"Singing Wood", a great new video about Rolfe Gerhardt.

[MandoHog]

http://vimeo.com/42911389



Rolfe Gerhardt is a mandolin luthier in Maine whose greatest joy is to make wood that sings. Very nice.

[sunburst]

Cool! ...and well done.
(I'm carving a back right now from some wood I got from Rolfe a couple of years ago.)

[Jim Garber]

Very nice. I have always liked Rolfe's approach to voicing his instruments for different tones. The aesthetic visual style remains similar throughout all his mandolins but each type is specifically designed to sing in a different way.

[wwwilkie]

Such a great video. I always find these things are much too short. Thanks for letting us know about it!

[Raggle Taggle]

I am very proud to own one of Rolfe's children - a Europa II Neoclassical. He is a consumate artist - I am pretty sure no one makes mandolins quite like his. The design, workmanship, and finish are flawless. The voice is unique. This is an instrument for the soul.

[pickloser]

I have Rolfe's #250, an Ultra. I surely do agree that he had figured out how to do it by the time he got to that one. I also have #332, a Bluegrass model. I still have MAS attacks (resisting, so far), but I feel I am mandolin-wealthy. I like to play the PBG so much that I go in early to get in at least 20 minutes before the work day starts, and then I play it for 50 minutes more at lunchtime. But my true reward is when I get to go home and play my Ultra. This Friday, my two Phoenix and I are getting together with two fellows who each own a Unicorn. Gerhardt mandolin mania with a bass player to keep us grounded. I've played both Unicorns. I think Rolfe knew what he was doing, or else had lots of happy accidents, well before #250.

My sincere thanks, Rolfe. Your mandolins help make me happy every day.

[Max Girouard]

Great video!

[Jeff Hildreth]

Thanks for the link, great video.
One day I will own a Phoenix, that has been my feeling for many years.

[tburcham]

Great video. I love Rolfe's mandolins. One of the best sounding and playing mandolins I've ever played was a Phoenix Bluegrass at Big Joe's shop in Nashville a few years ago. There is nothing like seeing a truly gifted craftsman at work!

[Eliot Greenspan]

Another proud owner (#438). He'd definitely figured it out by then. Big fan of Rolfe (beyond the vibrating wood thingy I own) also in terms of how easy it is/was to deal w/.

[amowry]

Great, video, and nice work, Rolfe!

[dcoventry]

I deeply enjoy playing my #400 Jazz, especially in contrast to my Rigel. They are very, very differnet in tone and feel, and that opens up a lot of possibilities. I will say this, though: after playing the Jazz with T-I Starks for two weeks, my calouses thinned out so that when I went back to the G5 with J74's.....well, that hurt a bit. My pinky especially rebelled.

My Jazz is one helluva nice peice of work. Acoustic and amp'd, it's a true work of sonic art.

[Hobo]

I am new around here... I learned a lot in 6 minutes watching that video. Thank you.

[strings777]

Excellent video...thanks for sharing!