Frank Russell
Dec-14-2005, 5:49pm
Well, I waited a few weeks of hard playing and close inspection since I got my mandolin back from Big Joe's crew before posting, because I wanted to be fair and as objective as possible. A few months ago, I sent my excellent F5G wideneck with the block inlays in to Gibson to have them put a radius on it, as that's what I've come to prefer. Several luthiers had turned down the job due to the chance of ruining/replacing the inlays if they used the existing fretboard, or because it was just too time-consuming to make a new one like it. Big Joe responded with "we can surely do this." Here's the negatives and the positives of what followed:
Minus side - Mandolin gone for a few weeks longer than expected. Cost was a big hit for a teacher - $500 plus shipping. I would have liked to have seen it packed on its return with a bit more padding, though other than a broken endpin, it was absolutely unharmed in transit, so this may be nitpicking. When I ship a mando, I pad the headstock and around the bridge, etc... Packing was a bit spartan.
Plus side - Best money I've ever spent on a repair or work of any kind. This mando was pretty great to begin with, but now it's absolutely a stunner to play and listen to. Plays every bit as smooth as any Bush model I've tried, which is what I was looking for. The work was done with high attention to detail, I believe by Jackie Miller. I was called by Mr. Miller, unsolicited, to ask which kind of frets I would prefer, which I appreciated, since I hadn't been specific, and assumed they would just throw whatever they pleased on there. Everyone I dealt with was more than courteous, and my instructions were followed to the letter. Even some of my negatives ended up being pretty mild. The cost, although large for my budget, was estimated honestly up front by Big Joe, including worst-case scenarios, and there were no last-minute add-ons or surprises. I certainly would have paid more than $500 if I had traded up towards a Bush model, which was where I was headed. This F5G has become such a dream to play that I find myself playing and practicing much more than I had been in months previous, which is a good thing. My thanks to the good folks at Gibson for their fine work, and for leaving me with very very little to gripe about. Frank
Minus side - Mandolin gone for a few weeks longer than expected. Cost was a big hit for a teacher - $500 plus shipping. I would have liked to have seen it packed on its return with a bit more padding, though other than a broken endpin, it was absolutely unharmed in transit, so this may be nitpicking. When I ship a mando, I pad the headstock and around the bridge, etc... Packing was a bit spartan.
Plus side - Best money I've ever spent on a repair or work of any kind. This mando was pretty great to begin with, but now it's absolutely a stunner to play and listen to. Plays every bit as smooth as any Bush model I've tried, which is what I was looking for. The work was done with high attention to detail, I believe by Jackie Miller. I was called by Mr. Miller, unsolicited, to ask which kind of frets I would prefer, which I appreciated, since I hadn't been specific, and assumed they would just throw whatever they pleased on there. Everyone I dealt with was more than courteous, and my instructions were followed to the letter. Even some of my negatives ended up being pretty mild. The cost, although large for my budget, was estimated honestly up front by Big Joe, including worst-case scenarios, and there were no last-minute add-ons or surprises. I certainly would have paid more than $500 if I had traded up towards a Bush model, which was where I was headed. This F5G has become such a dream to play that I find myself playing and practicing much more than I had been in months previous, which is a good thing. My thanks to the good folks at Gibson for their fine work, and for leaving me with very very little to gripe about. Frank