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Thread: Mando bass

  1. #101
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    $1,500-$2K. I might buy it for $1,500, strip it and paint it purple.
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  2. #102
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    If it is structurally sound and you could get it for cheap, the "vintage value" is irrelevant for a player's instrument. I like mrmando's idea. The collector's value is already gone. Why are these guys even keeping it in a box in the back of their store? A musician could use it somewhere. Do they think they have a serious treasure?

    Someone from the Cafe should buy it and rescue it from obscurity. Not me, of course.
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  3. #103
    Registered User toddjoles's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    Jim, I've got a call out to them to set an appointment to see this bass. Hopefully they will call back.


    I'll let everyone know what I find out about this.
    Todd Joles, handyman and aspiring luthier!

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  4. #104
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    I am not sure if this is the same instrument but I believe Freedom Guitar had one listed in their ads in Vintage Guitar magazine. The price in the ad was $9999 if recall. Seemed high but if it was in pristine condition maybe, but considering the damage.....

    Phil

  5. #105
    Registered User toddjoles's Avatar
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    Well I took alook at the mandobass at Freedom guitars in San Diego. They keep it stored up stairs in a bass box. It is not on public display, it took me three trips and an unreturned phone call before they would get it down for me.

    The bass didn't look as bad in person as it did in pics, but it does need a good cleaning. It was left near a fireplace at some point in it's life and the finish has bubbled and melted into globbules on the top. The top appears to have been stained brown with mahogany stained back and sides and neck. It has a V-neck and it does have the original tortoise shell tail piece (rusted and dirty but still holding together). A few other issues with this one is that the end pin is not original and has been replaced with a hand made wooden end pin. The side pin is completely missing and has a big chip out of the hole. It took me a few minutes to realize that the 2 sets of 2 screws on each side were for a missing arm rest. The strings were ancient and rusted so we didn't try to tune it all the way to pitch, but it did sound pretty good.

    The price listed is $9,999 (yeah thats right!) The owner completely ignored my coment that it was worth about $6k inexellent condition and mentioned that it was the only mandobass he had ever scene in person and incredibly rare! He wanted an offer but with all the issues, it's difficult to offer much at all for it.

    What should you pay for something like this with the finish and endpin issues? Should you restore it or just play it in all it's ugly glory? It's a difficult call, this really is something that should be played not collected and stored.
    Todd Joles, handyman and aspiring luthier!

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  6. #106
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    Quote Originally Posted by toddjoles View Post
    The price listed is $9,999 (yeah thats right!) The owner completely ignored my coment that it was worth about $6k inexellent condition and mentioned that it was the only mandobass he had ever scene in person and incredibly rare! He wanted an offer but with all the issues, it's difficult to offer much at all for it.
    Sometimes it is hard to argue with someone like that. he may have priced it high just so it would not sell. If I were you, I would tell him what you were willing to pay and tell him to call you if he is ready to sell. Otherwise, at that price, I am sure that it will sit there. There is a difference between rare and desirable. Stratocasters are not rare at all -- they were always very popular guitars, but some go for ridiculous prices primarily because there are people willing to pay for them. In any case there are other mandobasses out there and you could email some links to this guy to show him more reasonable prices.

    or just forget about it.

    Good luck!
    Jim

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  7. #107
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    Hey Folks,
    I just wanted to pop in and turn the conversation a little bit with a few questions from the perspective of a luthier who is working on integrated mando family design (through a current grant and residency).
    Does the mandobass complete the mandolin family? Is it necessary?
    Is the problem a matter of ergonomic awkwardness, lackluster sound or a potent combo of the two? Mismatched scale/register/body size?
    And the bottom line:
    Does it deserve to be re-designed or left to go extinct?
    If so, what are some improvements from a players perspective? Acoustically, I'd imagine properly designed and placed F holes and something more than transverse braces might help for starters. And since we're talking about a dinosaur here, I'd think that all options could on the table--body size, scale, tuning etc.
    So far in my work, I've stopped at the 'cello, assuming the bass wasn't worth the trouble. But, I've been surprised before--who knew the piccolo mando could be so much fun...
    thoughts?

