Mandolin Hierarchy

[Givensman]

LIST THE TOP 10 MANDOLINS. (Purely Sujective, no set rules)

[bigskygirl]

:popcorn:

[DataNick]

Top 10 for what?

[JFDilmando]

top ten you would take on a white water river trip

[Josh Levine]

Shmergel Devastator
Shmergel Devastator
Shmergel Devastator
Shmergel Devastator
Shmergel Devastator
Shmergel Devastator
Shmergel Devastator
Shmergel Devastator
Shmergel Devastator
Shmergel Destroyer

[Ron McMillan]

oh that Schmergel joke just won't go away. It might have been funny until it appeared for about the thousandth time

[allenhopkins]

oh that Schmergel joke just won't go away. It might have been funny until it appeared for about the thousandth time

As the one who introduced the Shmergel Devastator to the Cafe, I reply, "Pish-tush!"

Besides, the Devastator is no "joke."

[catmandu2]

Besides, the Devastator is no "joke."

Concise, penetrating - really just says it all right there.

[bigskygirl]

As the one who introduced the Shmergel Devastator to the Cafe, I reply, "Pish-tush!"

Besides, the Devastator is no "joke."

Anybody want a ham sandwich.....?

[Josh Levine]

oh that Schmergel joke just won't go away. It might have been funny until it appeared for about the thousandth time

Yet, younger and with more depth than best mandolin threads?

[catmandu2]

(Purely Sujective, no set rules)

Why bother with subjectivity? Science has confirmed the Top 10. Next?

[Steve Sorensen]

For raw plugged in power with absolutely no unwanted feedback, I prefer the Schmergel e-Viscerator.

[dcoventry]

1. Rigel G5
2-10 Others

Whew. That was easier than I thought....

[foldedpath]

What mandolins are best in life?

Those that crush the banjo players, so you can see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women!

[journeybear]

:disbelief: :confused: :mad: :( :crying: :cow: ~:> :popcorn: :whistling: :sleepy:

rLi-KJJTSyc

R8niyG-cPgs

[Ivan Kelsall]

To the OP - As you've guessed,this subject has been raised so many times & with so many variations in opinion,that it's past it's sell by date by a long way.
Nobody's trying to be nasty or smart assed - it's simply a question with so many 'opinions' as to be realistically meaningless in a ''one man's meat'' sort of way. So,pick your top 10 & that's as good as it gets. My own top ten ? = 1 to 10 = Ellis all the way (with 2 close 'also rans'),
Ivan;)

[Petrus]

oh that Schmergel joke just won't go away. It might have been funny until it appeared for about the thousandth time

I hear they are expanding into the banjo market too. :cool:

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Petrus - "I hear they are expanding into the banjo market too.". Terrific !!!. Now us banjer pickers can drown 'em out !
(not really, as i have a foot in both camps),:grin:
Ivan~:>

[journeybear]

no!!! :crying: :crying: :crying:

The Shmergel has always been the one thing we could count on when all else failed, the one saving grace of mandolinosity that stood between us and whatever godforsaken creation anyone could devise to thwart our communal goal of restoring the mandolin to world domination - or at least be heard above the din at campgrounds and sessions, in concerts and TV appearances. The Shmergel is our Golem, our protector against the evil that men do.

The notion that they could have capitulated to the blandishments of banjo enthusiasts is nigh unthinkable. It could mean that Deering gave the good people at Shmergel an offer they couldn't refuse. Or perhaps it means that Gold Tone has bought them out, in their quest to gain control of the production of every unusual string instrument. I hope this is just a vicious rumor with no foundation in fact. :crying:

[M.Marmot]

To the OP - As you've guessed,this subject has been raised so many times & with so many variations in opinion,that it's past it's sell by date by a long way.

Yep, because we certainly don't rehash the same old subjects here - no siree, you betchya.

Though, i have heard some are opening up to the idea.

[Toni Schula]

Personally I am glad that the Shmergel Destroyer made it into the top 10....

[Emmett Marshall]

...The notion that they could have capitulated to the blandishments of banjo enthusiasts is nigh unthinkable.

139607

[Petrus]

I think it's another example of Yuri Shmergel IV losing the vision that first guided his great-grandfather, Yuri Antonivich Shmergel, from Krakow in 1908 with a crude prototype of the original Niszczyciel ("Destructor") to the New World. Sadly, that original instrument is now long lost, probably chopped up for firewood during the Great Depression by Yuri II.

