My first ibma.....

**BlueMountain** · Oct-07-2007, 8:11am

Sorry you didn't enjoy yourself, Shayne.

Thanks for the great report.

**Danny Clark** · Oct-07-2007, 8:25am

IBMA was great
Shayne made it a blast ,he is cool,and funnier than Doyle Lawsons bass player ,if there was an award for comedy Shayne wins it hands down ,IBMA comedian of the year! or atleast weekend ,my favorite was when he walks up to Sierra Hull saying i just bought this Kentucky from Elderly i would love for yopu to play it,and she opens the case and out comes Dude #8
you can't beat that!!

**F5G WIZ** · Oct-08-2007, 2:23am

Pictures!! I need pictures!!

**mythicfish** · Oct-08-2007, 6:18am

It's refreshing to see today's youth so captivated by the promise of American commerce.

Curt

**Kevin Briggs** · Oct-08-2007, 8:43am

First-Timer here as well:

Yes, what a great time! I had never been to Nashville, and have never seen so many great instruments in one room. My main purpose of going was to mando-taste, and to be able to play with a bunhc of people. I basically did both, although I regret not meeting any Cafe civilians. I met Big Joe, Will Kimble, Hans, and all the others, but no regular civilian types.

Where to start.... Of course, I was looking forward to meeting Rick B. from Weber, and did so. I talk to him a lot, so the face to face was pretty cool. Rick's a good guy. I enjoyed the Weber mandolins, including the custom Elite, the cedar Fern, the oval holes they had there, and some funky guitar mandolin things. Obviously, I can go on and on about these, but I've done that to a great extent in other threads. I'll just say that I left the IBMA exhibit feeling very happy to own my Fern, and am eqaully happy to report that my MAS alert level is on a manageable Yellow, which homeland security tells us is not so bad.

I spent some time right away with Hands Brentrup, and his mandolins were really, really great. I definitely see what all the hype is about. My favorite was the very first one I played, which was one of his Loar-replica mandolins, as he described it. The neck was amazingly comfortable, and it haed everything I could ever want in a mandolin. Hans was also a great guy, and he expressed a willingness to customize a mandolin to whatever preferences I want. The only thing he always keeps the same is the tone, which is top notch.

I went to the Artisan guitar booth next, which was where Rick was located, so I'll go on to Mr. Kimble. I'll just say, "wow!" The first Kimble mandolin I played was the one that was all the way to the left, and that was indeed a spectacular specimen. It had great balance, great volume, great playability, great finish, etc. It really lacked nothing. It was one of those that just felt so solid when I played it, and it immediately asserted it's value as a top-tier mandolin, by any standards.

Next.. Gibson. There was certainly some nice stuff at the Gibson booth. I played the Bibey, the F5-G, the Goldrush, and the F-5L. I was not privey to anything spectacular that was under the table or anything like that, which is a shame, because I'm not interested in any of the mandolins I played. What get sme is, the Elederly booth had a Gilchrist, a DMM, a Wade, a Duff, and a bunch of other mandolins, and they were all there for anyone to grab. Brentrup and kimble had there's sitting out, and they were also up for grabs. Why Gibson needs to make you ask fro their Loar or any other isntrument is beyond me. I liked the people there, and they played the mandolin well, but I just don't get the complicated approach.

Anyway, it was a great time! There were some fantastic bands on the roots stage upstairs from the exhibit, as well.

**pjlama** · Oct-08-2007, 9:52am

And I was at my wife's 20 year High School Reunion

**Big Joe** · Oct-08-2007, 10:23am

Kevin...The DMM and the RSDMM were out for people to play. They kept them at the back of the table to reduce the number of non interested parties from scratching them up. They would happily have let you play either. As for a Loar...if there was one there it was not theirs and they likely had no permission to let anyone play it. When I was with Gibson I often had a Loar at shows like that. The only people I let play them were the ones I had permission from the owner.

There were plenty of Loars there to play....if you knew who had them.

Never be afraid to ask to play an instrument. The most they will say is "No".

**mandolooter** · Oct-08-2007, 1:34pm

[QUOTE]I know sometimes post on forums can get a bit heated and folks tend to say things before thinking

Yea, and sometimes the typed word can be easily miscon"screwed" if ya know what I mean. I've accidentally made a few people mad and felt bad about it even tho I didn't mean to. Face to face I seem to make most folks smile. Next year I may make it since I keep promising myself I'll go but never do...it sure sounds like fun!

**Kevin Briggs** · Oct-08-2007, 2:07pm

Thanks for the clarification, Joe! I'm not really savvy when it comes to an event like IBMA. I certainly understand why anyone would want to limit the scratches on a Loar.

By the way, it was very nice meeting you. I got to pick with your son a bit. We did "Minor Swing," "Sweet Georgia Brown," and a couple of fiddle tunes, like "Salt Creek" and "Whiskey Before Breakfast." He really does a good job hitting those higher registers, and he was even managing to work in some cross-picking after we'd gone around the tune a few times. Up in the room (1608), I got to play his Goldrush a bit, and that was really nice. I particularly liked how it played when the people around me were playing as well.

Let me clarify that, although I wasn't interested in the Gibsons I played, that doesn't mean they weren't nice instruments. I played that F5L with ease, and it was a nice, nice mandolin. I'll also add that the DMM I played at Elderly was saweet. I somehow did not mention it in the post above. I'm not a fan of intentionally distressed instruments, but, distressed or not, it kicked and was extremely easy to play. It was top notch for sure.

I also didn't say much about the Gilchrist at Elderly, but want to now. That thing was really nice. The fella at the booth explained that since it's an '81 it is not going to be like the more recent ones, but we agreed that it is very, very nice. That particular mandolin is listed at $24,000, but they listening to all offers. Now, to say it's less than this or that is misleading, because it didn't lack much to my ears and hands. It was balanced, loud, dry sounding, and in great condition. The slight let down probably had more to do with my expectations, after being on the Cafe for a few years. It's like when Dylan played at the Isle of Wight festival in 1971 or so, after all but disappearing from the public eye at the height of his mid-60s fame. The crowd didn't think he was very good, colletcively, and John Lennon scoffed at the crowd saying, "Of course they were disappointed. They were expecting Godot to show up." that's what I did with the Gilchrist, but the one I played was great, nevertheless.

**squirrelabama** · Oct-08-2007, 3:14pm

Maybe at the next big event we should all wear those goofy sticker type name tags that say "Hi, My name is...." and write our cafe handle on it?? Maybe I'll just hve a T-shirt made that says Squirrelabama. Who knows what would come of that...could be fun, and meet some new folks!