Doyle lawson's tucker #2

[BlueMountain]

These days Doyle Lawson seems to be photographed playing the Gibson named after him. Good advertising. Before that, his primary mandolin was a Paganoni, but from 1992, when he got Tucker #2, until about 1997 or 1998, the Tucker was his backup. I don't know how often he played it in concert or on CDs, but it's worthy of him. Frankly, I've never played a mandolin with better tone for bluegrass. Never. (Of course, there are a lot of great mandolins I haven't played.)

[BlueMountain]

The handwritten label reads "Handcrafted by M. L. Tucker / Washington, GA / Ser # 002-92 / F-5 Artist Mandolin / 1-706-678-7948 / 7/15/92"

[BlueMountain]

The previous owner, a MandolinCafe member, had previously owned Tucker #9, which had been Wayne Benson's primary instrument for years, but when he heard #2, he sold #9, as this one sounded so much better. (The odd shaped inlay between the first and second frets is shaped like the emblem of the Georgia State Police. Melvin Tucker used to be a trooper.)

[BlueMountain]

The man I bought it from says that last summer Adam Steffey placed this for an hour at a festival and said it was one of the finest mandolins he'd ever played. Doyle Lawson signed it inside with a felt-tipped pen, and dated it. What do you make of a guy who can sign his name and a date two inches inside a 3/4" hole? The mandolin came with a case that says Tucker Mandolins on the top. It also came with a Calton Case that Doyle Lawson signed in four inch letters with a white marker.

[BlueMountain]

Do you believe in mojo? I do know that when I picked up this thing, it seemed to be vibrating, and my playing improved a lot. I've often laughed at people who sniff their mandolin's F-hole, but I'll tell you, this thing has a distinctive and wonderful odor. Almost like western cedar. I'll be playing and get this wonderful whiff of, what, Bluegrass, I guess. It's in the case, too. Yum.

[BlueMountain]

I haven't managed to get a photo that captures the beauty of the top, deep and crystalline. The stain is virtually transparent. The top is European spruce. The word is that this is the only Tucker with a European spruce top.

[BlueMountain]

My understanding is that Melvin Tucker made about thirty Fs and thirty As and that he is no longer building. I hear that the details on this mandolin are less perfect than his later work, but how does a guy get this sort of tone on his second instrument?

[BlueMountain]

If you've heard Doyle Lawson, you know what this sounds like. Dry and woody, but with a balance between sustain and lack of it. Excellent chop. The finish has been professionally removed on the neck. The spine down the middle of the neck is sharper and deeper than some, but the neck is very comfortable. The fretboard is flat and scooped. Given that the frets look unworn, I suspect that they've been replaced, but that's the only clue.

[BlueMountain]

Nice gold Gotoh tuners with grained ivoroid buttons and grained ivoroid binding. Nice gold plated tailpiece with Tucker engraved on it. Bone nut. Delicate ebony bridge. Nice bound finger rest.

[BlueMountain]

The action is 1/16" on the G string and less than that on the E string, yet there is no buzzing. No wonder this mandolin seems to play itself.

[BlueMountain]

The roses? Oh. I buy my wife roses every week, and she doesn't complain when I buy mandolins.

[BlueMountain]

Looks like it's been played, but it's strange to think that Doyle Lawson put those marks there.

[BlueMountain]

Here you can see a bit of the label.

[BlueMountain]

More of the front including the bridge. I like it when a bridge is rounded off like this.

[John M. Riley]

i bet that mandolin is a hoss..... i have a tucker a stlye.... his prototype #2... i believe doyle was the #1 a style... the a style is quite a fine mandolin also...

[DryBones]

sound clip? or youtube of you playing it? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Steve Cantrell]

I'd love to hear it too. The miracle of Youtube, huh?

[wayfaringstranger]

It's a hoss. I've played it, and he's not kidding - it's one of the best bluegrass-voiced mandolins I've ever had my hands on.

[Lane Pryce]

I notice the finish is ultra-thin. Great acquisition too. Lp

[Brad Weiss]

Looks cool- it's just a shame you don't enjoy it more...

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[mandolin123]

Melvins mandos are top of the heap. I only wish that I fould get one. I have played several of them. I grew up with his kids in Washington and wish that I cared about bluegrass back then.

[f5loar]

You ain't fooling me. Doyle Lawson can take a 50's Kay and make it sound like a Loar. All the Tuckers I've played have been great. Too bad not many out there.

[GTison]

I'm wearing my "Tucker Mandolins" cap as I type. Super MOJO.

[Danny Clark]

this is the first of 5 Tuckers i owned ,very good mandolin ,its been traded around a lot ,I asked Doyle about it before i bought it ,he told me he did not own it long,i think Aubrie Haynie use to own it also,Mike Snyder used it on the opry also.

[david blair]

Nice photos, and history. It's interesting to me. it seems the F holes are unique in that they are smallish towards the head and larger (more Gibson like) on the tail side. The back wood has some interesting figure also. It looks like the recurve in the back starts closer to the center, leaving a wider sort of rim. Does it feel that way in your hands or is it just the way the staining looks? The scroll also seems a bit wider. Just wondering what makes it tick. I like the way the bridge is waved smooth also.
Wanna sell it? #probably NOT!

[BlueMountain]

"it seems the F holes are unique in that they are smallish towards the head and larger (more Gibson like) on the tail side. The back wood has some interesting figure also. It looks like the recurve in the back starts closer to the center, leaving a wider sort of rim. Does it feel that way in your hands or is it just the way the staining looks? The scroll also seems a bit wider. Just wondering what makes it tick. I like the way the bridge is waved smooth also."

