Eastman 805mdc mandocello has arrived!

[good_ol_al_61]

I received mandocello #3 from Steve Perry and it is everything I had hoped for. Fit/finish is great, tone is deep and old sounding, playability is easy (for such a relatively large fretboard) and the fiberglass case is top notch. The appointments are grand, 5 ply edge binding, bound F holes, nice tailpiece, thin neck, nicely figured maple all around.

Steve's service was also excellent as always. IMHO He and Gianna has raised the bar so high that only Dennis at the Mandolin Store and Elderly can even dare to compete in the service end of the instrument business.

I hope you enjoy a few pictures that I will post here. Pose any questions you may have and I'll eventually get to them. The only question I have is why didn't it sell at the IBMA show? Thier loss is my gain.

[good_ol_al_61]

Front...

[good_ol_al_61]

Back...

[Dan Krhla]

That's a beauty!

[good_ol_al_61]

Front at an angle....

[good_ol_al_61]

This picture of the back is more representative of the true color. The first picture in this thread is too dark....

[Stephen Perry]

Blush. Thanks. This is a great instrument. Better than no. 1 I played at Wintergrass. Really cool. I could fool around on one of these all day!

[JEStanek]

Very nice looking, Al! Congrats.

Jamie

[sgarrity]

Great looking 'cello. Now when are they gonna make an octave??

[good_ol_al_61]

Eastman doesn't make an Octave, but they do make mandolas. Steve sold his last one, but I'm sure he can get more.

[markishandsome]

I'll take two http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[mandopete]

Very cool indeed! Any chance of posting some sound clips?

I'm also curious if you have the G course and D course tuned in unison of in octaves.

[mandolooter]

Hey Al....good ol buddy, could ya swing by with that so I can pick on it? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[mandolinrick]

Al,

Looks real purty! I like the color on it and the binding looks nice too. I'll have to swing by soon and hear what it sounds like.

Congrats!

Rick

[good_ol_al_61]

Mandopete: Tuned CGDA at this point. Played "Banks of the Ohio" and "Fireball Mail" on it last night using double stops. I had to use my first and third fingers to fret the two notes. Really a different animal to tame...but my wife said it was "powerful". I've never played guitar so the larger fretboard will take some work. This is going to be fun. Sound clips? I'll try some next week (only because this week is already consummed). All I have is a Radio Shack mic and a computer. I can't tell if the sound quality would be any good, but we'll try.

Mandolooter: If you live in North Florida, send me your address and I'll be by.

Mandolinrick: I know you live in North Florida, so make some time to come to the festival in Ocilla this weekend and we'll pick all night.

[pager]

That looks awesome. Look at that grain on that beast! Simply stunning. Eastman is turning out some beautiful instruments. I just played one of their archtop jazz guitars over the weekend. It was killer. A tonal monster. Since I could not afford it, I cried all the way out of store. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[SChase@EastmanStrings]

Hey guys, I'm glad the cello is going over well. So far, no confirmed plans of an octave but our mandola is very cool. Send me a message if you have any questions.