NMD.....Lebeda content

[indexless]

Been a guitar player for 45 years, played mandolin briefly in the 70's but my ex got the Lyon and Healy 2 point in the divorce and never got another one. Working with Eric Skye and Tim Connell brought the mando fire back. So, in the past year and a half, I've gone through a few, (like 7). I've been going into a shop that had a 2002 Lebeda Jazz 5 as new old stock...(why was it still there?). Last week, I went in and bought it.....This is the ONE....I can say that with total assurance. I've exchanged a few emails with Juri (builder), he's only building 1 or 2 a year. I feel like I'm the luckiest perzson in the world to be able to be the caretaker for this fine fine instrument.....sorry had to gush

[Ivan Kelsall]

Congratulations on your 'new' Lebeda. As you say Jiri is still building but only a few each year,all made to order. If you can find a really good Lebeda,then it'll be a top class mandolin for sure. Back when Jiri was building a lot,many of his mandolins were made by the Violin makers that he employed at the time & not all were good should we say. Jiri's 'own build' mandolins are excellent in every way - this is my 15 year old F5 'Special',
Ivan

[Handy Hummingbird]

Congratulations on the Lebeda - feel like I have to chip in whenever his name comes up, very happy with my 2001 Special I've been playing for the last twelve years.

I'm interested to hear he's still building, does anyone have an idea of the cost of a newly built Lebeda these days?

[indexless]

Handy
I asked about cost of a new one, but I didn't get a response from him. It sounds like he has about 5 years worth of work.

Ivan, The shop had a F5 Special as well, I just didn't have the money for it but it was simply amazing as well. The shop owner is slightly "off" but he's a good heart, he just doesn't like to sell his top shelf instruments, I guess who can blame him. I'll put up a few pictures if I can put it down for long enough...so special

[Ivan Kelsall]

Jiri asked me to post this mandolin in the Classified ads.a couple of years back. He had an order for one but built 2. The customer took his choice & this 'Fern' was for sale.

All of Jiri's ''Specials'' were built by him alone & all use premium woods. If you can find one for sale,i'd certainly try it out. I use DR MD11 strings on mine & it's amazingly powerful,
Ivan

[Uncle Choppy]

I get the impression that all Lebedas were not created equal!

I have a "Standard plus" model from 2005 (as far as I can tell the "plus" just means gold plated tuners and tailpiece). Maybe it's my lack of ability or tonal discretion but I don't think it's that good.

In terms of volume, it's much quieter than my Pomeroy A-style oval hole.

There are also issues with the finish that definitely give the impression of a substandard job. There's a weird green blob under the neck finish high on the bass side. Worse still is the fact that the headstock inlays have reacted with the finish to create a strange cracked/bubbling look. I sent the first one I bought back because of this but the replacement also had the issue (slightly less so) so I can only guess it was a bad batch.

There's enough about it to suggest a quality builder but I've never been that happy with it. Maybe it's just the fact that I've never paid more for a musical instrument so seeing such sloppiness is disappointing. I read somewhere that there's a lifetime warranty for the original purchaser but maybe that's a USA-only thing? I've asked about a finish repair but was told it could go wrong and get worse. I can't really justify the risk and expense for something purely cosmetic.

I heard (but can't verify) that Jiri employed apprentices to make the lower-end models. Maybe that accounts for it but he signed the label so maybe he just wasn't too interested in his products at this time?

Still, totally my fault for buying sight unseen! It's still a far better mandolin than my playing deserves. Plenty of great and experienced players seem to love Lebedas so that must count for something.

[indexless]

Uncle C

Don't know....the fit and finish on mine is perfect. Loud, Choppy, sustains forever....mine is a Premium so I guess I missed on the crazy finish issues you had. Your Pomeroy must be a true monster!

[mandroid]

2nd hand, Got a Lebeda "jazzica" F body non F look head stock , cognac finish, Tort brown binding ..
Has an Imbedded Piezo strip in the bridge , wire straight down thru a hole in the top so quite invisible.

Seems super nice to Me (PU wire lost conductivity, but The End jack has Been out and back in,
from a Tailpiece change from theirs to James'..

[bigskygirl]

Nice! I played a Lebeda a few years ago when I was looking to upgrade my Eastman and it was a fabulous mandolin...I'm sorry I didn't jump on it when I had the chance. Enjoy!

[indexless]

BigSkygirl!

