Page 258 of 296 FirstFirst ... 158208233254255256257258259260261262283 ... LastLast
Results 6,426 to 6,450 of 7397

Thread: Bowlbacks of Note

  1. #6426

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Quote Originally Posted by brunello97 View Post
    Very interesting to watch, and I love what must be custom made rasps. I only wish he had started taping a bit earlier in the process when he was just beginning the scalloping process. That has got to be the trickiest part. Once you've established the groove your tool will follow the path.
    Right on, Mick. Truthfully, the videos are a bit repetitive and lengthy to watch, especially if one can not follow his spontaneous and amusing banter. Yet, he doesn't seem to make a big deal out of carving the "scannellate": just another day in the "office".
    That reminds me of the enjoyment of cappuccino, latte and such beverages: North Americans tend to wax poetic about Starbuck's divine expresso (sic) and related concoctions , while Italians just drink espresso very often, very short, black, thick and bitter in a totally automatic and matter-of-factly manner, with hardly an appreciative thought.

  2. #6427
    Full Grown and Cussin' brunello97's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Ann Arbor/Austin
    Posts
    6,281

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Well, I do appreciate having my espresso al banco. I hate standing in line behind a row of customers ordering a 'triple macchiato deluxe with low fat almond soy milk with cinnamon and chocolate sprinkles shaken out into a smiley face'. Just give me the coffee.

    Nor can I stand for having a cappuccino after noon anyhow. Savage custom.

    One can read discussion amongst coffee snobs these days claiming the very dark, very bitter roasts we associate with espresso as being a way to mask inferior beans. The milder, smoother Central American roasts (from single plot coffee trees, of course) are gaining popularity.

    Similar trends in wine and beer. Lots of oak and heavy hops slowly giving way to appreciation of subtler qualities.

    You can track it in mandolins as well with the growing (around here at least) re-interest in what Martin Jonas calls the 'shimmering sound' of bowlbacks. One of my favorite MC quotes.

    Mick
    Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.--Samuel Beckett
    ______________________

    '05 Cuisinart Toaster
    '93 Chuck Taylor lowtops
    '12 Stetson Open Road
    '06 Bialetti expresso maker
    '14 Irish Linen Ramon Puig

  3. #6428

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Well, I have no sense of "growing re-interest" in bowlbacks because my reference point goes back only to last July when I got my first mandolin. However, the "erba azzurra" genre seems to be as strong as ever, so much so that everything else appears marginal. I wonder what would the major drivers be for such rekindled interest in bb mandolins ?

  4. #6429
    Full Grown and Cussin' brunello97's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Ann Arbor/Austin
    Posts
    6,281

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Our friend Sheri Mingnano wrote a great book about the SF mandolin scene "Mandolins, Like Salami."

    I guess for me it is like coffee. I like coffee: there is no bad coffee, only some coffees are better than others. Same with mandolins, the margins are pretty wide for me. Solid body electrics to Italian bowlbacks: gimme some neck, as they say.

    Plenty of mando snobbery and sniffery around here. It makes me laugh.

    I think the interest in bowlbacks seems pretty simple. More interest in the instrument and more access to instruments (and music styles) through online marketing and discussion groups like this. Prices certainly seem to have gone up.

    Mick
    Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.--Samuel Beckett
    ______________________

    '05 Cuisinart Toaster
    '93 Chuck Taylor lowtops
    '12 Stetson Open Road
    '06 Bialetti expresso maker
    '14 Irish Linen Ramon Puig

  5. #6430
    Registered User Tavy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Tavistock UK
    Posts
    4,438

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Quote Originally Posted by peterk View Post
    Might as well use this opportunity to ask restorers such as John Maddock and Dave Hynds if they can share any experience they might have had with TS ungluing. (My only experience is that I have fractured a couple of bits when I was re-gluing them.) I guess builders of modern mandolins are not likely to encounter that sort of a problem any longer.
    One certainly hopes not!

    TS pickguards will often pretty much unglue themselves... however they are also often not real TS, even back in the day. Generally with pickgards if you can lift one edge they will just pop right off. However, I suspect you're thinking of that TS-clad neck on one of yours, and that's probably a whole other can of worms. A lot will come down to how well it was glued on and how thick it is (too thin and it will probably fracture if you try to remove). Use of heat and/or steam to loosen up the glue would help, but both could cause damage in and of themselves if you use too much, so it's a bit of a balancing act. Basically once you start taking things apart you're in the lap of gods, and there's always damage, it's just a question of whether it's visible once everythings back together again.

