Heads up on a real special A mandolin at a steal of a price

[darylcrisp]

I don't want this to come across as too "fan boy", its a solid find and is special, I think if anyone plays this neck spec they will truly enjoy this neat little mandolin. Everyone here has probably gathered I am a very happy customer of TMS, having purchased a Pava, used Weber Black Ice, and a Collings MT for my father in law, from these guys. They provide excellent service and have nice stuff. No matter where this Summit had came from, this post would be exactly the same-so here goes:

I just returned this Summit A style to TheMandolinStore and it should arrive back there Monday or Tuesday. NFI, just putting this out for someone who is looking for a killer of a deal on a great playing/sounding A mandolin. I was talking to Dennis about another mandolin when he told me about this one, said it had a great voice-after I saw the pictures I said "send it now"!

The only reason I returned it was the nut width. It is 1 1/8". I need 1 3/16". I thought of everything I might do to make this work(replace the nut and spread out the string courses-I had 1/32" to play with and that would still give me a good 1/16" on both edges-but in the end I knew it would not work for me, I've had 3 excellent mandolins all with 1 1/8 and it just doesn't fit me). I cut the box open 3x before shipping within a 12 hour period thinking/looking for some way to fix this so I could keep this A-its that good.
I even considered having Paul put a new neck on the body.

My standard of any mandolin comparison of build quality is Collings. I own two and find them as perfect as any man made instrument could be. This Summit sits in the same row of seats as both my Collings. Neck set is perfect. Fretwork is perfect, neck profile was probably the most comfortable neck I've ever played on(my neck profile standards are the MT Collings soft V and the standard Weber neck-both suit me fine).

The finish looked perfect and had the most appealing burst-I called it Ice Tea. The pictures convey the beauty but its even more so in person. Lots of flame everywhere. Just a really beautiful finish.
The back wood has a really cool burl looking flame.

The fretboard looked to be without radius-I did not put a ruler or guide on the FB to check-just a visual. I had never played with a flat FB. I actually liked it a lot. It worked great on this A. The neck relief btw was almost dead flat, no buzz, low action at the bridge and it fretted very easy. The setup is really sweet. Top and bottom binding. The fit of all corners/edges are dead on.

The tone, to my ears, had very thick/rounded sound on the E, A, D strings-really nice notes-and high up on the FB the notes didn't plink out-they still ringed clear and thick-actually a tad better than my loved Collings. Reminded me a lot of the Pava I used to own.
The G course reminded me more on the Weber side of sound.
String set as a whole was very balanced-I never thought any of the sets were over or under powered to one another.
Not as loud as either of my Collings, but not a mouse in projection by any means-and it was just dated on the label for Nov 2014, so its a newborn.

Here are some pics I took before shipping for insurance purposes. Whoever gets this is going to love it. I really really wanted to keep this one, but knew in the end it would not work for me.

The pricepoint was very attractive, that's why I tried the fit-it was well worth the shipping just to experience to see if it might work.

**take note of the solid tailpiece-who knows what brand this is?
it was a very classy looking TP and worked great-very easy to add/remove a string and it held the string loop tight but easy-would like to remember this for down the road.

Here is a slideshow link with more pics
http://s299.photobucket.com/user/darylcrisp/slideshow/SUMMIT%20%20A

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/darylcrisp/SUMMIT%20%20A/DSC07201.jpg (http://s299.photobucket.com/user/darylcrisp/media/SUMMIT%20%20A/DSC07201.jpg.html)



http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/darylcrisp/SUMMIT%20%20A/DSC07202.jpg (http://s299.photobucket.com/user/darylcrisp/media/SUMMIT%20%20A/DSC07202.jpg.html)

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/darylcrisp/SUMMIT%20%20A/DSC07219.jpg (http://s299.photobucket.com/user/darylcrisp/media/SUMMIT%20%20A/DSC07219.jpg.html)

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/darylcrisp/SUMMIT%20%20A/DSC07204.jpg (http://s299.photobucket.com/user/darylcrisp/media/SUMMIT%20%20A/DSC07204.jpg.html)

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/darylcrisp/SUMMIT%20%20A/DSC07207.jpg (http://s299.photobucket.com/user/darylcrisp/media/SUMMIT%20%20A/DSC07207.jpg.html)

[Ivan Kelsall]

I'm a big fan of Summit mandolins. I've played a couple of "F" styles & they were both excellent,very similar indeed to my Weber "Fern". If, as i'd expect,the Summit "A"'s are similar in sound quality to the 'F' styles,then they should be first class. Also,as you can see from the pics.above,the build quality is second to none. Paul Schneider does an incredible job & anybody owning a Summit has got a superb instrument.
The tailpiece is very similar to an Eastman t/piece & actually might be one. As for the Summit not sounding as loud as the Collings,treat it to a set of DR MD11 strings & stand well back. My friend & fellow cafe member up in Scotland, put DR's on his own Summit & sent me a one word e-mail - "WOW !!!"
Ivan:grin:

