Newmad a4

[zoukboy]

I just had the pleasure of spending about 3 weeks with the New Millennium Acoustic Design A4 prototype. Peter Mix sent it to me to check out and as I leaving for Ireland a couple of days after it arrived he was kind enough to let me take it on my trip. I had a blast playing it in sessions large and small. It is loud enough to hold its own in all but the noisiest session -- much louder than any Gibson A model I've ever heard.

Set-up was first rate - it plays like a dream.

The tone is really good, full and round on the treble strings, bright and pointed on the bass strings. I came away with the impression that the trebles were like a great A model and the basses were a bit more like an F model - a nice combination. The most impressive thing about the sound is the balance - it's really even all over the board.

It was a hit with almost everyone who heard and played it while it was with me.

My take: it has many things going for it that you wouldn't expect to find in an instrument that costs $3500, plus some advantages that no wooden instrument has ever had (scuba diving with mandos, anyone?), so I think they've priced it just right.

The only thing I didn't like about the A4 was the sound of the Schertler pickup. I thought that it had an inordinate amount of body noise. This might be its position inside the instrument - I don't know.

Anyway, thanks to Peter and good luck to him and Will in this new venture!

[nilodnam]

Roger,

I have never heard an internal pickup that I thought sounded very realistic. They will create a mandolin like sound, but nothing like a condenser mic into a PA could do (albeit it at lower volume). Can you comment on how the Schertler pickup sounded other than the body noise. Also, by body noise, do you mean that it picked up noise from your finger or hand contact to the mandolin body?

Thanks,

Jim Davis

[Tom C]

Quote: "...and the basses were a bit more like an F model"

That is usually what I try to avoid when checking out oval holes. I want a nice tubby tone with sustain. Usually the ones that sound like a cross of F&oval tend to sound like bad Fs to me. I would love to check one out though because we all hear and describe tone differently. $3500 for CF seems steep. I'm sure the initial startup costs are very high but if these become a sucess I would hope that the cost drops. I do not know the manufacturing process but it seems 95% of the hand work will be eliminated.

One of strongest reasons I like bluegrass and acoustice music if hearing the tones of "nature". Carved wooden instruments is also viewed as a piece of art. Each one different, each builder has their own perspective...etc. For that money right now, I would prefer a wood hand carved, with a nice rosette and inlay rather than something "plastic". -But hey, I'm not stubborn so if I were try one and liked it, I'd be the first to praise it.

[Don Grieser]

The tone may be a product of the longer neck joint and oval hole placement. I have a Red Diamond oval hole A with much the same configuration as the NewMAD A4 and it's definitely a different sound than the shorter neck joint Gibson A sound. Not better or worse, just different.

[zoukboy]

I have never heard an internal pickup that I thought sounded very realistic. They will create a mandolin like sound, but nothing like a condenser mic into a PA could do (albeit it at lower volume). Can you comment on how the Schertler pickup sounded other than the body noise. Also, by body noise, do you mean that it picked up noise from your finger or hand contact to the mandolin body?
I like the B-Band pickups quite a lot, but agree with you about the condenser mic.

By body noise I mean the sound of the physical force of picking the strings tranferred to the body by the bridge. the Schertler sounded to me like someone thumping on the top mixed in with the mando sound. if the body noise could have been taken out I think it would have sounded decent if not "accurate."

[zoukboy]

vQuote: "...and the basses were a bit more like an F model"

That is usually what I try to avoid when checking out oval holes. I want a nice tubby tone with sustain. Usually the ones that sound like a cross of F&oval tend to sound like bad Fs to me. I would love to check one out though because we all hear and describe tone differently. $3500 for CF seems steep. I'm sure the initial startup costs are very high but if these become a sucess I would hope that the cost drops. I do not know the manufacturing process but it seems 95% of the hand work will be eliminated.

One of strongest reasons I like bluegrass and acoustice music if hearing the tones of "nature". Carved wooden instruments is also viewed as a piece of art. Each one different, each builder has their own perspective...etc. For that money right now, I would prefer a wood hand carved, with a nice rosette and inlay rather than something "plastic". -But hey, I'm not stubborn so if I were try one and liked it, I'd be the first to praise it.
the NewMad is definitely not tubby, but it has oodles of sustain. I would never describe the A4 as sounding "like a bad F" as you put it, and I doubt you would if you played it, but YMMV. ;-)

I think the price is just right. You'd be hard pressed to find a handmade wooden instrument with its characteristics for $3500.

and it doesn't seem "plastic" at all if you just listen to it.

[zoukboy]

The tone may be a product of the longer neck joint and oval hole placement. I have a Red Diamond oval hole A with much the same configuration as the NewMAD A4 and it's definitely a different sound than the shorter neck joint Gibson A sound. Not better or worse, just different.
could the placement of the bridge also be a contributing factor? it seems high up on the arch to me.

[Perry]

I have a Mix A5 (f holes). I was trying to wait before posting a detailed review because I wanted to play it in a number of different situations but here goes anyway:

Although it smells like an autobody shop it sure don't sound like one!

Scott was correct about the overtones but they can be tamed easily. I like to use felt.

It stays in tune. Did I mention that it stays in tune? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
(I opted for Waverly's on mine but I venture to guess that the material's stability has more to do with the fact that it stays in tune)

It does not compress when you lay into it.

