O'brien mandolins

[DryBones]

Just got back from my first official lesson and my instructor was playing an O'Brien mandolin. Anybody have any info on these? Thing sounded great and looked nice as well.

[Mike Bunting]

I seem to remember reading years ago, that Jimmy Gaudreau was playing an O'Brien. This would have been back in the days when he played with the Country Gentlemen. I think he said the builder was Jack O'Brien.

[DryBones]

Mike! That's the name that was on the truss rod cover! I couldn't remember what it said until you wrote that. I wonder if this is his old mandolin or signature model? I guess I will find out next weekend.

[Mike Bunting]

I did some googling and found this:

O'Brien Instruments
Nutting Road
Jaffery, NH
(603) 532-4398
Jack O'Brien is a certified Martin guitar repair person and has been building quality instruments for decades.. He builds top of the line mandolins used by amateurs and professionals alike. He loves what he does and is well known in the world of musicians as a quality person who does quality work. He also does some banjo repair and setup.

[DryBones]

yep, thats all I found also. I'll fill you in next week with more details.

[bradeinhorn]

funny you should mention this-while vacationing in cape cod this week i was lucky enough to stumble into a a bluegrass jam last thursday night and there was an O'brien in the house. very nice bluegrass mandolin and it was well played in by the current owner. i believe it was an '82.

some fine mandos in attendance - a buckeye, which i'd also never played before. also a gilchrist f-5 (very nice, of course), and an H-4 mandola from 27 i believe, that was just awesome sounding and in gorgeous shape.

[Mandobar]

jack o'brien is the repair person for maple leaf music in vt and acoustic outfitters in nh. he was also "luthier in residence" at the march mandolin festival in concord, nh directed by david surette (i believe jack works on david's mandolins). he's built a few mandos, but repair work takes up most of his time. gary (the owner of acoustic outfitters) is waiting for jack to finish his mando. not too many of these around.

[evanreilly]

I ran into Jack a long time ago while living up Nawth. He had a 1929 Fern that was for sale and I came close to buying.
I saw and played several instruments he built.
I remember going to his house and not being able to get in due to piles of cases stacked up everywhere.

[ninevah]

Jesse Brock used to play an O'Brien. He used it on his CD "Kickin Grass". Excellent, Excellent sound. He's one of my favorite players, very tasteful breaks.

[Givson]

I used to play in a band called "The Pep Boys" with a man who owned a Jack O'Brien mando. It was an excellent sounding instrument with a pronounced arch to the fingerboard. I believe that Jack no longer builds mandolins, but I would certainly recommend a used one.

[Brad Weiss]

My one-time teacher plays an O'Brien, for old timey, Irish, and swing stuff. It has a REALLY sweet tone, and is very responsive. Wish his work were better known.

[Larry Simonson]

About 10 years ago I was at a big Jam session and there was this one mandolin, an A model, that could be heard above all the cacaphony so I worked my way up to it found out it was an O'brien. #About 7 years later an O'brien A model(Jack built 3 of them) was posted in the classified on this forum and an on-line auction. #Well I just had to contact the owner after remembering that special instrument I heard years before. #It turned out to be withing driving distance and more importantly, it was the same instrument I had heard in that jam session. I bought it immediately and it has lived up to my expectations. #It has what I call "horsepower"!

[Flowerpot]

I don't suppose your teacher was Mark Maggiola? I've played his Obrien and it's extremely nice. Very strong multi-dimensional tone.

[Brad Weiss]

Nope- David di Giuseppe in Chapel Hill.

[DryBones]

I was wondering that about you Brad, but to answer the question, yes...Mark is my new instructor. Lives about 20 minutes from me. Nice guy,should be fun.

[Rich Michaud]

Jack did some work for me on my Nugget. In the process, I spent some time in his shop in his home in New Hampshire. He is a very nice guy and an accomplished luthier. I have played several O'Briens and they are nice instruments. He is a one man shop but would probably build one for anyone willing to pay 10k or so. #Rich