View Full Version : Bill davis artist mandolin
I have no financial interest but there's an intriguing looking Bill Davis A5 near the end of the Classifieds.
Nice price too.
I haven't heard much about his mandolins on these pages. What's the word?
tterral
Feb-07-2007, 11:38pm
Bill makes a great mandolin. I played an 'A' and 'F' style at Winfield last year and they both looked, sounded and played great. Excellent construction, great woods/materials. Highly recomended. I sound like a shill, but truly, they are fine intruments. NFI.
Mental Floss
Feb-08-2007, 12:31am
I think it is a steal.
sgarrity
Feb-08-2007, 1:06pm
I owned Davis F5 #16 for almost 2 years. It was a very fine mandolin in all areas. His fit and finish is as good or better than any maker out there. If I hadn't just taken 6 months off from working, I'd grab that A5 in a heartbeat.
Shaun
If it weren't for the special ordered slightly wider fingerboard, it'd be mine by now.
Bill told me the price of a new A5 and, yes, this one's certainly a steal.
Won't someone please take this out from under my eye? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif
Karen
Feb-09-2007, 10:46pm
Just put our Billy D (#7) back in the case. # Hadn't played it for a while. #Still as sweet as candy!
mingusb1
Feb-12-2007, 9:52am
Fear not, the slightly wider fretboard makes it a breeze to play!
Financial Interest Indeed!
Z
Bubba55
Aug-09-2019, 6:44am
Good morning. I have a Bill Davis F Style Mandolin. Signed by Bill Davis 2-13-03 and #11203. Can anyone tell me anything about this beautiful instrument? Can anyone share a value range? Thank you all for any information I can get.
yankees1
Aug-09-2019, 7:10am
Must have sold as it is gone from Classifieds or at least I can't locate it !
yankees1
Aug-09-2019, 7:12am
I owned Davis F5 #16 for almost 2 years. It was a very fine mandolin in all areas. His fit and finish is as good or better than any maker out there. If I hadn't just taken 6 months off from working, I'd grab that A5 in a heartbeat.
Shaun
If Sgarrity says it's that good, then it must be GOOD ! I trust and respect his opinions !
Bubba55
Aug-09-2019, 7:12am
I don't have it listed. I own it and wanted to find more information if possible.
yankees1
Aug-09-2019, 7:27am
I don't have it listed. I own it and wanted to find more information if possible. Congratulations ! Would love to see photo and hear any sound clips !
Bubba55
Aug-09-2019, 9:14am
Yankees1, I sent you a PM.
Bubba55
Aug-09-2019, 9:34am
Yankees1, I sent you a PM.
allenhopkins
Aug-09-2019, 5:20pm
Must have sold as it is gone from Classifieds or at least I can't locate it !
The OP's "mandolin in the classifieds" was there in 2007.
Nobody ain't gonna locate it now.
This thread's in the running for the longest hiatus, between posts #7 and #8.
Mandolin Cafe
Aug-09-2019, 5:48pm
Good morning. I have a Bill Davis F Style Mandolin. Signed by Bill Davis 2-13-03 and #11203. Can anyone tell me anything about this beautiful instrument? Can anyone share a value range? Thank you all for any information I can get.
Bill Davis was a former aircraft employee in Wichita which is a hub for that kind of manufacturing. He had pretty serious CNC chops is what I always heard. He built mandolins sporadically for a few years and then quit quite a few years ago, guessing maybe 8-10 years. Its been longer that than since I've seen him. Not sure how long he did it full-time but it wasn't that long. They were fairly well respected, well made instruments. He was pretty much impossible to get ahold of when he was building and that hasn't changed since he left the business. His mandolins were either sold directly or through Mass Street Music in Lawrence. Possible one of the Wichita music stores might have carried a few but I doubt it. Believe I know one person in Kansas City that owns one of his mandolins but that's it. He's like a lot of regional builders that get well known locally and then decide to move on. It's not a business for everyone. Your chance of tracking down some that might know him is very slim. As far as appraisal, I'd say take it to a dealer that knows his business. Just not enough of them in the market.
sgarrity
Aug-09-2019, 6:15pm
I'll echo everything Scott said. Bill was here and gone fairly quickly. But his build quality was top notch. Collings level fit and finish. One thing I didn't like and why I sold mine was he really dished out the recurve. That made the top edge of the binding a sharp edge. It was beautiful to look at and done very precisely but not very comfortable on the forearm. I guess and armrest would have solved the problem but I'm not a fan of all the add on products. Charles at Mandolin World Head Quarters sold my F5 a few years back. I think it went for around $3k. A lot of Mando for the money IMHO.
Mine did come from Mass St. Was deciding between the Davis and a matte finished MT2. Scott actually came over to the store and played both so I could hear them from the front.
Bubba55
Aug-11-2019, 8:18pm
Thank you so much for the great history!
Bubba55
Aug-11-2019, 8:19pm
Thanks also for the feedback! Probably just hang on to this instrument but nice to know more about Mr. Davis