My new BRW A5- "Vlad the Impaler" has arrived........

[sgrexa]

I first heard of Ben Wilcox in the early 2000's while browsing the Cafe' and was always impressed with his work, especially with how young he was at the time. I was particularly fond of his humility, a trait that I find lacking in a lot of people these days, myself included. Like many young builders that get a reputation for quality and value early on, he became swamped with orders and all that can go right and wrong when that happens. Ben is a long standing member of the Cafe' community, but you will rarely find him hawking pics of his work in progress or even finished work. If you like, you can even check back to a particularly nasty incident involving some people that used to frequent here a lot but I have not heard from in some time. There was some warranty issue involving what looked like water damage to me, to be honest I don't really remember the whole story, but Ben took the high road and ended up replacing the mandolin (an F5) at no cost and quietly took care of the problem. There was no drama on his end posted on this message board and he handled the situation with amazing grace, dignity and humility IMO. I never forgot that and when I thought about a new build, I decided to look into what was going on with Ben and mandolins currently. Some 10 odd years later, I find he is quietly still plugging away in his shop located in Delaware, OH making mandolins with the aid of some modern machinery and coming up with some innovative improvements as well.

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[sgrexa]

Since receiving my Nugget in January 2014, I really did not think I would consider ordering another custom build ever again, but upon seeing Ben's new "E" series mandolins on Facebook, I became intrigued. I don't want to get into pricing too much, but lets just say that for around the price of a basic Pava A5, Ben offers A LOT of mandolin for the money. You basically get to pick whatever wood you want (of the common options, of course, but Ben is up for adventure) and a couple of other features. As he is trying to keep these as "basic" as possible, you do not get custom inlay on the headstock (more on that in a bit) or back binding, but you do get quite a bit. (cont.)

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[sgrexa]

I decided that if I was going to get either a new or used mandolin, I would try different wood combinations that I think will work well for intended applications. With this build, we went with Carpathian (AAA from John Preston at Old World Tonewood, another great person to work with). This top was flawless and I will post some of the build pics of it in the white so that you can see just how perfectly tight grained and flawless in color this piece was when Ben got to work. John also provided the beautiful European maple (English Sycamore) which I have wanted to try for it's lightness and beauty of tone as well. Both spruce and maple were sourced from Transylvania, hence the "Vlad the Impaler" name.....

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The neck is American Red maple and was selected for it's weight and tight grain. The ebony headstock overlay and fretboard are also first rate quality, but I will have to ask Ben where he sourced that wood. The mandolin did come out very light, but not as light as my Nugget. There is magic in that box! This one comes very close though......cont.

[sgrexa]

I have to say that one of the things I was not happy with in some of Ben's earlier work was his "BRW" logo. This might seem silly but I think it is a very important and often overlooked part of a mandolin design. Too many builders use the same "script" type font and they all look the same. This can make or break a young builders career IMO, as crazy as that sounds, but looks matter and this element of design says a lot about how much care goes into your instruments. Gilchrist has a very classy looking logo, perhaps my favorite. Ben changed his logo and has since made many changes including a fairly state of the art CNC machine which he uses for both inlay work and roughing out tops, backs and necks. He only uses CNC to carve the outside of the plates. The insides of tops and backs are still done by hand. This way he gains efficiency while still getting a good sense of how each individual piece of wood feels and should be voiced. Ben also uses an oil varnish that he sources from a small family run shop in Germany. This might be the most luxurious feature that separates Ben's mandolins from others in this price range. It is absolutely beautiful to behold! I can't think of anyone offering an A5 in the USA with oil varnish for this price. This is top notch stuff folks.

