Ratliff Mandolins-would love to hear feedback of owners/players

[darylcrisp]

have a two year old newish Ratliff Countryboy F style offered in trade and $ for my Martin 0028VS.

I have not played or saw the mandolin in person. supposedly in new condition.

who has owned/played one and your thoughts please.

thank you
d

[billhay4]

I owned an older Ratliff F-4 for the past five or six years. Just sold it. It was a terrific mandolin. Nice sound. Very nicely constructed with some dynamite inlay. Classy looking. I just didn't play it much so I passed it on to someone I hope will.
Bill

[pheffernan]

have a two year old newish Ratliff Countryboy F style offered in trade and $ for my Martin 0028VS.

I have not played or saw the mandolin in person. supposedly in new condition.

who has owned/played one and your thoughts please.

thank you
d

Well, Charles Johnson at Mandolin World Headquarters wrote that "Audey may make the best bluegrass mandolin on the planet for under $5000." But you might want to PM DataNick who had one that didn't stick as a permanent part of his stable.

Good Luck,
Pat

P.S. As the Martin is a $3500 guitar while the Ratliff is a $1775 mandolin, and as Martins hold their value better than Ratliffs, I would hope that the cash portion of the deal is considerable.

[darylcrisp]

Well, Charles Johnson at Mandolin World Headquarters wrote that "Audey may make the best bluegrass mandolin on the planet for under $5000." But you might want to PM DataNick who had one that didn't stick as a permanent part of his stable.

Good Luck,
Pat

P.S. As the Martin is a $3500 guitar while the Ratliff is a $1775 mandolin, and as Martins hold their value better than Ratliffs, I would hope that the cash portion of the deal is considerable.

yep, the $ will be the driving force in the deal.
i would be selling the Ratliff(unless of course it really appealed to me, but the Weber i've lately acquired is all i need/want)

the other good part of this potential trade is we are within 2 hours of each other-so at best, an hour 15 minute drive to meet and check out the goods of each other. no shipping, no surprises.

d

[darylcrisp]

where i'm very novice within the mandolin world and a lot of you folks have been around, what could one expect to sell the CountryBoy Ratliff F(pretty bare bones, satin finish burst, not sure yet if it has a radius FB or not), and have it move quickly in our classifieds here?

if memory serves it is a 2011 model, hardly played as the lady is full on guitar and wanted to get exposed to mandolin but just didn't take up with it. so consider pristine condition. my only use for the trade would be to sale it immediately to make up the other cash part of the Martin.

thank you
d

[pheffernan]

The instrument lists new for $1775 at Elderly. 80% is $1420. 70% is $1242.50.

[barry]

where i'm very novice within the mandolin world and a lot of you folks have been around, what could one expect to sell the CountryBoy Ratliff F(pretty bare bones, satin finish burst, not sure yet if it has a radius FB or not), and have it move quickly in our classifieds here?

if memory serves it is a 2011 model, hardly played as the lady is full on guitar and wanted to get exposed to mandolin but just didn't take up with it. so consider pristine condition. my only use for the trade would be to sale it immediately to make up the other cash part of the Martin.

thank you
d

That being the case, I would not proceed with the trade. Your Martin is more liquid for a guitar, than the Ratliff is for a mandolin.

[darylcrisp]

The instrument lists new for $1775 at Elderly. 80% is $1420. 70% is $1242.50.

thanks for that Pat.
i haven't had time to do any research on the brand, figured to come here first and knew some of you would be on it.

i just went to the Ratliff website and they are actually about an hour away from where i live.

being a USA made F style mandolin, thats a pretty amazing price for that model-assuming it sounds/plays good.

d

[darylcrisp]

That being the case, I would not proceed with the trade. Your Martin is more liquid for a guitar, than the Ratliff is for a mandolin.

just about on the same page with you. my only interest in a trade would be to have something that would sale quickly and at the right price with no loss on my end. i'm not in a hurry to move the Martin so i'll definitely investigate the offer with an eagle eye.
d

[swain]

Don't know a thing about the Country Boy model, but since I picked up the Ratliff R-5, the Weber mandolin and the Martin guitars have stayed in the closet.

[Willie Poole]

I own a Ratliff R-5 and four other name mandolins and the R-5 is my #1 mandolin, I have compared it to some Webers and to me it is hands down a better sounding and playing mandolin but that is just one case....I traded a `50`s Kay bass fiddle for mine along with some cash and didn`t look back....Audey makes a great mandolin ....

Willie

[Jim Garber]

Audey has been building for over 30 years and has made over 1000 mandolins. I have never played one, but I do remember back in the mid 1980s there were very few mandolin makers I knew of and I wrote him (not much Internet either) about his mandolins back then.

However, I do wonder why you would do a trade if you just would turn around and sell it right away.

[darylcrisp]

Audey has been building for over 30 years and has made over 1000 mandolins. I have never played one, but I do remember back in the mid 1980s there were very few mandolin makers I knew of and I wrote him (not much Internet either) about his mandolins back then.

However, I do wonder why you would do a trade if you just would turn around and sell it right away.

i'm sure i'd keep for a few days to try out(who knows, i might like it), but i'm not in the market or need for another mandolin-the offer was made to me and i want to investigate the idea. i've traded at times with a similar experience of taking in an instrument with a $ flow and selling the received instrument and arriving at the same place, rather than let an instrument sit and not sale.

[darylcrisp]

Willie and Swain

thanks for the replies
d

[AubreyK]

I owned an older Ratliff F-4 for the past five or six years. Just sold it. It was a terrific mandolin. Nice sound. Very nicely constructed with some dynamite inlay. Classy looking. I just didn't play it much so I passed it on to someone I hope will.
Bill

Hi, Bill !! Yes, I love it!! It is gorgeous, sounds so lovely and rich. It is # 86. (It's the blond-top 3-point on Audry's custom gallery page.) I'm still in the noodling around phase, but lessons and a practice schedule are the plan going forward. (I have to get past this weekend, and then my schedule becomes mine again.)

[Eddie Sheehy]

I used to own that 3-pointer... a gorgeous mandolin.

[AubreyK]

I used to own that 3-pointer... a gorgeous mandolin.

Were you the first owner? What can you tell me about it? How long did you have it? Did you do any major maintenence on it??

Oh, dear - I am such a geek!!! Even though I barely play so far, when Bill put it up in the classifieds, that pretty thang just yelled at me to come to my house.

(Bill, you need to answer these questions, too... LOL)

[darylcrisp]

I think a bunch of us would love to see a picture of that 3 point here!
stick it in this thread.

sounds very cool

d

[Eddie Sheehy]

Here's what I have:

[Michael Bridges]

Purdy!

[Eddie Sheehy]

And here's a couple of vid clips of it from 2011:

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W_iBWea-M9U

[darylcrisp]

thanks Eddie

sounds and looks very cool. nice playing btw! and thanks for posting the video and pictures

d