WEBER Vintage A Distressed NAMM Hit!!!

[Randy Smith]

Originally Posted by Kevin Briggs

Randy,

Thank you as well. I hope my post didn't come across as pompous or anything like that. I just haven't posted for a while up until yesterday or so, and am giving long answers to simple questions!

Yes, my point is that mandolins can be great in different ways. The distressed can be great too. That's all I meant.

About the tone... I have heard that the aging process and the thinner finish can help to give that instantly wonderful tone. A new non-distressed mandolin may take a while longer to break in, from what I hear.

Thanks,

Kevin, thanks for the response--no, you didn't come across as pompous. And this last post gives me an idea of what people are talking about in terms of the sound of a distressed mandolin.

Ciao,

Randy

[Mike Snyder]

It really doesn't take that long to distress them yourself. Mine has a distressing amount of distressing, for a five year old. Seriously, the distressed Webers are beautiful. I'd love to try one, someday. Seems that they sell OK, and as much (or more) for the sound as the look.

[OldSausage]

I think Randy's question is quite valid. Brett made the claim that not all that went on in the distressing/aging procedure was about producing visible marks, and that it has a direct effect on the tone. I have no idea what's involved so I may just be going off in the wrong direction, but on the face of it, it seems somewhat implausible that this non-visible part of the aging process would not be applied to all mandolins, distressed or not, if it improved or "pre-aged" the tone without changing the appearance. Rob Powell had a similar question, I believe.

[DerTiefster]

I interpreted the comments about the tone changing in addition to the appearance to mean that the "treatment" changed the tone in addition to the appearance. For instance, it is commonly opined in public that a thin finish improves a mandolin's tone off the starting line vs. a thicker finish. It is also opined that a thicker finish preserves the mandolin for more decades of use than does a thin finish. All of the above should be read carefully, so as not to miss that the effects mentioned above are describe as opinions rather than declared as fact.

[OldSausage]

Originally Posted by DerTiefster

I interpreted the comments about the tone changing in addition to the appearance to mean that the "treatment" changed the tone in addition to the appearance. For instance, it is commonly opined in public that a thin finish improves a mandolin's tone off the starting line vs. a thicker finish. It is also opined that a thicker finish preserves the mandolin for more decades of use than does a thin finish. All of the above should be read carefully, so as not to miss that the effects mentioned above are describe as opinions rather than declared as fact.

Well, you may be right, but you are talking about the finish still, and the particular quote from Brett that I think triggered the questions was:

...Obviously I'm not at liberty to disclose all of the details of our distressing processes. There are things that we do that contribute to the distressed and aged factors other than just the finish.

So if there are other things than the finish, I think the question still stands as to why they could not be done to a mando that's not distressed.

[Rob Powell]

Originally Posted by OldSausage

So if there are other things than the finish, I think the question still stands as to why they could not be done to a mando that's not distressed.

Yep, that's the unanswered question. All I can think is that the mandolin is already finished when they do the distressing part and that it distresses the finish as well as other things. Perhaps bringing it back to a normal finish would negate some of the benefits?

[pickinpete]

And Kevin.......your Fern IS awesome!