It barks like a dog! It's plenty loud. There was some question about it's chopping ability after Peter posted his videos. It has a very nice warm focused chop.

You know what it looks like. Check out the website they all look the same. You know what your gonna get. Maybe this takes some of the fun away? It is much more striking in person though then even the newer website pix show. The TKL tweed case is a nice ying yang to the black "tweed" carbon fiber weave.

One negative comment (which may be viewed as postive to some) is that the tone doesn't change much when you pick closer to the nut as opposed to the bridge. This can be viewed as having a large 'easy to get to' sweet spot or
you can view it as a lack of tonal flexibility. I should mention that it does repspond nicely to picking attack. i.e. it softens up very nicely when you pick soft

My Schertler sounded like a Schertler. (I'm a Schertler fan) I like the convenience of the built-in pick-up. I did not notice the body noise issue mentioned but I have not played it out loud and cranking yet. Could be the oval vs. f hole?

I love the fact that I don't have to be so careful with it
like I would a varnished wood instrument. I had an impromtu picking session the other morning and left it my car in 17 degree weather all day and was not worried. Took it out of the car brought it inside opened the case while still cold and guess what? It was in tune.

I imagine that it would make a great festival or camp mando. Play in the sun all day, play in the cool night, play near the 'ol campfire, leave it your tent, lock it in your car.

It's a great open mic mando: show up, plug-in (or not)
and away you go without worrying so much about the instrument acclimating to the room.

All in all I am very pleased with it and for now it's my 'go to' mando.

[first string]

I think the price is just right. You'd be hard pressed to find a handmade wooden instrument with its characteristics for $3500.
Really? I think there are quite a few top notch makers who will build you a very nice A for that amount. I haven't played the Newmad, and I don't doubt that it is wonderful, but I do think that Peter Mix has a bit of an uphill battle in front of him no matter how great the product is. Frankly, it seems that bluegrass fans (and I'm not leaving myself out of this group) are a bit stodgy, and getting them to drop 3,500 on what may be percieved as a specialty instrument might be difficult after the first wave of enthusiasm wears off. I'm certainly not the first to point this out, and I definitely hope that the other skeptics and I are wrong. Persoanly I think it's great that someone is pushing the bounderies, even if I wouldn't necessarily be the first to rush out and buy a cf mando.

It would be nice if as time goes by they can drop the price a little. It's not that I don't think they deserve what they are charging for them, but rather that I think at the current pricepoint they are in most peoples "main instrument" range, and I think when it comes to that most folks will still opt for wood.

[Tom C]

Being Perry lives less than 5 minutes from me....<span style='color:red'><span style='font-size:13pt;line-height:100%'>When am I going to get to play it?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif</span></span> http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Not sharing your wonderful toys any more??? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Perry]

Take back your nasty wood comments first! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[zoukboy]

I think the price is just right. You'd be hard pressed to find a handmade wooden instrument with its characteristics for $3500.
Really? I think there are quite a few top notch makers who will build you a very nice A for that amount.
James, please note that I didn't say there weren't nice A models available for that amount, just that I think you wouldn't find any with the *characteristics* of the NewMAD A4 for that amount. You might agree after you've played one. :-)

[Peter Mix]

I sure understand Tom's desire to see these instruments become available at a lower price, but reality dictates otherwise. Our instruments are entirely built by hand and each one is as unique as a fingerprint. Granted, we can achieve great consistency in the molding process and this translates into great consistency of voice and feel, but carbon fiber is a fabric which lays into the mold differently each time. Those differences are minute and have no bearing on tone, but you can think of them like the grain in flamed maple: not two pieces are identical even from the same billet.
#I think of carbon fiber as another fine tone material which requires exceptional skills to translate into a first-class instrument. We cut no corners and this means we spend a lot of time getting it right.
#Yes, we do have an uphill battle and not every mandolinist is going to be won over, but it's a big old mando-world out there and there's a need for these instruments. If you have a chance to play one, you'll see and hear why I knew it had to be done. They stand on their own as very fine performance tools. Like Perry, my Mix A5 is my go-to mando. For a diehard mando-obsessive like me, that's a strong statement. I leave it out all the time and never worry about it....and it stays in tune!
#We are now doing our first burst instruments and they are spectacular. I love the look of natural carbon fiber. Just wait til you see black-burst, blue-burst and burgundy-burst!

[gwalt]

Burgundy-burst 2-point? hmmmmm.... what do you think?

[James P]

But do they stay in tune??? #


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

[Perry]

An update:

Yes it's still in tune http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Here's something I notice about the MIX A5 compared to my other wood instruments. It is remarkably consistent tonewise. The weather here in NY has been fickle to say the least (cold last week 70's today) and unlike my wood mandos which seem to sound a little different every time I pick them up the MIX sound the same no matter what the humidity or temperature is.

I'm starting to really appreciate the slightly chunky neck feel also (my Collings MT-2 neck profile is much slimmer)

Also when comparing prices the fact that there is a $400 pick-up in the MIX should be taken into account.

Perry

[Tom C]

Well obviously there is alot more hand work than I thought and being that there is a unique blueprint for each one is cool. I'm open to new things and would like to try one for sure.

[mandroid]

the lush color of the Viola on the clear carbon site did look tempting.
a silver CF pre preg case case to fit it into, would eliminate the hot Festival problem .
How are those locked up tight in a hot Car?