I went back for 3 months till I got my world together enough to lay down for it. I was playing a rippin 815V from 2007 before this one. I thought it was great, not even in the room with the Jazz 5, loud, choppy, sustain, his neck and fret work make it a total joy to play, I've gotten about 2 hours a day on it and it just gets better, I'm discovering sounds and tones that are jaw dropping. I was maybe losing a little of the practice fire before this one landed, now I can't put it down....the dealer has a F5 Premium from 2006 that is unreal as well, one at a time

[Billy Packard]

I get a vicarious thrill from your post, I know what you're talking about! Some of the sweetest stuff on earth.

What's the store you bought your mandolin at?

Billy

billypackardmandolin.com

[foldedpath]

Here's mine (I've posted this before), a redwood top Premium +, the only mandolin I've ever bought and it's served me well so far:

[Ivan Kelsall]

Jiri used to emply a number of Violin makers when he was building a lot. He went through a domestic upheavel a few years back whch impacted onhis business. He moved home & now builds on his own to order.

Regarding the build quality - i've owned 2 Lebedas & both were totally flawless,both in the workmanship & the applied fiinish. My first was a Lebeda F5 ''Premium Plus'',what that stood for exactly i don't know, but it was a very well made & fine sounding mandolin.
I only parted with it to buy a second Weber mandolin,my ill fated Weber "Beartooth" which developed a warped neck, & which i traded in for my current Lebeda 'Special'.

The 'Special'' when it arrived,sounded dead !. I was a tad shocked,but then it had spent a weekend in the back of a van in freezing cold weather. I left it for a day to acclimatise,put a set of J74's on it & it still sounded 'not quite right'. I proceded to play the hell out of it for a couple of moths & it slowly came round until it began to sound as good as any mandolin i've heard. With the DR MD11 strings on it that i now use,it's a terrific instrument,larger physically than a 'standard' mandolin,but that adds to the exceptionally low,woody 'G' notes,
Ivan

[mandroid]

Pic from NAMM , I Expect..

[red7flag]

Many years ago, I got a Lebeda, am4 an oval hole a style mandola. A lovely instrument with a classical sound. I am not sure if the tone is a result of Yiri's workmanship or of the European woods used or both. While it did not fit my style of play, I could appreciate the workmanship and tone. Currently at Carter's.

[Ivan Kelsall]

The pic.that mandroid posted is of Jiri with his then main man in the USA,Jeff Cowherd, of the J.Bovier mandolins. As with all mandolins,some will be ''better'' than others,but,if you find one built by Jiri himself,it'll be top quality.

The woods for the 'Specials' that Jiri did build are all premium quality tonewoods,as good as he could buy. The Schaller tuners on mine work better than any tuners i've encountered. The Gotoh's on my Ellis are good,but the Schallers on the Lebeda are
superior in the way they work - very,very smooth indeed,
Ivan

[Uncle Choppy]

In the interest of balance, I'd like to point out that I'm not having a go at Lebeda instruments.

My original intention was to sell mine when I bought my Pomeroy but the Lebeda plays much more easily. It has a wonderful set-up and the big frets feel great to me. the tuners work well but I do find the "reverse direction" on the treble strings throws me off a bit.

I also like the tone. It's just that it's not particularly loud but I've nothing else to compare it with, other than the Pomeroy and that's based on a teens oval so it's a bit like comparing apples and oranges. From the players viewpoint I realise ovals can sound much louder than F-holes, which can project more.

It's not had much play over the last few years so that might contribute to the slightly dead sound. I've also used Sam Bush monel strings on it the last few changes which I don't think suit it as much as the J74, sorry EJ74s. I'm going to try some EXP74s next as I've bought them but in time might try the DR strings Ivan likes so much.

I do stand by the comments regarding the finish issues. While minor, these are annoying as I bought it new and wouldn't expect this sort of thing on what, at least to me, was an expensive instrument.

Here's what I mean about the inlay. I'm probably being fussy but I'm annoyed that I accepted it at the time (having returned another for the same reason). I just desperately wanted an F5 and this was the best I could afford.

[mandroid]

I think Guild Guitars 'Inlay' is like that ,, a pearloid liquid plastic in a routed out cavity^^^

Mine does not have that logo , its a Banner and a string tie* image instead..
(or maybe they had a *Sax-Strap-hook in mind)



in # 14 neither of those are Mr Lebeda, Apparently, since other pictures found
show an Older Guy..

like Me..