    Joe
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  8. #108
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Hm. Someone who's seen only one mandobass in person simply needs to get out more. We've got a couple up here we can show him. There's one on the wall at Gryphon in Palo Alto, one in Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, B.C., etc.

    There's also one that has made the rounds of Guitar Center stores on the West Coast. I've seen it both in Seattle and L.A. It also has a $10K price tag; I asked about it once and was told it belonged to the owner of Guitar Center and was being treated more as a display instrument than as an item seriously for sale. Though I suppose if I showed up with 10 large and really wanted it, they might let it go...

    On the Freedom Guitars instrument, the endpin and missing armrest are not really big issues in terms of playability, although I suppose they would factor into any realistic calculation of its value. If the finish is the only major problem (no cracks or structural issues), then heck, maybe it's worth as much as $2.5K. It is rare, undoubtedly -- but rarity doesn't automatically equal big bucks. (My baby teeth are even rarer than mandobasses, but there isn't enough demand for me to charge $10K for one of them.)

    If this mandobass didn't have the baked finish and other issues, what does Mr. Freedom think it would be worth? Aren't these listed in the "blue books"? Does Mr. Freedom rely on those books to determine the value of other instruments in his shop, and then throw them out the window when it comes to his mandobass?

    One of our orchestra members bought what is probably the nicest Gibson mandobass I have ever seen. Still has the armrest, original hardware, no cracks, no issues. She paid much less than $10K.

    As to Joe's question, I think they are worth bringing back if you can solve the volume/projection problem (and make one for less than $10K).
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  9. #109
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    Joe --

    Well, there's always this one, the "contra-bass mandolin" at Pamela's Music in the UK.

    IMHO the mando-bass as designed by Gibson doesn't have the body size or depth to adequately project the low-range frequencies for which it was designed. It has, to a lesser extent, the limitations of the acoustic bass guitar, which suffers so much in comparison with the bass fiddle (actually bass viol) that it's nearly useless without electronic amplification.

    If you make the mando-bass larger, the question emerges, "Why not just have a bass fiddle?" Of course there are differences in construction -- no sound post, frets vs. no frets, oval vs. f-holes, etc. But as you say, the mando-bass is essentially extinct; no one seems to be building them, other than as a luthier's tour de force or homage to the instruments of nearly a century ago.

    Not being a builder, and having played a Gibson K model only a couple times, my opinion is largely "from a distance." For what it's worth, if you wanted to resurrect the concept of a large bass mandolin tuned EADG, I'd suggest taking it in the "bass fiddle" direction: deeper body, longer scale. A fretted neck would be fine, and whatever you wanted to do about body shape to make it "mandolin-y," but I don't think the "giant A model" Gibson template would produce more than a nostalgic replica of an instrument that never really caught on.
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  10. #110

    Default Re: Mando bass

    As a double bassist, I really don't think it's worth redesigning....the sound is there in a good double bass. I have only seen one brand of decent mandobass (from the UK) and I just don't think most folks are really going to spend the money for a decent one anyway. Some groups have the oldies, partly because the ensemble has owned it for years, partly because some one has collected one; other groups (most) use a string bass, bass guitar, or contrabass balalaika--each would be cheaper and/or easier to get than a newly designed mandobass. (It would HAVE to be archtop to sound decent and carved tops wouldn't come cheap!) Just my opinion....
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  11. #111
    Daive
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    this is quick picture of my 1925 Mandobass which I tried to sell in the
    classified last year I got untold emails about it but mistakenly though
    that only collectors would want it almost all emails were from people
    who wanted to play it??? this bass has a neck bow which I will fix when
    I get time??? I may trade it this year with or without neck fix if anyone
    wants it? I do not want to break any posting rules this is just my input
    I play stand up bass and to be honest there is no comparison.
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  12. #112
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Daive -- Mandolin orchestras are always looking for good playable mandobasses that don't cost an arm and a leg. Since it's so expensive to ship 'em, I'd either want the repair done first or see a significant price break because it needed work. I remember this being on the Classifieds, but don't remember what you were asking for it.

