Arches mandolins?

[RickPick]

Just curious, but wondering about Arches mandolins. I've seen a couple that were beautiful pieces of woodcraft, and their price would suggest the maker knows his way around the sound end of a mandolin. But I almost never hear them mentioned on this site. Does their small production numbers keep them from general comparisons with, say, Webers or Collins or whatever? Are they far more than "another pretty face"? Is their sound governed by too many variables to make them comparable to some of the more mass-produced (but still handcrafted) instruments? I'd be curious to hear what folks think of their sound.http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/images/smilies/confused.gif

[Eric F.]

I've owned one for more than a decade. It's the real deal.

[multidon]

Chris Baird is the maker. He is a member here and used to post quite regularly in the Builder and Repair section. However for whatever reason I haven't seen a post from him in a long time. I never had the pleasure of playing one of his but there is no doubt he does beautiful work, visually speaking. But I can tell you he enjoys an excellent reputation for quality instruments here.

[bro.craig]

I enjoy the sound of my FT-O. A lot. The wood, fit and finish are beautiful! The only thing I don't like is that, even after the upper frets were milled by Chris, there is still about .020" relief in the neck. The FT-O is built with carbon fiber neck reinforcement, no truss rod, so no adjustment. I think that his higher level mandolins do have adjustable truss rods.

-craig

[Steve-o]

Another happy Arches owner here. I bought a used A5 that Chris built in 2004. The tone it puts out is almost as good as my Ellis A5 but at less than 40% of the price. Mine also has carbon fiber reinforcement in the neck (no adjustable truss rod), but the relief is fine and my action is fairly low.

[Steve L]

I have an one of Chris's flat top oval mandos and really like it a lot. Build quality is superb. It has a bright, glassy tone with a fair amount of sustain which, for Irish music, works really well for me.

[RickPick]

Thanks for the response, folks. I'm happy to hear that Arches can sound as lovely as they look. Those who have them must love them, because I sure don't see much mention of them in the classified or other secondhand venues. No one seems to want to put them back on the market!

[Nick Gellie]

Chris is re-establishing his mandolin kit business. I am sure that one day he will get back into making mandolins again. Really interesting Steve-O that you think yours is as good as an Ellis A-5. Superb mandolin kits by the way. It would be really nice to hear from Chris so that he can tell us his story himself.

[Steve-o]

Nick, I said "almost as good" when comparing my Arches tone to my Ellis. The Ellis trumps it but not by a big margin.

The other nice touch on the Arches is a low profile speed neck. Very playable.

[ccravens]

Chris is re-establishing his mandolin kit business. I am sure that one day he will get back into making mandolins again. Really interesting Steve-O that you think yours is as good as an Ellis A-5. Superb mandolin kits by the way. It would be really nice to hear from Chris so that he can tell us his story himself.

So Chris is no longer building mandos?

[Nick Gellie]

I will send a PM to Chris to let him know there is a thread about him. He can respond and let us know what is happening with his mandolin building. I know that he is pretty much flat out trying to get mandolin kits out the door.

[Chris Baird]

Hi All, I'm still building both kits and finished instruments. My waitlist is always fairly long for both, so I don't spend any time advertising, just stay busy building.