  6. #6431

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Thank you, John. I was asking that question within the context of the discussion on the Elias Howe mandolin referenced in post #6408 above.

  7. #6432
    Registered User Tavy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Tavistock UK
    Posts
    4,438

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Quote Originally Posted by peterk View Post
    Thank you, John. I was asking that question within the context of the discussion on the Elias Howe mandolin referenced in post #6408 above.
    Oh.... that ones a shocker... the bridge can't even go in the correct position with all that white stuff on there. Seriously, what were they thinking of?

    Best case scenario is the white stuff sands off, and you find nothing worse than an unrepaired crack underneath. Worst case scenario, it needs a whole new top.

    This one depends on whether you're a betting man or not: I'd say 60:40 in favor of a not-too-awful repair, but be prepared to write off whatever you pay for it if it goes wrong.... just saying!

  8. #6433

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Well, John, that "repair" might turn out to be more benign that what it looks like....particularly if you consider a hypothetical scenario whereby masonry mortar/grout, steel rivets or some such could have been used to mend the crack. Cases like that help us fine tune our understanding of the scope of human ignorance.

  9. #6434
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    30,753

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Quote Originally Posted by brunello97 View Post
    Nor can I stand for having a cappuccino after noon anyhow. Savage custom.
    Carlo Aonzo said in Italy capuccino is only drunk at breakfast.

    Quote Originally Posted by brunello97 View Post
    You can track it in mandolins as well with the growing (around here at least) re-interest in what Martin Jonas calls the 'shimmering sound' of bowlbacks. One of my favorite MC quotes.
    My favorite MJ quote was in describing the tone and timbre of a DeMeglio mandolin that there was a "party in the bowl."
    Jim

    My Stream on Soundcloud
    Facebook
    19th Century Tunes
    Playing lately:
    1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1

  10. #6435
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    30,753

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Quote Originally Posted by brunello97 View Post
    Very interesting to watch, and I love what must be custom made rasps. I only wish he had started taping a bit earlier in the process when he was just beginning the scalloping process. That has got to be the trickiest part. Once you've established the groove your tool will follow the path.
    Alao, how do you make the scallop in the superfine area around the neck joint. All his rasps/files look pretty hefty. I always thought that scalloping would have been done with surgically precisely sharpened gouges or at least started that way.
    Jim

    My Stream on Soundcloud
    Facebook
    19th Century Tunes
    Playing lately:
    1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1

  11. #6436
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    30,753

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/74224 in the classifieds. New fretboard, bridge, nut.

    I am selling a restored italian mandolin by Giovanni De Meglio 1(A)from 1896 made in Napoli. It has a new 5mm thick fingerboard with the original inlays put back on the new fingerboard to maintain its aesthetic look but had the original fingerboard replaced in order to straighten it from a slight bow and strengthen it from warps. In raising the fingerboard to this height it has the functionality of a modern mandolin with the bridge being higher to really drive the top and make it resonate like a new modern bowlback. The action is 2.7 mm given that I play classical style and want a full tone but can be lowered to anybody's wishes. The main thing is the neck is dead straight. The bridge is new and aesthetically the same as the original bridge however it has a new compensated bone saddle to have better intonation. The nut is also of bone. The mandolin is restored with 2 top shrinkage hairline crack repairs that do not affect the tone whatsoever. The bowl has not been repaired and has one tiny hairline on one rib that was not repaired given that when we tested it to see if light was going through(indicating a full through the wood crack) nothing went through. 5 years later it has never progressed. The tops hairlines did not have light pass through but were fixed in order to prevent any further separation as spruce is a soft wood unlike rosewood which is hard wood. Original case included. $450 local NYC and $15 shipping anywhere in the USA. As is. Video upon request.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	74224.jpg 
Views:	112 
Size:	28.9 KB 
ID:	116754  
    Jim

    My Stream on Soundcloud
    Facebook
    19th Century Tunes
    Playing lately:
    1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1

  12. #6437

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    That looks like a nice standard De Meglio, and having the fretboard straight and true is a big asset.
    The missing string tensioner should be rather easy to make, if desired: a bit of ebony and a couple of wood screws.
    The bridge seems like a departure from the De Meglio style. Should one strive towards historical accuracy there, Dave Hynds has replica De Meglio bridges for sale.

