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Thread: Paul Duff Profile

  1. #1
    Registered User verbs4us's Avatar
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    Default Paul Duff Profile

    Minnesota Bluegrass and Old Time Music Association magazine has published my profile of Paul Duff. Starts on page 15 at this link: https://lnkd.in/eJTjaYE

    Many thanks to Paul for his help with the draft and patient review and good suggestions. Enjoy.

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    Registered User f5joe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paul Duff Profile

    Thanks
    ..... f5joe

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    Registered User sblock's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paul Duff Profile

    Nice work on the interview -- very informative! It was interesting to me to learn the following items:

    1) Paul Duff very clearly subscribes to the theory that new mandolins will "play in" over time and can "go to sleep" if left unplayed, and furthermore that the manner in which they play in depends upon the technique and note choices of the individual player. Not everyone believes this sometimes-controversial theory, of course.

    2) Paul Duff also believes that there are tonal differences between A- and F-models. Many other luthiers think, by contrast, that there are essentially no differences in tone or playability between these models -- just differences in looks (and cost, and time to manufacture, of course).

    3) All else being equal, Paul Duff prefers a flat fingerboard to a radiused one. He believes radiused fretboards can unbalance the sound of some of the fretted notes. He also argues that the most significant difference in playability comes from the neck profile (he prefers a V-neck to a C-neck) and not from the fingerboard profile.

    4) He has more-or-less given up on X-bracing in favor of tone bar bracing (and says Steve Gilchrist is similar). He contends that tone bars need to be thinner under the bridge area to bring out the best tone.

    Food for thought...

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    Registered User f5joe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paul Duff Profile

    Paul is one of the nicest and most humble human beings on earth.
    ..... f5joe

  7. #5
    Fret less, play more! NoNickel's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paul Duff Profile

    Quote Originally Posted by sblock View Post
    Nice work on the interview -- very informative! It was interesting to me learn the following items:

    1) Paul Duff very clearly subscribes to the theory that new mandolins will "play in" over time and can "go to sleep" if left unplayed, and furthermore that the manner in which they play in depends upon the technique and note choices of the individual player. Not everyone believes this sometimes-controversial theory, of course.
    Not much doubt about this in my mind. I got my Duff about 2 months ago, and the sound has changed appreciably in that time. I take lessons from Mike Compton every two weeks and he has commented on the improvement in the sound.

    Quote Originally Posted by sblock View Post
    3) All else being equal, Paul Duff prefers a flat fingerboard to a radiused one. He believes radiused fretboards can unbalance the sound of some of the fretted notes. He also argues that the most significant difference in playability comes from the neck profile (he prefers a V-neck to a C-neck) and not from the fingerboard profile.
    Two things here: My BRW has a radiused fretboard and bigger banjo frets. When I talked to Paul about my order, he told me that a flat fretboard and smaller vintage frets gave a more focused tone. I went with that configuration. I thought I might have a problem adjusting to the difference, but it is all good. Secondly, Paul's neck profile is much more comfortable to play. When I go back to the BRW, the large C neck just doesn't feel as good.
    Last edited by NoNickel; May-25-2015 at 3:22pm.
    NoNickel

    Duff F5 #196/15
    Plays the "Irv Pearman" Signature Set

    All misspellings intentional. Even thsi one.

  8. #6
    Fret less, play more! NoNickel's Avatar
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    Default Re: Paul Duff Profile

    Quote Originally Posted by f5joe View Post
    Paul is one of the nicest and most humble human beings on earth.
    Agreed. Also a great guy to work with. I saw a picture of my mandolin in progress and thought it wasn't dark enough. He sent me some high def pictures which confirmed that it was lighter than I wanted. Paul totally refinished my mandolin and made it perfect. He was wonderful to work with throughout the entire process.
    NoNickel

    Duff F5 #196/15
    Plays the "Irv Pearman" Signature Set

    All misspellings intentional. Even thsi one.

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