To answer your questions, David, I had to get out the digital calipers. I have three F-styles at present: Tucker # 2, Bryant #31, and Bussmann # 318. I'll put the numbers up for you.

F-holes -- Top -- Bottom
Tucker: 9.53 mm. -- 18.13 mm.
Bryant: 9.48 mm. -- 17.77 mm.
Bussmann: 6.58 mm. -- 10.09 mm.

Scroll maximum thickness:
Tucker: 59.79 mm.
Bryant: 56.68 mm.
Bussmann: 55.72 mm.
You noticed a 4 mm. difference from a photo! That's impressive!

More important, maybe, is the actual depth of the sides, which I measured from the maple at the top o the scroll (as it's not bound.
Tucker: 36.91 mm.
Bryant: 35.73
Bussmann: 35.20

It's harder to measure the recurve accurately from the outside--a lot of guesswork involved, but you are VERY right about the recurve on the Tucker. It curves steeply, and at about 47 mm. in from the edge, compared to 22 mm. on the Bryant, which is a Loar copy, and about 16 mm. on the Bussman.

Also, like some turtles, there's quite a high spine of wood running down about six inches from the top of the back: a sort of shallow V rather than smoothly rounded, as in the other Fs I have here.

Another thing I'm noticing, at this time of the morning with a bright cloudy sky outside a south facing window, and caressing the back with love, is that (see photos of back), with my eyes closed, I can FEEL each striation of the curly maple back as I run my hands from top to bottom. This is not my imagination. I can also feel the grain from side to side, but it's less noticable. In this light, holding the back just right so that it's all over glare, the back actually looks like PLAID: rises and dips from the grain and the curl both interrupting what is generally the smooth surface. I'm not able to get that effect from the other two backs, though on the Bryant I can see it for the grain on the front, and also, as the photos show, on the front of the Tucker. The bridge seems to push down the European spruce top of the Tucker to the extent that the inside edge of the F holes (toward the bridge) is one or two mm. lower than the outer edge. On the Bryant they are the same, and on the Bussmann, the inside edges are actually nearly a mm. higher (braced that way, I suppose). The Tucker has several prominent finish checks from the bridge up, but this has been a working mandolin, moved in and out of hot, cold, dry, damp weather many times, so whether that caused the checking or whether the top is simply flexing a bit more, I don't know. I hope this helps.

No, I don't have any plans to sell it at this time, though of course, one never knows when one suffers from MAS. Sometimes people do stupid things. I have tickets to see Chris Thile and Wayne Benson in June and May, and I'm hoping to get them to pick it a little and sign the case.

[david blair]

Thanks for the photos and measurements!

[Tucker Mandolins]

Well, this is the first time ive been on this sight in a couple of years. Its sure nice to see yall talking about me. My head done swole up as big as a $5.00 watermelon.
Don't you boys count me out they haven't throwed dirt in my face yet. Yes that #2 mandolin was a good one alright but they is still a little history behind the ole girl. Ive still got Ole # 4 and she is still a good one too. Brandon Farley with the Blue grass brothers played it for 3 days last week end at the Hoofers festival in La Grange, Ga and Steve Dowdy with the Brothers is picking a prototype Tucker Guitar and it sounded pretty good too.

As for the mandolin I believe if I had kept building them the price would have been up there where the big boys are selling now around the 15K to 20K range but, thats past history.

That # 2 mandolin was the first one I ever sold. It sold for 1200.00. It took the guy 2 years to pay me for it. I heard he was in trouble and was going to sell it so I offered to buy it back for 1200.00 but he said he was doing OK now. When I got back from the IBMA I had a msg from a pawn shop in NC that had bought it for 500.00. It took me a year to get it back. Cost me 1650.00. I showed it to Doyle 2 weeks later and he wanted it. So, I traded it to him for the #6 mandolin I had made him. He said it was had to much bass and was to dark sounding for him. Well, I guy in South Ga bought it and still has it and told me he has turned down 10K for it.... Man I wished I could have got that kind of money for them..Ha,ha.
I tried to hold the prices down where someone who wanted a good mandolin could afford one but they started to resale for prices more that twice what I sold them for.
Well, you guys hang in there and you may still see an ole Tucker come along once in a while. But, I doubt if anybody still wants them.

Keep on Bluegrassin
Tuck

[45ACP-GDLF5]

Doyle doesn't play his Signature Gibson on stage anymore. He has been playing a DMM for about a year now. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[G. Fisher]

Melvin,

How many mandos did you build?

[squirrelabama]

I heard that Doyle was rippin' it up at Wintergrass on Sunday with a new Carver mandolin that he ended up buying. He was apparently VERY pleased. Even plugged it during the performance!!

[Jonathan Peck]

It's up on ebay if anyone's interested. Item number: 160100135209

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Doyle-Lawsons-Mandolin-1992-1997-Tucker-2_W0QQitemZ160100135209QQcategoryZ10179QQrdZ1QQcmd
ZViewItem" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/Doyle-L....iewItem</a>

[red7flag]

I am fortunate to have spent some time with Dale Reno, who also plays a Tucker. I don't know what number his is. His has a Mason's symbol somewhere on the mando somewhere on the top, where a pick guard would be, as I remember. Was a great sounding mando and he can flat out play it too.
Tony