  13. #6438
    Registered User Tavy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Tavistock UK
    Posts
    4,438

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Quote Originally Posted by peterk View Post
    That looks like a nice standard De Meglio, and having the fretboard straight and true is a big asset.
    The missing string tensioner should be rather easy to make, if desired: a bit of ebony and a couple of wood screws.
    The bridge seems like a departure from the De Meglio style. Should one strive towards historical accuracy there, Dave Hynds has replica De Meglio bridges for sale.
    With the string tensioner in place and correctly adjusted the action wouldn't need to be so high either... just saying...

  14. #6439

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Right on, John. My De Meglio, which you have set up, has its string tensioner in place and a pretty low action height, yet it is as loud and sonorous as one could expect a small bodied bb mandolin to be.

  15. #6440
    Registered User Tavy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Tavistock UK
    Posts
    4,438

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    I should have added though... DeMeglio fret spacings can be a little funky, one with a replacement board isn't such a bad idea...

  16. #6441

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Here is a mandolin by Ernesto Ceccherini: http://www.ebay.it/itm/ANTICO-MANDOL...item2a396da802

    Either a relative of Umberto, or perhaps the seller was thinking of Ernesto Che Guevara when he wrote that listing.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Ernesto.JPG 
Views:	157 
Size:	103.4 KB 
ID:	116774

  17. #6442
    Registered User Bruce Clausen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Vancouver Island
    Posts
    1,541

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Quote Originally Posted by peterk View Post
    perhaps the seller was thinking of Ernesto Che Guevara
    That's gotta be right!

    It may be the first Ceccherini we've seen here that is actually in Italy, question being whether these were ever sold there or only in Britain. The label looks like the same one we know from all the others. Can't see the London dealer's name in the ad photos, but I bet it's there.

  18. #6443

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Clausen View Post
    That's gotta be right!

    It may be the first Ceccherini we've seen here that is actually in Italy, question being whether these were ever sold there or only in Britain. The label looks like the same one we know from all the others. Can't see the London dealer's name in the ad photos, but I bet it's there.
    That mandolin might have been bought in UK by an Italian, either in those old days or even in more recent times ?
    Our Ceccherini identity quest would benefit greatly by having a contributor who is a resident of Napoli, with sufficient interest in the topic as well as the spare time needed to do some serious digging locally. Ceccherini is an even more uncommon Italian surname than De Meglio: there are only two Ceccherini subscribers in the Naples phone book at present. Assuming that "Umberto Ceccherini" was a real mandolin maker in Naples, it would not be impossible that those folks hail from his familial stock.

    In the old residential + small commerce quarters of Napoli, many things are still today the way they were 100 years ago. For all we know, Ceccherini workshop may still be there, probably remodelled into an espresso bar or some such. Similarly, we could pay a visit to De Meglio workshop/offices in Vico Lungo Gelso (see a general street view below).

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Vico Lungo Gelso.jpg 
Views:	151 
Size:	92.3 KB 
ID:	116789
    Last edited by peterk; Mar-16-2014 at 1:53pm.

  19. #6444
    Full Grown and Cussin' brunello97's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Ann Arbor/Austin
    Posts
    6,281

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    An exceptional DeMeglio (in exceptional condition) on the ebay this morning.

    Looks like it arrived via a Time Machine.

    Mick

    So I tossed in a bid....We'll see.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DeMeglio-#28-Front.JPG 
Views:	111 
Size:	13.6 KB 
ID:	116823   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DeMeglio-#28-Back.JPG 
Views:	121 
Size:	11.0 KB 
ID:	116824   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DeMeglio-#28-Label.JPG 
Views:	139 
Size:	40.3 KB 
ID:	116825  

    Last edited by brunello97; Mar-17-2014 at 8:49am.
    Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.--Samuel Beckett
    ______________________

    '05 Cuisinart Toaster
    '93 Chuck Taylor lowtops
    '12 Stetson Open Road
    '06 Bialetti expresso maker
    '14 Irish Linen Ramon Puig

  20. #6445

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Exceptionally nice, and the seller seems to know it. Alas, that's already too rich for me.
    Good luck, Mick.