[AlanN]

Had I received the mandolin pictured in #17, advertised as new, I would have sent it back. Horrid.

[Uncle Choppy]

Had I received the mandolin pictured in #17, advertised as new, I would have sent it back. Horrid.

To be fair, that's a "worst case" picture I took in direct sunlight to allow a luthier to assess the issue and advise on a repair. In more subdued light, viewed straight-on, the problem is a lot less visible:



As I said in my original post, this was my mistake. I'd already returned one and, given that the replacement was not much better, I should have sent that back too and looked elsewhere. I wanted an F5, acted like a spoiled brat and got what I deserved. An (expensive) lesson learned!

I'm only adding these comments to advise potential purchasers that, despite the generally glowing reviews of the Special and Premium models, some instruments clearly left the factory with issues.
Although I would expect to pay a premium for better tonewoods and maybe other refinements (bone corners etc.), I don't think the basic finish should be messed up just because it's a "standard" model. Even if Jiri didn't make those instruments, he signed the label and I'd expect that to mean the mandolin met some kind of quality level. In my individual case, that level was clearly quite low.

[red7flag]

I found the "reverse" tuners on my Lebeda AM4 mandola just as annoying as many of you. I had Dave Harvey, who was then doing repairs at Gibson, install a new set that turned the "right" way. I know that is a small issue, but those tuners that came with the mandola caused me great annoyance.

[indexless]

Red7Flag

The tuners did take a bit of getting used to, my mantra tune up so turn it that way....it's crazy but it's works for me

[foldedpath]

I think the tuners were changed to rightside-up in the later years of shop production. At least mine came that way.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I couldn't really care less which way the tuners turn - they work far better than the tuners on my Weber & Ellis. To my eyes,it seems that maybe the adhesive with which the inlay was fixed,has reacted with the finish on the headstock.

My Lebeda is a 'larger than standard' mandolin & it's 3/4 lb heavier than my Weber. For that reason,after trying out the DR MD11 strings on my Weber & hearing the increase in sheer 'punch',i tried them on the Lebeda & they're much 'better' than J74's re.the volume they give.

I do agree that the manufacturer should be responsible for any defects regardless of 'who built it',but the defect might have taken a while to happen & wouldn't have been there when it left the shop. My Weber ''Beartooth'' "A" style might have been 100% perfect when it left the Weber shop,but in the 6 months that i had it,it developed a warped neck - not Weber's fault. As luck would have it,that's when i traded it in for my Lebeda 'Special'. However,as i stated,i did wonder what the heck i'd done when i took it out of it's packing & played it !!. Fortunately,having read so much about such things on the Cafe,i gave it a chance & it's now a terrific mandolin.

The bearded gent on the right in the photo.in post #14 is indeed Jiri Lebeda. Here's another couple of pics. of Jiri,
Ivan

[Uncle Choppy]

Ivan: fair comment with regard to the fact that the problem may have developed after these instruments left the workshop. I assume it was there in the retail shop so it could have happened during shipping.

My understanding of Ged Green's assessment (which he made from the photo above) was that it was either the glue reacting with the finish or, if the inlay contained pearl, it might be that reacting with the finish. The latter case would be more likely if the finish was "acid catalysed". A third possibility was that the finish was applied too thickly and the cracking is due to the inlay moving/settling slightly within the finish.

I didn't go ahead with the repair because Ged warned me that there might be a remote chance that the inlay was in fact a thin sliver of pearl, as used by Lowden guitars. If this was the case, removing the finish would remove the pearl and I would be left logo-less. I wanted to re-sell the mandolin at the time so didn't want to risk this. I'm guessing a damaged inlay is better than no inlay!

I don't know if my Lebeda is normal, large or small compared to typical F5 dimensions. I just measured the overall length and I made it maybe a smidgen over 14", compared to the 13.94" given for a Loar F5 on Google. I'm prepared to put any difference down to my lack of precision.

As a final thought, I've been playing the Lebeda for maybe an hour a day over the last week or so. Hardly playing the heck out of it I know. However, even with this playing time it seems to sound fuller. I've just A/B'd it with the Pomeroy and the single notes still seem a bit quieter (although this may be down to the oval/F hole tonal differences) but a quick "chop" or two reveals a real bark that I'm sure wasn't there a week or two ago. I realise this is highly unscientific and I'm sceptical about the whole "opening up" thing so maybe I'm just hearing it because I want to hear it? Still, even if I'm kidding myself, I think it sounds a bit better so I'll take that!