Ithaca Stringed Instruments A-model

[swampstomper]

This was built by Eric Aceto and Dan Hoffman in 2004. They are best known for their electric violins (testimonial on their page by Daryl Anger). This one is designed to be plugged in (note the thin wire leading from the front of the bridge = piezo into the oval sound hole) but sounds great as an acoustic instrument too.


Ithaca Stringed Instruments home page (http://www.ithacastring.com/)

[swampstomper]

the back... nice European maple

[swampstomper]

closeup of the builder's tag and the piezo output wire

[Michael Wolf]

this is extremly beautiful, especially since I prefer oval holes. Could you tell something about the sound and the kind of music you intend to play on it? What kind of pickup is in the bridge?

Cheers
Michael

[swampstomper]

Thanks for the kind words. It has a rich sound and was designed for jazz flavour rather than bluegrass, but I play mostly bluegrass. It doesn't have the full bark of an F5, especially the chop which is certainly adequate but not something you can propell a BG band with. It has rich overtones and really sings when cleanly picked -- this has improved my technique considerably, as I am rewarded for playing cleanly. It has good projection for fiddle tunes and sounds very nice in duet with a good violon. I imagine it would be a good chamber instrument, but I can't play classical.

[dan@kins]

Thanks for the pics. Thats pretty, nice looking indeed.

[FlawLaw]

I really love that instrument. And to think that it was built in my home town - Trumansburg, New York and I never knew that such beautiful instruments were built there. Next time I am there I will have to take a look.

[swampstomper]

Well, Trumansburg (http://www.trumansburg.ny.us/) is not exactly new to the musical universe. It is most famous as the home of the Moog Synthesizer which revolutionized both modern and popular music. ISI is located in Schuyler County, a few miles west of town, but still has a T-burg address.

If you visit make sure to check out the Rongovian Embassy (http://www.rongo.com/) and the Simply Red Bistro. Both have live music several days a week, and you are likely to see Mac Benford (Highwoods, Backwoods etc. string bands) among the local luminaries.

And... it is the home of the Grass Roots Festival (http://www.grassrootsfest.org/) in July, one of the most eclectic lineups of roots music you can find anywhere.

Not bad for a village of about 1600 people with maybe another 1000 in the rural areas of the zip code!

[FlawLaw]

When I was living in T-Burg, it was sort of a "hippy oasis." My baby-sitter was a singer for a band called the Zobo Fun Band (I believe that was the name). My mother told me that Mr. Moog's daughter was in my pre-school class. I do have fond memories of the place. Thank you for helping me re-live some of them.

[otterly2k]

I lived in Ithaca for a while, back in the late 80's, and remember seeing these builder's instruments appearing a few at a time in the local acoustic instrument store (Ithaca Guitar Works)... I had the pleasure of playing one of those huge round guitars once...it was awesome. I have never played their mandolins, but their work was top notch then... and has likely gotten better with time.

Beautiful part of the country too... love the Fingerlakes, and Ithaca/T-burg in particular.
KE

[JD Cowles]

hey i grew up a lake or two to the west of trumansburg. #have some fond memories of festivals down that way. #do the security staffers still wear barney fife t-shirts?

oh yeah, nice mando too. is the haunt still around (in ithaca)?

[swampstomper]

About the Ithaca music scene: it is as diverse as ever if not more so. The Haunt has re-located (to Willow Ave. near the municipal golf course) and changed management; it's a lot larger than the old sweat pit. It's mostly rock but Richie Stearns and Horseflies do show up occasionally. The best part of Ithaca is that the various musicians drift in and out of each others' bands pretty easily, so there's plenty of cross-fertilization. Eric Aceto (who built the mandolin) plays his electric 5-string violin with a gypsy revival band that is capable of playing about anything, every Monday at 1930 at Moosewood (another venerable Ithaca institution, and just opposite the Guitar Works in the old DeWitt building). This band (Djug Django -- the joke is that that the Djug is where you put the tips...) has three top swing guitarists (one of whom is Eric's brother Harry, who among other things does repairs for Ithaca Guitar Works), a dixieland/swing clarinetist (Brian Earle), and a super jazz bassman (Bernie Upson) alternating weeks with a washtub man (really!). Occasionally a mando player sits in but he can't really play this stuff.