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Total turnaround time was approximately 3 months and well worth the wait. Ben also designs and cuts his own bridges which have some really nice curves and lines and stays straight (so far) without leaning! The tailpiece you see on the mandolin now is temporary as Stew Mac was out of the relic brass and Ben decided to just relic a cheapo stamped TP for now. I actually like it! The tuners are Stew Mac reliced brass and are a little tight but I have not lubricated them yet and they do the trick. Remember, this is an Econo model, actually it is a Model MA-112-E (serial #118). With around 120 or so mandolins under his belt, Ben has his finishing process down. I can tell you that I have never seen a finish this perfect on any mandolin and that includes my Nugget and former Gilchrist. I found one very tiny pinhole on the back but that is really nitpicking. It is perfectly surfaced, almost no swirl marks at all, very well done, even under the fingerboard extender!

[sgrexa]

The binding might have been an "upgrade" but I am not sure. These E series mandolins are specified to have basic white or maybe side bound binding, but Ben went with a tortoise with the white stripe accent per my request and I love it. I have never used this binding scheme before, and it gives a nice stealthy appearance while still offering a little "pop" to the curves and other accents. The frets are EVO gold, also a request of mine. I never used these before but they really aren't that expensive and are supposed to last a little longer. I love these, super smooth to the touch and I have managed to really do some damage to the frets on my Nugget in the short nine months I have owned and played that mandolin. These will be standard issue on any refret for me, as they are no harder to work with (unlike stainless steel), last longer, and do not cost much. The goldish color is just icing on the cake and looks great IMO.

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The fingerboard extension is perfect IMO. I love the design and I have no clicking problems. Overall, the level of workmanship, inside and out is very impressive. I would say that it is on par or even exceeds my Nugget and Jacobson which are two of the most meticulously made mandolins I have ever owned. There are no glue runs visible through the F holes, the edges of the f holes are tidy and stained dark. This is a serious mandolin and a serious piece of eye candy. According to my ten year old son Thomas, it is his "favorite" out of the bunch I have owned. The burst is on the reddish side to go with the "Vlad" theme. There were some minor hold ups towards the end, really no big deal at all and Ben offered to engrave "Vlad" in gothic font on the truss rod cover which was pretty cool but I can't say he will do that on all of these! I really can't say enough about this instrument, it is near flawless in construction. Next..............sound and playability.

[sgrexa]

One of the first things I noticed after opening the nice Travelite case was that the sides seemed a little deeper than standard. Indeed, a ruler indicates they are 1 7/8" vs. the 1 3/4" depth found on my Nugget. Lawrence Smart has used a similar concept for years as does Northfield. I think it does give a slight emphasis to the low end, but with so many other factors involved, it is tough to say. This has fairly typical red spruce tone bars and when I first tuned it up I knew this instrument "had it". Strung up with EXP74s only a few days ago, this is going to be a killer mandolin with a bit of playing. It is loud, a tad on the rounder or "modern" sound, but can do bluegrass just fine and can hang with the big boys. The reason I chose Carpathian spruce is largely due to Lynn Dudenbostel having developed a strong preference for this wood, claiming it sounds like red spruce on steroids, but takes shorter to break in. The Euro maple was selected as it is a little softer, giving a little more "cushion" or softness to the tone. Even brand new, I agree with Lynn, but I will be interested in seeing how this develops over the coming weeks and months. I have two really good bluegrass mandolins, my Nugget A5 and Girouard F5, both red spruce over sugar maple, so I have that area covered and then some. This BRW mandolin came set up just as fine as any mandolin I have ever played, the action on the low side but everything was intonated just right and the bridge is perfect. Centered direct in the center of the f holes, with room to move either way. The top of the bridge has no screws protruding from the top (maybe my only complaint with my Nugget) and the edges are smooth with really nice detail and curves. I rest my hand on the bridge so this is important to me.

The neck has only a thin layer of oil varnish and has a matte feel which I really like and will request on all future mandolins. It has a really comfortable slightly larger than Loar shape V profile. I am not too picky with neck shapes, and find this one of the hardest things to communicate to a builder. We really should try and do what Martin has done with guitars and try to "standardize" sizes and shapes a bit better. It is comfortable and very fast, both in the way the strings respond to fingerboard pressure and sliding along the back.