The decline probably started with the struggling firm's takeover by Nikimura Heavy Industry & Folk Instruments Conglomerate in 1974 and the introduction of the first solid-body electric Shmergel, the Irritator. Though that one does have its fans, for sure.

[David Lewis]

Gibson Lloyd loar f5
Gilchrist f5
Jbovier ELS
Eastman
Kentucky
Jbovier f style
Peter Coombe
Rpiphone mm50 vn
Fender mandostrat
Gibson firebird.

There should be no argument there.

;) (ps check my list as to two of my choices)

[Jeff Mando]

Possible game-changer: what if, just what if BLUE CHIP made an entire MANDOLIN outta that stuff??????? :grin::grin:

[MikeEdgerton]

The Top Ten Reasons why threads like this aren't taken seriously:

Number 10. You always think the mandolin you own is the best.

[JEStanek]

It's kinda like this....

139617

Jamie

[AlanN]

Check the OP join date, ain't no spring chicken. Just throwing bird seed to see where it lands. Top 10? Chuck Norris.

[fatt-dad]

List the top ten list great mandolins that you've never owned or played.

f-d

[journeybear]

Oh, sure. A list of things you know nothing about. Based on what - hearsay, conjecture, and speculation? (Well, that approach never stopped any of us. ;) )That oughta go well, and be real useful, too. :))

[bigskygirl]

I think it's another example of Yuri Shmergel IV losing the vision that first guided his great-grandfather, Yuri Antonivich Shmergel, from Krakow in 1908 with a crude prototype of the original Niszczyciel ("Destructor") to the New World. Sadly, that original instrument is now long lost, probably chopped up for firewood during the Great Depression by Yuri II.

The decline probably started with the struggling firm's takeover by Nikimura Heavy Industry & Folk Instruments Conglomerate in 1974 and the introduction of the first solid-body electric Shmergel, the Irritator. Though that one does have its fans, for sure.

Wow, I learn soooo much here, why isn't stuff like this taught in grade school!

[Relio]

Last time I as in Nashville the best mandolins I played were Altman, Gibson MM (Skaggs), Daley, Duff, Kimble, and Ellis - In no particular order. I didn't spend any time with mandos over $15,000. Most people will say their favorite is the one they own, and it makes sense because they chose it over the others.

[JEStanek]

Based on sales. I'll say Rogue, Epiphone, Kentucky, L&H Bowlbacks, and Stradolins. You can see (if you actually look at the mandolins) many of the first three in the Women with Mandolins thread.

Coincidentally, I love many Rogue beers.

[journeybear]

Wow, I learn soooo much here, why isn't stuff like this taught in grade school!

They can't handle The Truth! :disbelief:

It's pretty advanced stuff, anyway. Besides, it''s hard to teach grade school without visual aids, and Shmergels are nearly impossible to photograph, as their brilliance tends to destroy cameras.

[EdHanrahan]

... Based on what - hearsay, conjecture, and speculation?

Excellent!! So now we an make three separate lists of things we know nothing about!

[allenhopkins]

Anybody want a ham sandwich.....?

Got me again.

Addenda:

Shmergel will never make banjos. Asking the dedicated technicians who staff the Shmergel plant (as always, at an undisclosed location) to soil their hands with such pedestrian fluffery as that, would raise hoots and hollers you could probably hear from the next undisclosed location to the west.

Shmergel has not been bought by a Japanese firm. However, they have been receiving heavy investment support from a cartel of Arab sheiks, so who knows what might happen next?

Actual ownership of Shmergel has never been disclosed. I just wish I'd gotten in on the ground floor, when they made the first Devastator. I'd be cruising the Adriatic in my full-rigged sailing yacht by now. Ah, the missed opportunities of youth...

[F-2 Dave]

Thanks for clearing that up, Allen. I've got to admit my heart sank when I heard the banjo rumor.

[journeybear]

... they have been receiving heavy investment support from a cartel of Arab sheiks, so who knows what might happen next?

Hmmm ... Perhaps the development of the Eroudicator? The Oudbliterator? :confused: :( :crying:

[Explorer]

[size=7]The notion that they could have capitulated to the blandishments of banjo enthusiasts is nigh unthinkable.

