Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Copley, anyone?

  1. #1

    Default

    Back after a long, LONG break from mandolins, I did some refurbishing on a century-old (roughly) bowlback for a friend and got interested in the instrument for the first time since the 1960s.

    Soon I stuck in a bid for a Copley F-style on ebay, and found myself the "winner." It looks pretty nice, generally good fit and finish I'd say. Was sort of playable. When I tried to lower the action, I had to dress down a plethora of high frets and high spots on other frets, then work the nut down. Now it plays pretty well.

    I picked up a similar Epiphone in a store, with a much higher ($500) price tag. Didn't see much superiority there. What I wonder is what would I expect to notice if I got my hands on an actually good instrument? What would make a better one, better?

  2. #2
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Rochester NY 14610
    Posts
    17,378

    Default

    Herb, looks like you're looking at what we call "student" or "entry level" instruments. #Copley is a Tennessee-based company that sells a plethora of brass, wind, and string instruments. #Here's a link to their mandolin page, where they list four models with prices ranging from $145 to $579. #Though I didn't find any explicit references, they are almost certainly Asian imports.

    Their top two models, the CFM-100 and CFM-200, are advertised as having solid spruce tops; the CFM-200 is also supposed to have solid back and sides. #While they advertise a "hand-carved scroll," they don't say that the tops are carved, and in that price range they're almost certainly pressed rather than carved.

    The conventional consensus is that solid wood is better acoustically than laminated wood, and it makes more of a difference in the top, the primary vibrating surface, than in the back and sides, which do vibrate to some extent but are largely reflective. #The consensus is also that a real carved top, whether computer shaped and hand-finished, or totally hand-carved, sounds better than a pressed top. #There are zillions of different instruments out there, and it would be presumptuous to say that every solid-wood instrument sounds better than every laminated one, or that every carved-top sounds better than every pressed-top. #In any case, cost of materials and workmanship generally means that solid-wood, hand-carved instruments are significantly costlier than laminated, pressed-top instruments.

    So what you would notice if you went to an "actually good instrument," might well be better, more complex sound, with more volume. #You also probably wouldn't have to dress frets, cut down the nut, and go through all the other gyrations that owners do to improve "student" instruments (replace the tailpiece, replace the bridge, tweak the truss rod, etc. etc.).

    Hundreds of thousands of mandolins probably leave Asia every year, headed for the US. #Some come from smaller shops that stress handwork (Eastman, the new The Loars, Jade); others are made in larger factories that make them to different importers' specs, with various nameplates and design nuances, but basically similar instruments. #Not having played a Copley, I can't say where yours falls, but an all-solid-wood F-style for less than $600 list is probably not going to feature a lot of handwork. #Doesn't mean it won't be a playable instrument, capable of giving you a lot of enjoyment, but I do think that if you compare it against a well-made, mid-range instrument, you'll find the more expensive one to have more to offer. #As well it should, for the higher price.
    Allen Hopkins
    Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
    Natl Triolian Dobro mando
    Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
    H-O mandolinetto
    Stradolin Vega banjolin
    Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
    Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
    Flatiron 3K OM

  3. #3

    Default

    Thanks, Allen. I looked at that web page. This one is a CFM-200 which they list at $579 or so, almost 3 times what I paid, and I know that's not a really rare event.

    Before I bid, I saw this mandolin was claimed to have solid spruce top and solid maple back and sides. The web page says "solid arched spruce" top and "solid arched maple" back. With a dental mirror I can see the same grain pattern on the undersides. Perhaps they have some way of forming the wood into the arched shape. I was surprised to see an X brace on the underside of the top, the legs of the X not extending to the edges. Looking up toward the scroll, it's just walled off by a shaped block. The scroll is said to be carved, and I don't see how else it could be formed, though the finish in that area is totally opaque. I knew it was Chinese.

    I have several nice vintage flattop guitars, somewhat discerning taste regarding those, and guess that if I find enough good mandolins to try out that my vintage ears will learn to distinguish good mandolin tone from bad.

  4. #4
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Howell, NJ
    Posts
    26,874

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by
    Perhaps they have some way of forming the wood into the arched shape.
    They do, with a press. The Americans developed it in the 30's. Many (even most)of those old Harmony and Kay archtops were pressed not carved.



    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

Similar Threads

  1. Copley mandolin
    By Pavel Havlicek in forum Looking for Information About Mandolins
    Replies: 1
    Last: Mar-25-2008, 11:06am
  2. Copley Mandolins
    By wpete in forum Looking for Information About Mandolins
    Replies: 6
    Last: Aug-08-2006, 9:42am
  3. Copley CFM-150 F
    By jkorp in forum Looking for Information About Mandolins
    Replies: 7
    Last: Nov-10-2005, 10:09am

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
  •