  21. #6446
    Full Grown and Cussin' brunello97's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Ann Arbor/Austin
    Posts
    6,281

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Quote Originally Posted by peterk View Post
    Exceptionally nice, and the seller seems to know it. Alas, that's already too rich for me.
    Good luck, Mick.
    Thanks, Peter. Pushing my $$ limits as well, so we'll see where the bidding goes. I always get light-headed about bowlbacks this time of year. Dolce Aprile, O Sole Mio, O Paese D'O Sole, Idilio Primaverile. Spring fever is coming on strong.

    I'll be down in Austin on the 23rd when this auction ends, and traveling is how I usually muck up my ebay bidding.

    Mick
    Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.--Samuel Beckett
    ______________________

    '05 Cuisinart Toaster
    '93 Chuck Taylor lowtops
    '12 Stetson Open Road
    '06 Bialetti expresso maker
    '14 Irish Linen Ramon Puig

  22. #6447
    Full Grown and Cussin' brunello97's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Ann Arbor/Austin
    Posts
    6,281

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    Speaking of bowls and bidding (I didn't, but wish I had), I thought this was quite a nice American Conservatory mandolin that sold for an attractive price (~$215).

    The AC line from L+H often turns up some very curious mandolins now and then that break out from the 'second line' quality. Nice detailing on this one, with what looks to be a bound ebony fretboard--though it could be dyed something else. The MOP, the scratchplate, tailpiece and fb inlays are also very nice. Nice Pretty RW on the bowl as well. It has that pumpkin orange top as well that you see on some Riccis.

    Someone got a sweet mandolin at a good price.

    Mick
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	American Conservatory-Front.jpg 
Views:	112 
Size:	155.5 KB 
ID:	116845   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	American Conservatory-Back.JPG 
Views:	138 
Size:	321.7 KB 
ID:	116846   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	American Conservatory Tailpiece.JPG 
Views:	117 
Size:	249.2 KB 
ID:	116847  

    Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.--Samuel Beckett
    ______________________

    '05 Cuisinart Toaster
    '93 Chuck Taylor lowtops
    '12 Stetson Open Road
    '06 Bialetti expresso maker
    '14 Irish Linen Ramon Puig

  23. #6448
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    30,753

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    That looks like it was from the earlier era like 1890s. Tailpiece is very unusual, too.
    Jim

    My Stream on Soundcloud
    Facebook
    19th Century Tunes
    Playing lately:
    1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1

  24. #6449
    Full Grown and Cussin' brunello97's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Ann Arbor/Austin
    Posts
    6,281

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    I think you are right, Jim, particularly with the scratchplate. Do you know if L+H used that internal bowl bracing on any of the AC models? I'm at the office so don't have Keef's book handy. I'll check that tonight. I don't know just when the AC line came about anyhow.

    Looks a bit like the crown tp without the cutouts.

    Mick
    Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.--Samuel Beckett
    ______________________

    '05 Cuisinart Toaster
    '93 Chuck Taylor lowtops
    '12 Stetson Open Road
    '06 Bialetti expresso maker
    '14 Irish Linen Ramon Puig

  25. #6450
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    30,753

    Default Re: Bowlbacks of Note

    I am quite fond of AC mandolins. My very first mandolin was an AC bowlback -- I didn't know until later that bowlbacks were not cool. I bought mine from House of Musical Traditions when it was in east Greenwich Village, NYC before they moved to Maryland.

    I have never seen a tp like that one. I have seen the fancy cutout ones and the plain ones also with the crown shape. This one looks like it was stamped.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	$_57.JPG 
Views:	103 
Size:	249.2 KB 
ID:	116863  
    Jim

    My Stream on Soundcloud
    Facebook
    19th Century Tunes
    Playing lately:
    1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1

Similar Threads

  1. Are There Any New Bowlbacks...
    By Onesound in forum Orchestral, Classical, Italian, Medieval, Renaissance
    Replies: 21
    Last: Sep-17-2013, 8:36am
  2. bowlbacks
    By mandoman15 in forum Builders and Repair
    Replies: 8
    Last: Jul-27-2005, 2:55pm
  3. My first try at bowlbacks
    By labraid in forum Videos, Pictures & Sound Files
    Replies: 24
    Last: Dec-24-2004, 11:32am
  4. PEG & bowlbacks
    By labraid in forum Builders and Repair
    Replies: 21
    Last: Oct-19-2004, 9:02pm
  5. dashes on the half note or quarter note
    By John Bertotti in forum General Mandolin Discussions
    Replies: 3
    Last: Sep-04-2004, 6:52pm

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •