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Thread: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

  1. #1
    Registered User drewgrass's Avatar
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    Default Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    has anyone heard of this had it done etc. they do mandolin's guitar's and fiddles. It's $600.00 to have done but they have a volume increase of 3-6db and do all kinds of test. the guy who came up with it has been on the cover of wired magazine and is some kind of super genius. here is a interview with him. seems like a cool concept. http://alchemyacousticlabs.com/the-p...h-frank-sanns/

  2. #2
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Ok, shoot me now.

  3. #3
    Registered User drewgrass's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeEdgerton View Post
    Ok, shoot me now.
    i know but i have heard some clips and it sounds good. snake oil right. i talked to them yesterday. but who knows

  4. #4
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Or, here's a wild thought... you could just buy an instrument that you're happy with, and that doesn't need "fixin'".

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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Read this thread. Just change the names and the discussion will be similar.

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    man about town Markus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Quote Originally Posted by foldedpath View Post
    Or, here's a wild thought... you could just buy an instrument that you're happy with, and that doesn't need "fixin'".
    I agree. $500 is not something someone would spend on an instrument that didn't cost quite a few thousand already ... and why you'd buy a mandolin that cost $5k or well upward and didn't tickle your pickle I'll never understand.

    At the same price for improvement, you could have a lot of work done on the mandolin by a luthier that would for sure improve playability and could improve volume and tone [improved bridge or fit, etc].

    And that's not even getting into whether what this process does is something we would desire on a mandolin.

    Even if we leave out whether this process works, I have yet to be convinced this yields a better mandolin.

  7. #7
    Mandolin Botherer Shelagh Moore's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Is there something in the water at the moment...?

  8. #8
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    It's a waxing crescent moon, so it can't be that. On the other hand, we're getting close to the solstice. Could be cabin fever setting in...

  9. #9
    Registered User Pete Summers's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Like old soldiers, old myths never die. Unfortunately, they never fade away either.

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    Moderator JEStanek's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    I'm not making any claims about how you should spend your money but for mine, Mandolin Symposium is only a couple more hundred dollars than these treatments. I bet I know which will give me more noticeable differences before and after.

    Jamie
    There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946

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  11. #11
    Registered User drewgrass's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    sorry just read about it and asked. we are all trying to play better sound better do better.

  12. #12
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Quote Originally Posted by foldedpath View Post
    It's a waxing crescent moon...
    What kinda wax are you using? I hear the right kind can increase the volume and tone of your mandolin 78.4%.

    But seriously folks, let's not pummel Drewgrass. As he said, we're all looking to get the best we can out of our mandolins. And it's tempting to think that there's some magic treatment that'll take our sub-$1K instrument into a "higher sound bracket."

    Talented people have been building mandolins, and other stringed instruments, for a millennium, and in that period probably every permutation of materials, design, techniques, finishes, etc. has been tried by someone. Yet we keep trying to invent a rounder wheel. Just as Dumbo grasped his "magic" feather, we try to get our eight-stringed elephant to fly.

    Almost certainly, the folks marketing these processes think they do work. Some will try them and hear a difference, which may be "wishful hearing" or not. Big Joe's testing a new entry into the field in another thread. I do agree, the best way to get a mandolin that sounds the way you want it, is to buy that mandolin -- rather than "marrying someone, hoping to change them." Generally doesn't turn out that way.
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    man about town Markus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Quote Originally Posted by allenhopkins View Post
    But seriously folks, let's not pummel Drewgrass. As he said, we're all looking to get the best we can out of our mandolins. And it's tempting to think that there's some magic treatment that'll take our sub-$1K instrument into a "higher sound bracket."
    You are completely correct about that, just as we would all like to think we're good looking and extremely talented mandolin players.

    My wife is kind, but no liar

    Dewgrass, you jumped on a hot topic ... don't take it personally - it certainly wasn't meant that way.

  14. #14
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeEdgerton View Post
    Ok, shoot me now.
    Is it okay if I comment about this new procedure?

  15. #15
    Moderator JEStanek's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Carry on with the discussion. I think we have 4 products or processes under discussion now that you can do to your instrument being discussed. There are many options available to you to select from and use.

    Jamie
    There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946

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  16. #16
    Registered User Glassweb's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeEdgerton View Post
    Ok, shoot me now.
    Mike, I'm with you at ten paces!

  17. #17
    Fret less, play more! NoNickel's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    I wonder if my mandolin still thinks it's a tree?
    NoNickel

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  18. #18
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Quote Originally Posted by Chuck Naill View Post
    Is it okay if I comment about this new procedure?
    Have at it.

  19. #19

    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Hi guys.

    I don't know the rules here regarding a company representative "joining the fray". They seem to vary from forum to forum. Our in-house company rule is that we don't go on forums 'seeding' or spamming with sales info about our products. But if someone starts a thread, (and they typically go precisely the same way this one has gone so far), if it's appropriate, I step in and offer to answer what questions that I can.

    On some forums, that's welcomed. On others, it's not without paying to be a sponsor. So if a moderator wants to green or red light my participation in this thread - please let me know if it's cool or not before I comment or reply specifically to anyone.

