Now you guys had to drag 670 into this thing. I miss that one, we had a good run but far too short. I'll be back but am going to bide my time so it'll be forever.
Now you guys had to drag 670 into this thing. I miss that one, we had a good run but far too short. I'll be back but am going to bide my time so it'll be forever.
PJ
Stanley V5
Hey, did you guys catch that last bit about, "The spruce is my prefered "hardline" red spruce from Nova Scotia". That is fascinating, I think. I really do wonder if that explains a lot about the tone, volume and overall uber-coolness of his mandos? Yes, he is skilled, but he obviously has chosen that wood for a reason. Fascinating.
2005 Rigel G5 #2196
2005 Phoenix Jazz #400
1988 Jeff Traugott Acoustic #4
2012 Eastman 905 Archtop Guitar, BLOND!
Remember to grin while you pick, it throws folks off!
My limited experience with tone woods in mandolins seems to point to the following: the harder the wood (both spruce and maple) the more ringing and complex the tone and the more responsive the instrument. Obviously the luthier's skill plays a huge part, and different people like different kinds of tone in a mandolin. But the mandolins I've flipped out the most over have been red spruce and hard sugar maple.
Hey pjlama: I'm curious how the Heiden F5 and the Model 5 Gil compared tone and otherwise? I've heard great things about Heiden's work but have never played one.
Umm no. Steve Gilchrist is the absolute master, you could send him to your local home depot with $100 and he would return you a mandolin that would blow you out of your chair. All the talk about d-log and whatnot is fun but he has a special skill that has yet to be
rivaled. I've played and owned the best mandolins available and Mr Gilchrist is the master, game, set, match.
PJ
Stanley V5
The Heiden is absolutely wonderful and a real treasure. This is a little bit of oranges to apples as the Heiden has a different thing going on. For me Gilchrist is the summit, Heiden is damn close, the closest I've played (to pure satisfaction) but at the end of the day a good Gil is the ultimate. With that said if I can't have a Gil the Heiden makes me equally as happy and I'm a very happy guy. I hope that makes sense but a players relationship with his instrument is sometimes hard to put into words.
PJ
Stanley V5
I'm curious about the points - are they dovetailed (Loar-style)?
PJ, I'm not debating his obvious skill, but I am more interested in the choices of wood he makes, why, and how they help him express his skill to the highest extent.
You know, that stuff, the nuts and bolts.
The woods in my three acoustic instruments listed below are just crazy beautiful with the Traugott guitar maybe topping the others! The back and neck on that thing are hypnotizing. I have been fascinated by materials choices the last few weeks and logic behind the choices. I suppose I am ramping for a custom build and I am doing some basic research.
2005 Rigel G5 #2196
2005 Phoenix Jazz #400
1988 Jeff Traugott Acoustic #4
2012 Eastman 905 Archtop Guitar, BLOND!
Remember to grin while you pick, it throws folks off!
I understand but I think he has much more to do with the result than the choice of materials. I was speaking with a customer today in my store about how something worked and finally said "it's magic, I don't understand it, can't explain it, I just know that it works." I know that's totally lame but sometimes magic is real. Sorry if I came off as flippant but the guy is just magic. I would love to give him a limited budget and send him to home depot though, that would be super fun.
PJ
Stanley V5
Woooh!!! dang ! MAS attack
I Pick, Therefore I Grin! ... "Good Music Any OLD-TIME"
1922 Gibson F2
2006 Gibson F5 Goldrush
2015 Martin HD28-V
2017 Gibson J45
My belief is part of what makes Gilchrist Gilchrist is his ability to select great tone wood then maximize what he does with. You know, carve away everything that isn't a mandolin. After almost 700 instruments built, he's had the trial and error experience that may be unique in mandolin building history, at least for modern (non-bowlback) mandolins.
This is true and not to be discounted whatsoever. As pjlama said, and I believe wholeheartedly as well, Gilchrist has something the rest are trying to get to. It most definitely starts with a recipe of what he knows to work best for his craft. That includes the tonewood, the bridge, the nut material, etc. He is the genius that is able to marry art and engineering into one of (or 700 of) the finest instruments around and the scary thing is he keeps getting better. I will have one someday.
Genius, hard-woods, experience, yes. He along with a few other top-tier builders also have a picker's advantage.
Last edited by Mandomusic; May-18-2012 at 9:13pm.
Good point. He plays them.
Lumber pile
#693 is the 5th from front. And, yes, that's some beautiful wood.
No. 693 is beautiful, and that's an impressive batch--is that the same batch that is shown on the table with the backs up in the earlier photograph? Looks like custom fingerboard inlays on the mandolin that is the 6th from the front.
I believe both the pic of the Gil's in white posted above and the earlier posted shot of the stained backs are the same batch. Steve sent me both pics and pointed out 693 in each of them. Don't know about the fretboard inlay that appears to be custom, but would sure like to.
a few iso shots of the same mates as above.. L5's and 2jr's.
Last edited by mtucker; May-22-2012 at 6:15pm. Reason: pic added
Not to hijack this thread even more, but is Steve enjoying guitars more these days? I had heard he didn't like doing guitars, but the guitars seem to be making up a bigger part of recent batches.
From what I gather there was a pretty long queue of folks wanting a Gilchrist guitar, and he's trying to build guitars to meet the demand. Seems odd to me, but then I've never played (or seen) a Gilchrist guitar. Based on his mandolins, I'm guessing the guitars have to be killer.
His mandolins are terrific. I believe his guitars are even better.
what mandomusic said. Steve's been at guitars for many years...newer Jr and older L5....moo
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