Anyone here own, heard, or played an Altman mandolin?

[drbluegrass]

Just curious about your impressions. I own an Altman A D1 dread guitar with 70 year old quilted mahogany and an Altman A D2 Cocobolo dread guitar. Both sound sublime. Wondering if the mandolins match the quality of their guitars? I'm bettin' they do.


Tom

[Capt. E]

Fiddler's Green once had three or four Altman's and they were all very very nice mandolins, pretty close in sound and quality to an Ellis. In fact, I believe Ben at Fiddlers played one until he bought his Ellis. You might call and talk to Ben about them. Very nice mandolins indeed, though I have not had a chance to play one for at least 3 years.

[drbluegrass]

I'm asking more out of curiosity since I own 2 Altman guitars. I'm not about to part with my Red Diamond. Sounds like their mandolins and guitars are of similar quality.


Tom

[doc holiday]

DrB....you know the story ...at that level there are a lot of tonal preferences involved. The couple i've played on visits to Austin didn't stand out for me, like some of the other makers. At the same time, I have a couple of acquaintances that love theirs.

[George R. Lane]

DrB,
You have a Red Diamond 'Crusher", why would you be looking. My ultimate would be a Reischman voiced Red Diamond.
Here is Mike Marshall with his Altman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxz6qditP2I

[Kevin Briggs]

I played one a few years ago at Gruhn's. It was really nice. My review is a bit distorted though, because I sat there and played a dozen mandolins that were all very nice. It would take a few hours to start to get an idea of the differences, and I was there for about 30 minutes. I recall it being loud with a very solid feel. It was top end sound and playability for sure.

[drbluegrass]

DrB,
You have a Red Diamond 'Crusher", why would you be looking. My ultimate would be a Reischman voiced Red Diamond.
Here is Mike Marshall with his Altman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxz6qditP2I


George, I'm not really looking. I was just curious if their mandos were as good as their guitars. That's all. I LOVE my RD "Crusher". And it ain't goin' no where.


Tom

[Larry S Sherman]

I played one that sounded exceptional.

Larry

[Capt. E]

Actually, my favorite of the Altman's I have played was his one and only two-point. Very nice mandolin...I should have bought it, but I already had a Bighorn.

[JonZ]

I played one a few years ago at Gruhn's. It was really nice. My review is a bit distorted though, because I sat there and played a dozen mandolins that were all very nice. It would take a few hours to start to get an idea of the differences, and I was there for about 30 minutes. I recall it being loud with a very solid feel. It was top end sound and playability for sure.

I might have played that same one. I thought it sounded the best out of what was out there on display, though it can be hard to tell sometimes whether you are hearing the instrument or the price tag. It looked and felt like a very fine instrument.

[Cheryl Watson]

I played two Red Diamonds and two Altmans a few years ago at IBMA. I really loved the Red Diamond Crusher model the best.

[red7flag]

I played Altman and Kimble F5s at Cotten Music in Nashville after buying an Ellis F5 at Gruhn's. I found both to be pretty similar and my personal edge was the Kimble, which was one of his earlier mandolins. To my taste, I liked the Ellis better than both of them. All were outstanding in tone, playability and finish.

[f5loar]

I played half dozen or so Altman enjoyed them all. My good friend Dewey Farmer likes them a lot. There are a few YouTube videos of Dewey and Hershe Size more playing Altmans. Check those out.

[AlanN]

Yes he does

[Astro]

Mike Marshall likes his and often recommends them to others.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxz6qditP2I

[Davidhiggster]

I just flew to Nashville to shop for my next mandolin. I did a lot of research on builders and "best" mandolins under $10k. I learned of Altman mandolins here in mandolin cafe forum.

I had my eye on three Altmans and 6 other mandolins in Nashville (at Gruhn and Carter) with the intention to test each against other mandolins under $10k. I also intended to test them against mandolins above $10k. I made recordings of the same tune on each instrument and then listened to those recordings to narrow my choice.

The Altman's outplayed and out-sounded the nearest priced competition and held their own against Gibson master model, Heiden's, Red diamonds and Gilchrist and Nugget. (These last two were better but not by a large margin.) I also tried Apitius, ..Newson and mid and upper-end Collings. (One collings was very good.) The Altman outplayed and out-sounded a handful of the instruments above $12k.

I played three Altman's that were all superb instruments, yet each had their own character. One was very breathy and sultry, one sounded bright and clear, and one was throaty and rich. I chose the last one. All were easy to play. All were within $1k of each other.

My goal was sound, sound, sound. I wanted throaty bass and clear "bell-toned" high strings - with clarity all the way up the fingerboard. (Only the Gilchrist and Nugget surpassed the Altman in clear tones all the way up the fingerboard.) The chops were also great and these three are very responsive so I could pick very softly without sacrificing tone. Double stops sounded great.

I'm happy with my choice and I wanted to add my bit to the thread.