    Thanks.
    Scot Fleming
    Marketing Director / Artist Relations
    Alchemy Acoustic Labs
    1.877.244.3703
    alchemyacousticlabs.com

  20. #20
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Hi Scot. I'm not a moderator and it's not my call, but FWIW, Masterson is holding forth on his process in another thread (one that he started) ... so I don't see a reason why you shouldn't be allowed to do the same here.
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  21. #21

    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Thanks mrmando,

    Our product is very different from his. So is our marketing philosophy. You might not know it from comparing the two websites, but for what it's worth, ours was around long before that one. We've been testing and charting our processes, working with luthiers, manufacturers and artists for quite some time. We don't claim that our process is for everyone, or works wonders on solid bodied electrics (or dining room tables for that matter), but we've had an extremely high level of customer satisfaction thus far from clients who have had the process done on their acoustic guitars, mandolins and fiddles.

    That's as far as I'll go until I get moderator approval.
    Scot Fleming
    Marketing Director / Artist Relations
    Alchemy Acoustic Labs
    1.877.244.3703
    alchemyacousticlabs.com

  22. #22
    Site founder Scott Tichenor's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Quote Originally Posted by Alchemy Acoustic Labs View Post
    Hi guys.

    I don't know the rules here regarding a company representative "joining the fray". They seem to vary from forum to forum. Our in-house company rule is that we don't go on forums 'seeding' or spamming with sales info about our products. But if someone starts a thread, (and they typically go precisely the same way this one has gone so far), if it's appropriate, I step in and offer to answer what questions that I can.

    On some forums, that's welcomed. On others, it's not without paying to be a sponsor. So if a moderator wants to green or red light my participation in this thread - please let me know if it's cool or not before I comment or reply specifically to anyone.

    Thanks.
    Your participation is welcome and the expectations are covered in the posting guidelines:

    - Vendors: for the good of our community we ask that all vendors of mandolin/music related products/services exercise good faith in clearly identifying themselves. Vendor participation is welcome and valued, and we expect you to be involved in discussions of your products. Visitors to the site arrive from all over the world and possess widely varying amounts of knowledge, expertise and experience with our subject matter. This is an international web site for mandolin, not a country-specific web site. All visitors should be able to clearly discern a business relationship at all times in discussions of products sold in the retail market.

    and

    - Refrain from using the message board as a point of selling items to others or for the purpose of discussing or linking to items you are selling. Please limit selling activities to the Classifieds section of this web site or other external locations.

    That said, I appreciate your approach and respect for different communities and what is permitted. While most vendor participation is not an issue here, there are those with heavy handed approaches, particularly of late. It's a gray area and trust that our moderators keep tabs on these discussions and others.

  23. #23
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Now that we're all official-like, my first question for Scot: How do you know your process is different from Masterson's, when the processes are proprietary and neither of you will describe them in specific terms?
    Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.

    Notorious: My Celtic CD--listen & buy!

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  24. #24
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Yeah... what he said (MrMando) .

    Any mandolin at any price range from nearly any builder can be optimized for tone and playability by a good luthier who specializes in that aspect of lutherie. It is not magic or artificial. It is simply understanding what each part does in concert with the rest of the parts and how to get each part to work best with each other. When perfectly set up and any issues dealt with properly the instrument can be at its best. This is not permanent either since wood does what wood does and needs adjustment occasionally. How often depends upon each piece of wood and the particular instrument. Just like you and I are pretty much the same, only different, instruments are the same way and each needs care when it does and cannot be compared to another instrument. Even one built by the same builder in the same way at the same time. They need adjusting when they need adjusting.

    The artificial processes I am familiar with can be an asset to an instrument for what that device is designed to do. However, they cannot replace having an instrument optimized by a good luthier. Any instrument no matter how expensive or inexpensive can be helped by a good luthier who specializes in that aspect. Building is one specialty and setup is another. They do not always go together. This is particularly true in factory settings where there is a budget to meet for any instrument to hit a price point. In addition, they don't know and deal with a particular end user directly so the setup and work is pretty generic at best. The cost of the instrument would be much higher if the factory spent the money and time for that degree of setup and optimizing for each customer. It is much less expensive to purchase a mandolin and have it prepared properly by a good luthier right away. It will not take anything away from what you hear, but will only improve it and make it play much better. This may seem counterproductive, but is actually cheaper than buying one ready to go and it can be made to play perfectly for you.
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  25. #25
    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alchemy Acoustic Labs mod's process

    Spot on Joe !. We all know of guys who tune cars right out of the showroom. You'd thnk that a brand new car was optimised for max.performance from the off,but let one of these auto-wizzards have it for a few days & you'll soon know the difference.It's as Joe says,it's 'knowing what to do' & understanding what each part does i relationship to the rest of it.
    I see no reason why an expert in doing this for musical instruments shouldn't be just as effective in what they do,but just 'how effective' & what the change will be,will vary from instrument to instrument. I can imagine that a mid-range priced instrument would benefit more than a high end instrument,but you'd have to try it to find out,
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