Roland white's gibson - what model/year?

[scgc.om]

I'm looking at the picture of Roland White on his "Approach to BG Mandolin" 2 CD instruction book. He's playing an older Gibson F, with no fingerboard extension - the fingerboard just ends after the 20th fret and looks like this " { " on the end. The headstock says "The Gibson" and has Torch inlay. Lastly, it has a finger rest that looks newer but attaches in the old way.

Anyone know what he's playing? Any more about this instrument?

[sgarrity]

That mando is the second that Randy Wood built. It was Roland's primary mandolin for many many years. He sold it about a year ago through Gruhn Guitars. he now plays a custom Gibson MM that is laquer finished and one of the nicest new Gibsons I've played.
FYI, board member Red Henry owns and plays RW #1 and #3

[MarkC]

This is in answer to the "Any more about this instrument?" part of your post.

On the "Sam Bush Mandolin Method" DVD, Sam tells this story about the lack of an extension on his instrument:

"I kept that part on there for years, even though when I would play my pick would hit it and make a clicking noise that just bugged me. I thought about, for years, sawing it off, but I always assumed that everything had something to do with the sound of the instrument. And one day I ran into Roland White, who had sawed his off. And I said 'Well, has it affected the sound?', and he said 'Yeah, that click's gone!'". So within a month, I think, John Monteleone cut this one off."

I have no idea which mandolin of White's that Bush was referring to.

Not sure this adds much!

[MikeEdgerton]

And I said 'Well, has it affected the sound?', and he said 'Yeah, that click's gone!'

Classic.

[BiscoMando]

I was fortunate enough to make a trip to Nashville for a lesson with Roland this last summer. He was playing his all-laquer finished gibson that they had recently built for him. I asked about the mandolin on the cover of his book, and he told me it was actually a gibson copy, although he didn't say who built it (thanks for clearing that up sgarrity). He noted that if you look closely, you can see that "The Gibson" inlay in the headstock was put in off-center. Have a look at it. He said he sold it a few years back for "quite a bit more than [he] paid for it". Oh Roland, so modest.

I also noted he had a tone guard (for those who haven't seen these, it resembles a cooking grill that fixes to the back of your mandolin). I asked if it made a difference in his sound, and he said "If it didn't work, I wouldn't use it".

[jim_n_virginia]

When I was at the last Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend in 2006 Roland was one of the instructors there and he talked about his mandolin he was playing. It was a custom Master Model that Mr. Derrington built for him. Roland said he went to the shop, picked out all the wood and gave them his criteria of what he would want on his mandolin and they built it for him. It is a great sounding mandolin but then again Roland could make any mandolin sound good. It has beautiful wood on it thats for sure.

As a side note Herchel Sizemore was there too. He owns 4 Loar mandolins. I asked him which mandolin did he like best. He said follow me and I'll show you. He took me to a storage closet where he had his mandolins locked up and he pulled out a Master Model that Charlie had built for him also, custom made and he picked out all the wood. He said that mandolin means as much to him if not more than his Loars.

I have a feeling that Mr Derrington made a LOT of special mandolins for a lot of special people.

[Crowder]

I have a feeling that Mr Derrington made a LOT of special mandolins for a lot of special people.

And, according to Big Joe, none of them were comped to the artists. Not sure if I believe that they all paid the same prices WE would, but still...

[nashvillebill]

I took a few lessons from Roland a couple of years or so ago and from the way he described how he came to own the Gibson, I was under the impression it was comped, but I couldn't swear to it. He said something to the effect "they wanted to build me one for years so finally I let them". He said he sold the Randy Wood and remodeled his kitchen with the proceeds...

[sunburst]

I heard the sawn-off-extension story almost exactly like that from Sam Bush himself a few (a-hem) years back. As I recall, he said he asked Roland if it changed the sound of the mandolin, and Roland said "yeah, it got rid of that horrible clicking sound!".

He went on to say that after he had the extender cut off, he carried it around in the case for years, until he finally lost it. So, I got to thinking...lost it...I bet somebody, somewhere has this little fingerboard extender and can say "this came off of Sam Bush's mandolin!".

Sorry for the hijack, but the thread reminded me of that Sam Bush story.

[Brady Smith]

I have a feeling that Mr Derrington made a LOT of special mandolins for a lot of special people.

And, according to Big Joe, none of them were comped to the artists. Not sure if I believe that they all paid the same prices WE would, but still...

Nope, not buying it.

[jim_n_virginia]

I bet somebody, somewhere has this little fingerboard extender and can say "this came off of Sam Bush's mandolin!".