I will make a video this week so you can get an idea of how this sounds but I can tell you now it has more than exceeded my expectations. This isn't just a nice American made mandolin for the money, this is a professional grade oil varnished finished instrument, capable of fulfilling the most demanding mandolin players needs for a lifetime. Ben was a pleasure to work with, more than helpful, and really almost overly apologetic in delivering this masterpiece over the original six week estimate! I thought that sounded a bit optimistic when we began, but the wait was relatively short compared to what is typical. Try ordering a Nugget sometime lol! I am proud to add this to my collection which includes my oval holed Jacobson, the Girouard F5, and Nugget. I could easily cover all the bases with this one instrument. It is a fine addition and I hope to cherish it for years to come.

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Sean

[blauserk]

How do you like the Carpathian top? I have only played one Carpathian, but it impresses the heck out of me. Incredible volume. I don't think it sounds that much like my Adirondack-topped mando, but they're by different makers, and one is an F5, and one is a very basic A.

And speaking of logos, I never got why BRW didn't build under the name "Wilcox." Much more sonorous to my ear than three consonants in a row. Was that already taken?

[sgrexa]

John, as I said, the Carpathian came out better than I expected. I think the high E on this mando might be my favorite of all I have owned. It is very balanced, but so new, difficult to truly evaluate. I am in a fairly silly camp that thinks that there just might be some difference between Carpathian (from Romania) and the high altitude Euro spruce found in the Alps. I have another build in the works with John Hamlett using that wood, so it will be interesting to compare, but that is an F5 so it won't be apples to apples. Here is a little taste of the tone. Pardon my 10 year old son barging in, it is tough to get private time at my house!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ0zjUcELiM&feature=youtu.be

Sean

[Canoedad]

Beautiful! You've re-activated my BRWAS! Funny how people are different though. I always loved Ben's previous headstock logo.

[JeffD]

Great sound. Delightful.

[Tobin]

That's a fine-looking mandolin! I really dig the binding choice with that color scheme, and the black tuner buttons. Sounds great, too. Thanks for the lengthy write-up, photos, and video. I wish more people (including myself) would do this. It makes for great information for future buyers to contemplate.

[Randi Gormley]

very classy looking (and sounding) instrument. congrats!

[sgrexa]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I too think it is important to try to give a thorough review when you get a new instrument so that it can help others in the future to make a decision. Ben has been somewhat "off the grid" for a couple years now and I think he should be a consideration for those looking for mandolins in the 2K range for sure. Here is a link to the build photos and a couple snapshots:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/12128802@N08/sets/72157648474093956/

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Sean

[blauserk]

Sounds wonderful. I'd consider one myself if I didn't already have one mandolin too many (I have two).

[Givson]

Your son's a good picker. Does he have his own BRW?

[sgrexa]

Here is a song me and my friend wrote tonight and I decided to break out the BRW.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-_TQBr0ypI&feature=share

Sean

[sgrexa]

I can't edit or delete the video above, but here is a much better quality video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1eOetG78f0&feature=youtu.be

Sean

[Jim Garber]

Here is a song me and my friend wrote tonight and I decided to break out the BRW.

Be careful using the phrase "break out" when talking about ebola... or "Impaler" for that matter :)

[SincereCorgi]

Both spruce and maple were sourced from Transylvania, hence the "Vlad the Impaler" name.....

Aw. I was hoping it would have a big spike coming out of the headstock.

Very nice instrument, though. Congratulations.

[sgrexa]

Ben is a much better photographer than I.

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[sgrexa]

Remembered to hit record, forgot mandolin DOH! This mandolin continues to impress. One of the nicest I have ever played. I love it and cannot say enough good things about BRW! Thanks again Ben!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK5fL77P_jI&feature=youtu.be

Sean

[sgrexa]

Tribute to Vlad's home (Ohio)- Is there a better bluegrass state than Ohio? I think not.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNdQbRGftxo

Sean

[Skip Kelley]

Sean, that is awesome!