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Thread: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    I'm sure I wasn't the only one that got the e-mail from Dennis regarding the new Mandolin Store mandolins, The Lafferty. Obviously I have NFI. I do however wonder who makes them. I have an idea as to who it is but I'll wait until Dennis decides (if ever) to let that cat out of the bag. American made mandolins with pretty decent prices.

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    Registered User Jim Murton's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    I am curious about these myself.That A model looks real nice.The prices seem ultra low for USA made mandolins.hope Dennis puts some sound samples,videos up so we can hear these fine instruments.
    Jim

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    Registered User barry k's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    I was wondering myself who is making them ?

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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    sure looks like a Weber built mando. Especially when looking at the neck to back connection, looks like classic Weber. This is my unconfirmed guess. I am sure Dennis would let anyone know who calls him. I sure like the looks of that F model. Very cleanly done. Looks like a good mando for the price. I am anxious to hear sound clips of it.

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    Registurd User pjlama's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    I hope he does real well with them, Dennis is a good man.
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    I'm pretty sure it's not STE. I had a chance to play the prototype and I would say it was above average fit & finish as compared to others at the same price point/range. I'm just waitin' on an A4 to come along...

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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    I don't know if you'll see a true short necked A4 but there were oval hole A model's there. I asked Dennis who made them and he wouldn't tell me. I didn't think he would and he wouldn't. They look decent and he usually does post sound clips. I think he's trying to get these onboard for those last minute shoppers. They look good in the pictures.

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    Registered User G. Fisher's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    I think the mandolins look similiar to Flatiron mandos. Maybe built by Weber with the old Flatiron tooling?
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    I believe the only current oval holes are the Zouk and OM. They're still working on the A Oval. I'm hoping it's sooner than later. I really liked the F5 I played. Especially at that price point.

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    Purveyor of Sunshine sgarrity's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    That sure is a crowded segment of the market. I doubt Weber is making them; they'd be in direct competition with themselves. I'd lean more towards Ratliff or Schneider (Summit), pure speculation though. But there are also quite a few smaller, regional builders that we don't talk about much that make some nice stuff. The octave mando sounded nice but the fingerboard over the soundhole is a bit weird looking IMHO. I wonder if the same person/shop is making both the carved tops and flattops?

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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    Quote Originally Posted by Gerry Cassidy View Post
    I believe the only current oval holes are the Zouk and OM. They're still working on the A Oval. I'm hoping it's sooner than later. I really liked the F5 I played. Especially at that price point.
    You're right, I went right to the A style F hole models and didn't realize what the two on the top were.

  12. #12

    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    Quote Originally Posted by sgarrity View Post
    That sure is a crowded segment of the market. I doubt Weber is making them; they'd be in direct competition with themselves. I'd lean more towards Ratliff or Schneider (Summit), pure speculation though. But there are also quite a few smaller, regional builders that we don't talk about much that make some nice stuff. The octave mando sounded nice but the fingerboard over the soundhole is a bit weird looking IMHO. I wonder if the same person/shop is making both the carved tops and flattops?
    I agree about the crowded market in this price range. I admit I had a real "Meh, another one..." attitude when I first saw the prototype hanging on the wall. My impression quickly changed as soon as I picked it up. It had a very solid feel to it with a very nice satin finish. It played as nicely as the $4-5K instruments that were hanging next to it.

    They didn't have the Zouk in house, but I did get to play the OM. I would put it right in line with Peterson, Flatiron, and other $1-1.5K'rs that are out there. Definitely a step up from a Weber Sage, or the like.

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    Registered User G. Fisher's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    Quote Originally Posted by sgarrity View Post
    I doubt Weber is making them; they'd be in direct competition with themselves.
    Wouldn't whoever builds them be making money weather it has their name or The Lafferty name on it? Once it arrives at the store the models are competing but the builder already has their money for the mandolins.
    “Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.”

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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    Seems a good move to me to keep the builder a secret. After all, aside from curiosity, what difference does it really make? If the instruments are good, that fact alone should suffice.

