone got hold of this mandolin and the set up was absolutely terrible. The bridge top didn't match the radius, so you can imagine what that did to the outer strings physically and tonally. The mandolin has naturally aged in a way that a mandolin ages without even being played. Finish checking Looks gorgeous, but I have a feeling this mandolin hasn't been played a lot it is was more so collected than anything. I don't think it ever opened up or it went back to sleep either way I didn't want to take a chance on that aspect either. I have to be completely happy where it is and if it gets better great but if it stayed the same I'd have to know that I'd be able to live with the sound exactly the way it is. It was a mid range monster he could probably cut through any max I even had a chance to record with it on and electronic project my friend is doing.I just played a little rough in the beginning and little froze throughout nothing too crazy but it was still enough to see that it is an incredible recording instrument. It lacked in the base but I do feel like a set of had a lot to do with this.

- - - Updated - - -

PS excuse me for the typos, I typed this on my iPhone.

But how do we know that Gryphon did not pay for this endorsement? I mean, such effusive praise is suspicious.

[Demetrius]

What the heck??? You have got to be joking... lol! Wow Im speechless...

[ollaimh]

the best sounding mandolin i ever tried was an apitius A with two point body. it was an elegant design and an amazing loud warm and crisp tone. like a twenties gibson snakehead on steroids, with a touch of sweet.
i met givens decades ago out in spokane washington. he had mandolins at a guitar store called the guitar emporium or the guitar gallery, something like that. the As blew me away as well. he came up to me when i was busking the downtown lunch crowd with a bouzouki and a harp. he invited me up to his place but foolishly i went on to the next gig and never came back. he thought he could make a better bouzouki. and i imagine he could have. i didn't know who he was. nice guy. we ate together at the hippie health food spot after. those great A were going for 1500 at the time--a steal. i had just bought a 1924 gibson snakehead from the store called the sound hole, and couldn't afford another mandolin. i rreally shold have hung around and gone up to his place.

but i really liked that apitius two point A, it was at the 12th frett in toronto for around five grand cnd. shoulda bought that one as well but couldn't afford it.

[Josh Levine]

It would have been far better if Dem had exercised some discretion in his dealings with Gryphon from the outset rather than appearing happy to trash their reputation.

Seriously, everybody involved in this transaction is happy but you.

[Franc Homier Lieu]

Edited. Nevermind.

[Demetrius]

Ollaimh,

I agree Apitius mandolins are remarkable, and Givens A mandos are hands down some of my favorite creations of all time... Thanks for chiming in, I enjoyed reading your story, about Chillin with Givens.

[Jeff Mando]

The transaction is between Dem and Gryphon..............Let him have some privacy over the transaction.

Normally, I would agree. But, 37 pages later, 3 mandolins (well, 4 if you count the Gil twice!), a bunch of videos, detailed descriptions regarding the nuance of sound, wood type, bracing, playing styles, a separate wife blog, and countless boxes of Kleenex later -- I would say, the expectation and assumption of privacy is probably out the window, in this case. But hey, that's the beauty of just being Dem -- he is willing to lay it all out there for us. It has been an interesting journey, highly entertaining, and the end result seems very good!