[darylcrisp]

I'm a big fan of Summit mandolins. I've played a couple of "F" styles & they were both excellent,very similar indeed to my Weber "Fern". If, as i'd expect,the Summit "A"'s are similar in sound quality to the 'F' styles,then they should be first class. Also,as you can see from the pics.above,the build quality is second to none. Paul Schneider does an incredible job & anybody owning a Summit has got a superb instrument.
The tailpiece is very similar to an Eastman t/piece & actually might be one. As for the Summit not sounding as loud as the Collings,treat it to a set of DR MD11 strings & stand well back. My friend & fellow cafe member up in Scotland, put DR's on his own Summit & sent me a one word e-mail - "WOW !!!"
Ivan:grin:

Hey Ivan
I was just coming on here to post a thank you for the DR string recommendations. I put a set on one of my Collings and I really like the tone and feel of them. I had used DR years ago on acoustic guitar and always liked them-remembered some of your posts when I ordered some sets and picked up some MD's.
thanks again
d

[eastman_315]

**take note of the solid tailpiece-who knows what brand this is?
it was a very classy looking TP and worked great-very easy to add/remove a string and it held the string loop tight but easy-would like to remember this for down the road.It looks like an Eastman tailpiece. I bought one from TMS when I got my first mando, a MD-315, from them but wanted to hot-rod it some. Its the same design as the newer Eastman ones, like the one that came on the recent MD-514 I owned, but seemed like it had softer edges. I liked them both.

Frank

[Mark Wilson]

Dayrl - you are 'catch and releasing' your way thru a pretty nice lineup. Curious how the Collings oval's tone compared to the MT(s) you've had?

You should try a Kimble A5 or Ellis A5 next imo.

Mark

[darylcrisp]

Dayrl - you are 'catch and releasing' your way thru a pretty nice lineup. Curious how the Collings oval's tone compared to the MT(s) you've had?

You should try a Kimble A5 or Ellis A5 next imo.

Mark


Mark
i'll do my best to explain my own take on the MT and MTO.
My MT is a really dry woody tone-moreso than any other Collings that I've played-and I like that. My father-in-laws MT is very similar to my own, but still not as dry sounding.

The Oval hole was a jump I made because I was so impressed with the MT, and I wanted to experience an oval hole sound on an current style model mandolin.
To my ears it is very projective but carries a touch of roundness to the notes. There is an increase of sustain of notes over the MT also. I would think these differences can/will be enhanced by a players technique or style and string choice to a degree.

Another difference is the neck profile. The MTO has more full shoulders than the MT, the neck feels thicker overall. I have not measured, but by feel I'm thinking its a tad deeper in depth as well-especially as you get near the heel of the neck.

My MT is "the one". I don't see ever wanting to let it go. The MTO is interesting, but if I keep it I will do a speedneck and reshape the neck profile a touch to match the MT(which for me is perfect).

I did put my name on a used BitterRoot Weber F that TMS had taken in on trade-I started on Webers and really like them, and the BitterRoot will offer up a difference in tone from the MT.
with that, I'm done, for a long long time. I now just need to learn how to use them(lol).
So in the end, i'll have the MT and the BitterRoot.

The Summit would have stayed if the neck had been a tad wider-it was a very cool mandolin.

d

[pheffernan]

with that, I'm done, for a long long time. I now just need to learn how to use them(lol).

You keep saying that...;)

[Russ Donahue]

Your oval is in the classifieds now?

[darylcrisp]

Your oval is in the classifieds now?

Russ,
not my fault, wife made me do it.
she has this silly rule, 2 is more than enough.
I don't want this to happen
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Collings-MT2OV-Mandolin-Oval-hole-A-project-/221634740621?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item339a75c18d&afsrc=1

[darylcrisp]

You keep saying that...;)

and you have evidently been talking to my wife!
she said exactly the same thing yesterday.

I can't help it, bright shiney thing with sunburst and 8 strings, gets me every time

[almeriastrings]

Russ,
not my fault, wife made me do it.
she has this silly rule, 2 is more than enough.


:whistling:

I did a count yesterday.... 3 mandolins, 6 guitars, 2 mountain dulcimers, 3 banjos...and those are just my wife's! :))

[Ivan Kelsall]

Daryl - We all owe a vote of thanks to 'Big' Joe Vest for mentioning the DR brand of mandolin strings a few years ago on here.It was Joe's assertion that they'd give J74's a 'run for their money' that made me try them in the first instance,& we both know that the DR's are far better than that.
I do however have a set of GHS A270 strings waiting to adorn my Ellis "A" style.They're the brand & gauge that Tom Ellis recommends for his mandolins,so,being open minded,i'll try a set. If they sound good,ok,if not...........:(
Ivan;)