Sawchyn A-2 Pumpkin top

[BradB]

I've had this mandolin for about 4 or 5 years now, and I'm finally posting a photo. I custom ordered it with gold hardware, a pumpkin top, and a bound headstock. Tone is subjective, but to me this is still the best-sounding oval hole mando I've played.

http://www.fototime.com/CA0EE8DE14F7465/standard.jpg

[BradB]

http://www.fototime.com/D3C00C69C8F44A9/standard.jpg

[BradB]

Nice rosette and bound soundhole and ebony pickguard.
http://www.fototime.com/464A60E9CAE0297/standard.jpg

[BradB]

You can hear a recording of this mando at the mandozine.com home recordings. Click on the link, then on the tune The Boys of Ballinafad. This was recorded in my basement using a cheap microphone plugged into a cheap multitrack recorder, but still gives an idea of what this mando sounds like.

www.mandozine.com/recordings/Mp3 (http://www.mandozine.com/recordings/Mp3/)

[SurebetVA]

awwww...your giving me a bad case of the mas...I love this instrument. I currently have a weber bitterroot, but have been eyeing pumpkin top A's lately. Your not helping!

Great looking mandolin, checked out your mp3 to. Sounds great! Thanks

[Lane Pryce]

Hey Brad That is a great looking oval hole A. I thought I was looking at an old Gibson!! Good choice of colors and I'll bet it has the classic oval sound too. Lp

[BlueMountain]

Looks beautiful and sounds great. Thanks for sharing.

[BradB]

Hey Brad That is a great looking oval hole A. I thought I was looking at an old Gibson!! Good choice of colors and I'll bet it has the classic oval sound too. Lp
Yes, it's pretty much a copy of an old Gibson A, including the single transverse brace under the top. But it has more bass and more volume than the old Gibson A's I've played. I'm not sure why.

My second favorite oval hole mando I've played was a 1918 Gibson A4. I would have bought it if I didn't already have my Sawchyn A-2.

Brad

[Steve Davis]

Very nice looking and sounding. What kind of recording setup do you use?

[Lane Pryce]

Brad I just listened to the Mp3!! Very nice balance of tone and volume. Good tune too. Lp

[Nathan Sanders]

MAS is building for a pumpkin top now. It's been brewing for a while though. I was just looking at some old pictures from a few months ago of someone's pumpkin Weber. Then there's that pumpkin Q95 at JazzMando. Now this Sawchyn. And I've been thinking about a custom built mando for a long time. Dude....I hear the approaching hooves of MAS....:D

[BradB]

Very nice looking and sounding. What kind of recording setup do you use?
My setup is just your basic cheap Shure SM-57 mic plugged directly into a cheap Boss BR-8 multitrack recorder. No effects. For the second time through I tried to get more of a full band sound, so I overdubbed a second lead mandolin in addition to the rhythm guitar and rhythm mando. I also added a track of bass notes played on a guitar with my thumb to add a little more bass to the mix.

Brad B.

[Scot Thayer]

Hey Brad, great sounding and great looking A2. #Same goes for your S5 on the other thread. #I have a few Sawchyns myself - an S5, A2 custom and Beavertail deluxe. #Peter's a very talented luthier for sure. #A few weeks ago, I got to play a cherry burst S5 he'd just finished - absolutely stunning. #

I'd never heard Mandolin Fanfare or The Boys of Ballinafad before - cool tunes and great picking.

[SurebetVA]

Just when I thought the worst was over, it was pointed out to me that weber does some custom pumpkin tops as well. #I found these on their web site.

Weber Pumpkin Top Beartooth (http://www.soundtoearth.com/inst_cust_ma_tradbeartooth.htm)

Pumpkin Top Absaroka (http://www.soundtoearth.com/inst_cust_ma_antiqueab.htm)

They are absolutely beautiful.

[acousticphd]

Brad, that's a marvelous looking mando. I have an old Gibson A I'm pretty happy with, but the Sawchyn A2 is one of a couple vintage recreations that I'm really attracted to. I'm lucky to have a Sawchyn Beavertail mandola I bought here on the Classifieds some years ago, and that has been one great bargain and nice instrument.