Enticements a' power, wealth, et cetera... no one says no to the banjo lobby.

Oh, gracious, no, not with its blandishments.

Powers of persuasion.

[Astro]

I've got the list down for sure.

Does it have to be a mandolin?

[Ddd]

1. The one you love to play
2.-10 all the rest

[WW52]

1. The ones I like that I can afford, or...
2. based on number 1 above, in the grand scheme of the mandolin worlds top 10 most desirable examples, if such a thing could be averaged, the top of the hierarchy for me is way, way down into the negative realm. Way, way, way down. But I really, really, really like my own #1 mandolin.

In the history of the world, how many mandolins have been built?

[FLATROCK HILL]

In the history of the world, how many mandolins have been built?

Well that's easy enough. You just contact all the companies/builders that have ever built mandolins and access their archives to determine how many mandolins were built by each individual company or private builder. Total up the figures to find out how many mandolins have been built.*

(*The figures may not be 100% accurate if you include Gibson in the equation.)

[David Lewis]

Well that's easy enough. You just contact all the companies/builders that have ever built mandolins and access their archives to determine how many mandolins were built by each individual company or private builder. Total up the figures to find out how many mandolins have been built.* (*The figures may not be 100% accurate if you include Gibson in the equation.)


Too difficult. I just count the strings and divide by 6.255437. (4,5,8 and 10 strings averaged and outliers removed).

[WW52]

Well that's easy enough. You just contact all the companies/builders that have ever built mandolins and access their archives to determine how many mandolins were built by each individual company or private builder. Total up the figures to find out how many mandolins have been built.*

(*The figures may not be 100% accurate if you include Gibson in the equation.)

Well that wasn't meant to be taken literally or it would have to include Gibson, plus I didn't take mandolas, mandocellos, and banjo-mandolins into consideration.

[journeybear]

Posing a frivolous question here? :confused: Heaven forbid anyone should ever do that! :disbelief:

[Timbofood]

Mine
Yours
The next eight posters

[David Lewis]

Posing a frivolous question here? :confused: Heaven forbid anyone should ever do that! :disbelief:

Actually I thought it not a bad question even though I in my own attempt put in my acoustic (which a lot of people don't like). If we get enough it would be interesting to see where the statistics lie: is the Loar f5 the best at least in this informed community's opinion? Or is it something else?

(I did have a chuckle at the schmergel answers).

[journeybear]

First off, so it won't get lost in the blur, I do want to thank you for playing along with the OP's request and providing us with a list - so far, at the half-century mark, the only one to take him seriously. Not that I advocate this, mind you - I'm siding with those who see this exercise as a bit daft - but thanks for trying.

That said, I'm afraid I must correct you on a couple of things. First, your #10 - if it's a mandolin, then it's an Epiphone MandoBird. Gibson may own Epiphone, but these come with the Epiphone label on them. And the Firebird is a guitar; the mandolin modeled after it is called a MandoBird. (Personally, I wouldn't have put this rather cheap electric ahead of so many possible acoustic choices, but it's not my list. ;) )

But what really must be addressed is your egregious spelling error. It's "Shmergel" - no "c" and always, ALWAYS, a capital "S." Respect and reverence.

[Petrus]

I've gone through about 20 (?) cheezy mandos in my few shorts years of playing, mostly sub-par is not unplayable. I've played maybe another 20 high-end mandos in various shops (The Mandolin Store, McCabe's) so I do have some acquaintance with quality even if I can't afford it. And actually no, I don't think the ones I have right now are "the best" 'cause I know how much better stuff is out there. So like everyone else who commented I can't give an objective list.

Best one's I've owned so far:

KM-150
KM-380
Rover 50
Eastman 305
Eastman 505
Trinity College Octave

Best one's I've played (at the Mandolin Store) were types of Collings, Phoenix and Weber. They had a custom made Collings oval-hole blonde mandola that sounded fantastic even to my amateur ears.

I'm tempted to say my Eastman 305 may have sounded better than the 505 I traded it for. Maybe it was the matte finish; the heavy gloss on the 505 might be choking it a bit. Or maybe it's supposed to be bright & barky. Maybe it just needs to open up. (Kidding!)