And I bet it's the same person who has Bill Monroe's broken off scroll!

[Timbofood]

I am loving the Roland stories. I have had the privilege of some after gig chat time with him and he always is the consumate gentleman and can tell a great story! I can hear him say the whole thing about "Yeah, stopped the clicking noise."

[allenhopkins]

Ah, a Randy Wood mandolin, labeled "The Gibson." # A few months ago I started a thread discussing what independent builders did, or would, put a "Gibson" label on their non-Gibson creations. #Got a whole bunch of flack for it, too -- accused of "Gibson bashing," of raising a repetitive and sleep-inducing topic, etc. etc.

Still a matter of interest to me, that respected builders in the recent past would put Gibson's logo on the instruments they built. #Guess it was considered hommage to the wondrous #Gibson creations of yesteryear. #Now it's copyright infringement, and calls out the lawyers. #Times change.

[Scotti Adams]

I wouldnt exactly say that "respected builders in the recent past would put Gibson's logo on the instruments they built"..Rolands RW mando was built way back in the day when there wasnt as much "flack" as there is today in doing so.

[Jim Rowland]

I love the guy. He taught me some important things with his Bluegrass course and in person. I still chuckle remembering his stories from the Monroe days and his near perfect ear for the way Bill sounded when he talked. I was extremely disappointed to find that he will not teach at Augusta this year. Looks like they changed most of the Bluegrass faculty for some reason.
J.

[jbrwky]

Yea Roland doing his Bill impersonation is classic. Even funnier is Don Stiernberg doing Jethro Burns teaching him mando lessons. It'll bring tears to your eyes.

[Ken Sager]

I have a feeling that Mr Derrington made a LOT of special mandolins for a lot of special people.

And, according to Big Joe, none of them were comped to the artists. Not sure if I believe that they all paid the same prices WE would, but still...

Nope, not buying it.

What Big Joe said is that no artists are PAID to play Gibsons. There are artists getting free mandolins all the time. I don't know about Roland, but I know John Moore was given a Fern by Gibson. John talked about it quite a bit when he was in SLC a year ago. I've heard of others, too.

[Timbofood]

Ashby Frank does a pretty good "Monroe" too. Very funny when done in conjunction with "The Hokey Pokey"!

[scgc.om]

I'd put my $$ on Ken being right about makers giving freebies to artists to (hopefully) play out in public. #For example, would John Reischman really _buy_ #a [slightly] distressed MM when he has his Loar and his Heiden (now 2 Heidens) to play??

Also: jim n virginia posted that Hershel Sizemore owns 4 Loars and prefers his newer Gibson made for him by Mr Derrington. Not to call anyone a liar but is this really true - Sizemore owns 4 Loars? AND each of them is inferior (at least in Sizemore's opinion) to a modern Gibson? I'd heard that not all Loars are great but all 4 of them being less than stellar . . . ? Sounds to me as if these Loars should be set up/worked on by top Luthiers . . . .

[f5loar]

You see lots of multi-Loar owners being seen with something else. Sizemore does own 4 or more give or take a few Loars/Ferns etc. What he meant was he found the new DMM to be as good as any Loar he has and is not ashamed to play one out in public. I have found that out too. Skaggs is another multi-Loar owner who is out there playing a DMM. Grisman another one out there with who knows what. I can name dozens of Loar owners that don't always pick out in public with their Loars but I bet they record with them. Then there is me. You'll likely see me with my new Kentucky KM1200 Prototype Scruggs signature model.

[Gutbucket]

Roland and I accidently exchanged mandolins at Augusta Heritage Center last year. Everybody puts their instruments in the corner of the cafeteria at lunch break. We had matching gig bags, and I grabbed mine after lunch. After going back to my room to practice, I noticed my Ratliff had turned into a nice Gibson. I ran back in time to find Roland walking around with my Ratliff wondering where his Gibson went. He was scheduled to play a little after -lunch concert that the faculty puts on every afternoon. He was relieved to say the least when his Gibson showed up and asked if I had tried it out. I told him I had just tuned it to "Get up John" tuning. Of course I didn't, but he told me a Monroe story and imitation of when he played with Bill and had to tune Bill's mandolin for that song. Roland is a great teacher and all around class act.

[Mattg]

I sat with Roland at Rocky Grass a few years back. He just hammered me with cool licks till I cried uncle. Of course he had a Monroe story. I agree with above posts, he's a real nice person!

He had a newish looking Gibson and was complaining that it didn't sound right after it dried out in our dry Colorado climate. It sounded good to me but what do I know.