    The other problem is that N.S. might be considered a bit remote from the perspective of most potential buyers ... ever considered a road trip to the States for the purpose of consigning the instrument at someplace like Mandolin Bros.?
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  13. #113
    Daive
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    I would probably partially deliver the bass to new England? I have not made
    the trip from N.S. to Eastcoast U.S. yet I am sure this spring\summer I'll try
    in the classifieds I would rather not consign do to past experiences with
    cross border paperwork and getting the instrument to the store?
    Dave.

  14. #114

    Default Re: Mando bass

    Greetings everyone on this thread. I live in Lancaster, Pa and I have been looking for a mandobass for a few weeks now. I read this whole thread and found it to be very informative. Daive, would you mind emailing me with the price of your mandobass? Maybe we could work something out. Thanks.

  15. #115
    Registered User Mike Herlihy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    Quote Originally Posted by violmando View Post
    As a double bassist, I really don't think it's worth redesigning....the sound is there in a good double bass. I have only seen one brand of decent mandobass (from the UK) and I just don't think most folks are really going to spend the money for a decent one anyway. Some groups have the oldies, partly because the ensemble has owned it for years, partly because some one has collected one; other groups (most) use a string bass, bass guitar, or contrabass balalaika--each would be cheaper and/or easier to get than a newly designed mandobass. (It would HAVE to be archtop to sound decent and carved tops wouldn't come cheap!) Just my opinion....
    Is there such a beastie as a fretted double bass? I just rather use my Taylor AB3. Great sound and much more portable. The volume is just not there for multi-player.

    However, my National Resonator bass rocks!

  16. #116
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Herlihy View Post
    Is there such a beastie as a fretted double bass?
    Mike Pavone here in Rochester owned a Framus fretted bass fiddle; it was destroyed in a fire, sad to say.
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  17. #117
    Registered User man dough nollij's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    I wonder if anyone has tried making a resonator mandobass to get more volume? Would that be a Mandodobrass? (Pronouced Man-Dodo-Brace.)

    A resonator mandocello would be wicked, too. Would you call it a Cellomandobro?

  18. #118

    Default Re: Mando bass

    Hey, I'd be willing to try a Cellomandobro--I'm still itching to get my hands on one of those 4 string cello banjos! Mike, there are some fretted basses; tamburitza groups use them...they are called berdes. I have one and it is HUGE! You use a leather plectrum on it. I got it for our orchestra, but no volunteers....My husband plays his own string bass from his wheelchair. We'd love to get a second bassist, but the problem is getting some one who reads. There is shortage of bassists is our area, it seems. Yvonne
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  19. #119
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    Jamie Curtis made a resophonic mandocello, and I think Tut Taylor made one too.

    Anyway -- here's a Craig's List ad from someone in NY/NJ seeking a group to play his mandobass with!
    Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.

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  20. #120
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    "This posting has expired."
    Jim

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  21. #121
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    Steve Kauffman is selling one of these here.

    NFI, etc.
    Jim

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  22. #122

    Default Re: Mando bass

    I bet that goes fast. Yvonne
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  23. #123
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Yeah. Those mandobasses are flying off the shelves. Big demand.
    Jim

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  24. #124
    Registered User toddjoles's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mando bass

    Have you ever seen one with the back off? http://mimf.com/cgi-bin/WebX?128@75....k.92@.2cb698aa
    Todd Joles, handyman and aspiring luthier!

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  25. #125

    Default Re: Mando bass

    Todd, THANKS for the link--how fascinating! Yvonne
    "There are two refuges from the miseries of life--music and cats" Albert Schweitzer

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