I have been drooling all day -way beyond my skill level. Value is a tricky thing, I wonder what he would charge to build one? I don't know how they compare but Carlo Mazzacara's Lucia model is listed at 2800 euros.
Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.--Samuel Beckett
______________________
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For a couple of years Carlo Aonzo was handpicking mandolins from Gabriele Pandini's workshop and transporting them over here to the US when he would teach in his Manhattan workshop. I got one of the two in the second round after playing his (made in the 1990s) and trying out two new ones the year before. I played that Pandini for many years and it was my main classical instrument until I got my Embergher 3.
Pandini's mandolins are large -- even bigger than Calaces. Mine came in a soft case to begin with and I had a real hard time finding a hard case to fit it — the Eastman cases were a tad too small. Finally through a stroke of luck I did find an actual Pandini hardcase that fit. That mandolin came with medium Dogal Calace strings and as long as I owned it, always had those strings on it.
Carlo played his for years with a short hiatus playing a specially designed, modernized bowlback by Corrado Giacomel. Now he has returned AFAIK to his original Pandini. There is a recent video of Carlo and Brian Oberlin posted on another thread.
Jim
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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
I know, I was staying in Sorrento recently and happened to walk past a shop in one of the back streets which was an instrument fettlers and I wandered in and had a chat with a luthier who had a part finished scalloped maple bowl mandolin on display it looked gorgeous. Stupidly I didn't get his name, especially so since he said that he had built a mandolin for Ugo Orlandi.
Having (briefly) played both Carlo's and Jim's Pandinis, I must second Jim's observations: those are very heftily built. That is not to say of course that they are not well built but simply that they are, ah... chunky.
As in all such cases, if you get a chance to actually handle an instrument of that sort, you can then make an educated guess on whether you would enjoy owning one. A mandolin is a very, very personal choice...
Cheers,
Victor
It is not man that lives but his work. (Ioannis Kapodistrias)
I played Carlo's Pandini for a bit, too, Victor, swapping him one of my Lelands which he rather charmingly implied he didn't want to trade back, raising both the mandolin and the mandolin player in my esteem. The Pandini was a chunk of wood, though my memory fades on how much of that seemed in the neck and head and how much in the bowl.
But it challenged the "lighter is better / more resonant" shibboleth that I have long associated with Italian bowls.
I'm in no position to judge from that brief experience, but wonder what Jim (or other's) take is on that? One would assume that GP could / would make his mandolins thinner and lighter if he so desired.
Interesting discussion in light of the ongoing conversation about the "screwed Ceccherini" (awful conflation of terms) here, where the well appreciated "shimmering" sound (as our friend Martin definitively described it) of the lightly built, resonant Italian mandolins is properly touted.
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
Here's an interesting bowlback on eBay Germany, seems to have been one of 12 built by Hans Ragozky for Konrad Wölki. IMO overpriced for an unknown maker, but probably a very good instrument - maybe Wölki had them made for his orchestra?
Looks like a decent instrument. I've seen two plain Wolki mandolins in Russia, both were Embergher-inspired so to say and both were made in 1940. Ragozki had a shop and was publishing sheet music under his name. I guess it was probably a one off business affair between Wolki and Ragozki with later paying for manufacturing an x-number of mandolins in Markneukirchen and Wolki endorsing them.
Beautiful instrument, but apparently others thought it was overpriced too as no bids. I always wonder how it sounds....
Interesting mandolin, but almost certainly not built by Hans Ragotzky. Ragotzky was Wölki's publisher and the founder of what is now Trekel (Joachim Trekel took over the business after Ragotzky's death in 1967). See the company history on Trekel's website (in German). I would think that the instruments were sold through Ragotzky's shop, rather than built there.
Martin
I'm not sure if this fellow has turned up here before: Tullio Shiavoni (or is it Shiavoni Tullio?)
An Embergher style mandolin made in Milano in the '20s. The ad suggests the maker worked in LE's shop before returning to Milano. Looks like he learned something from the master.
Interesting combination of E Ferrari label and TS signature on what appears to be the underside of the top.
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
Nice, Mick! looks like it is well- made, tho the bridge looks like it is not properlly positioned, for some reason cantilevered (!) over the cant. I still have my Torino Roman-style by Carlo Colombo Bruno. These northern Roman-styles are interesting to me, of course.
I would also direct your attention to this old thread which I originally set up as a companion to this thread: Post a Picture of Your Bowlback.
Last edited by Jim Garber; Mar-28-2016 at 2:35pm.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
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
Interesting. I'd be worried about condition: the action looks too high to the extent that the photos show it, and that may be related to the odd bridge position. Same seller as the 1930s Vinaccia discussed in the other thread. Neither has any offers yet at the starting price.
Martin
Victor: any idea who made that Japanese one?
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
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
I have no clue, the instrument is well made, by the look of it, but the only mark inside is that 1924 stamp in Japanese, which is not too clear and looks more like a postal stamp. It has something written in Japanese perhaps someone who knows the language and has a sharp eye can read it somehow?
"Embergher Copies of Note" might make a good dedicated thread in its own right.
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
was wondering what those of bowlback knowledge thought of this calace - http://www.ebay.com/itm/rare-ancienn...IAAOSwmtJXbvvA
thanks
lex-joe: so, did you win this one? I had a similar one from the same era a few years ago. I call it the "hole in the head" model. Actually this one IIRC looks a bit higher in grade with an extended fretboard. It looks like it is in amazing shape but I wonder, aside from the repaired cracks on the top, whether anything else was done. The finish almost looks too shiny. However, it is possible that the rest is original. I find that bowlbacks that come with their original cases were cared for and therefore could be in fine condition.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
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
Jim, no didn't get it, probably best coming from so far away. I was thinking about checking out one of the Mazzaccara mandolin Lucia model when they arrive in the US. Thanks for your reply.
Hello, folks!
I received the suggestion to drop a link to my thread about an odd apparently German bowlback in here. Here goes:
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...rious-bowlback
Would appreciate y'all's insight!
Mandolins: The Loar LM-220; Lyon & Healy Special A #103; Epiphone Mandobird VIII
Violins: 19th century German Steiner copy; NS Design WAV 4; NS Design WAV 5; Reiter Alien II 7-string
Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/Ausdoerrt
Here there are three Emberghers (or close):
- a n.1 of 1929: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mandolino-Lu...-/201652405255
- a new Takusari, 2016: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Takusari-Emb...-/282162410201
- and a Pecoraro 5bis (or 6 more likely?), 1965: http://www.ebay.com/itm/PASQUALE-PEC...vip=true&rt=nc
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