The randy wood story...

[Nolan]

Neat story I found today.

Randy Wood

[mandopete]

Excellent video!

[pickinNgrinnin]

Thanks for posting that link - very interesting! In one of the pictures shown on the video, did I see a young Darryl Wolfe standing next to Randy??

[tnpathfinder]

That's great. Thanks for posting.

[tnpathfinder]

I recognized that picture from one of the threads here.

[Andrew Lewis]

That was a joy to watch. Thanks for posting it.

[TonyP]

thanks Nolan. I'm still wishin' to pick a Randy Wood mando someday. Not many out here on the left coast. Not that I have any illusions I'll be able to afford it, but I'd still like to play one.

[mandopete]

I think one of the nicest sounding mandolins I have ever heard is Katsuyuki Miyazaki's Randy Wood F-5.

[Nolan]

I've never played one either Tony... he sure seems like a friendly guy from that video.
I think there are a few Randy Woods up here in the Northwest but they never seem to show up in any jams I'm in!

[re simmers]

Inspiring video. Thanks for posting this. I met Murphy Henry about 15 or more years ago. I think she had mandolin #1. She had a rattle in it. It sounded fantastic. I want one!

[mikeyes]

Randy Wood may be the most under-rated mandolin maker on the planet. He was one of the very first to make a copy of the Lloyd Loar F-5 and early on people wanted his instruments. Bill Monroe wanted #1, but it was already promised (he got #3) while #2 went to Roland White. Later on his A-50 to A-5 conversions were popular. You can see the one that Sam Bush had in the Tuttle book. I've had the pleasrue of hearing #1 and #3 more than once and they are killer mandolins. You don't see very many on the market in spite of the "over 1000" made because they are so good.

He is a master craftsman and probably has more experience than any other luthier currently making mandolins. He certainly got a chance to handle and fix many of the great instruments while he worked in Nashville with Tut and George Gruhn. (You will note that George Gruhn is not mentioned in the article, however.) He had the famous Loar A-5 in hand for quite some time and built a number of mandolins and conversions while it was available.

[mrmando]

An acquaintance of mine, Vinny in Statesboro, Ga., has a Randy Wood mandolin that blows

... me away.

There was one here in the Classifieds not long ago, in the 5K range. I was surprised that it wasn't snapped up instantly.