    I am a believer that things (be they tunes, stories, or bits of widsom) can and should stand on their own, and can and should be worthy of their own merits, apart from their origin. I've seen people pick up a guitar, play it, enjoy it, and then realize it was made in China and put it away, dismissing it on those grounds and letting that fact alone spoil any potential enjoyment they may have gained from the instrument (by the way, you don't hear of such things when it comes to flatscreen TVs and other gadgets). If the builder of The Laffertys was discovered, that alone would color at least a few folks' opinion, since some don't like Weber, et al, for whatever reason.
    ...

  15. #15

    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    Im betting the builder is a local guy...by local I mean local to Dennis. On a cool note. That pic of the house that Dennis has posted in relation to the origin of the Lafferty name is about 20 mins. from me. Talked to Dennis about it yesterday. Cool house and cool story. Small world.

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    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    Would I be alone in saying I'm not crazy about the name? "The Lafferty" doesn't, you know, evoke -- unlike, say, the Shmergel Devastator, my fave faux mando moniker.

    Not that the Laffertys in the pic don't look like nice people...
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    Member Ivyguitar's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    I really like this idea from a marketing standpoint. Two quick observations: keeping the builder a secret could allow the artisan to concentrate on making a great product for just one customer (Dennis). Self promotion, marketing, branding, custom orders, etc. can take a backseat and the artisan can focus on his craft. Second, who's to say it's just one builder? Dennis has the freedom to influence production quantity and quality by sourcing different builders for either the finished product or individual components. If his preferred builder quits, croaks, etc., the brand could still continue on.

    Not the name I would have picked either, but maybe the next guy with this idea will pay me big bucks for some marketing consulting.
    Keep it a secret, put the secret in the mandolin store vault and swallow the key. We will all eventually have to buy one so we can post on the cafe that, I owned one and am convinced that xxx was the builder.

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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    Well if they're not made by someone named Lafferty, the name makes no sense to me.

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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    Quote Originally Posted by mandolirius View Post
    Well if they're not made by someone named Lafferty, the name makes no sense to me.
    I agree. Perhaps its me, but 'The Dennis' sounds as good as 'the Lafferty'.
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    It's a family name for a house brand. We've seen names from old German to names of towns and states on headstocks. My long ago advice still applies, buy the best sounding and playing mandolin you can afford no matter the name on the headstock!

    Frankly, I'm glad they aren't called The Dennis (1. that's a bit presumptuous if he didn't build them and 2. with my playing, people would say here comes The Dennis, that menace!)

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    man about town Markus's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    Point taken, Jamie. My wife's cracks about it would be too much. Then again, if it was a good enough mandolin I wouldn't be able to hear her

    The name goes with tradition, and avoids the pitfall of `The Loar'.
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    The name means nothing to us but, everything to Dennis. My only concern would be how they sound.

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    Registered User dcoventry's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    Quote Originally Posted by mandolirius View Post
    Well if they're not made by someone named Lafferty, the name makes no sense to me.
    How about The Loar? Sound any better?
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    I'll take it! JGWoods's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    I wish Lafferty Mandolins and The Mandolin Store success in their venture selling American made instruments.
    I do get a kick out of the "Retail price $1999, our price $1499" deal...hey you are the only seller- the price is the price. There is no one out there selling them for "retail", so why not just say "Lafferty Mandolin- $1499".

    Maybe they should say "Compares to mandolins selling for $1999"

    Rant over. Best wishes.
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    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Lafferty - Mandolin Store house brand

    Quote Originally Posted by dcoventry View Post
    How about The Loar? Sound any better?
    Yeah, but we all understand the Lloyd Loar reference (undeserved as it may be -- what Lloyd L has to do with a Chinese instrument factory isn't all that clear). "Loar" has a long association with acoustic stringed instruments, especially mandolins and carved-top guitars, so putting his posthumous name on the headstock is presumably a selling point.

    All I can deduce from the Mandolin Store website is that "Lafferty" refers to a large musical family from Ohio, and that somehow that name has been associated with instruments -- how isn't clear -- "since 1875." This long association has been opaque to me up until I read this thread, so I can't rank "Lafferty" with "Loar," "Martin," "Gibson," "Taylor," "Monteleone," "Gilchrist," "Oscar Schmidt," or others found in instrument catalogs etc.

    However, I would rank "Lafferty" ahead of "Morgan Monroe" and "Michael Kelly," both of whom I believe to be non-existent persons -- virtual luthiers?
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