Dark brown mandolins

[Alex Fields]

I have a mandolin being built right now, and I have kindof a specific color in mind for the finish, but I can't find a good way pictures or anything to show him just what I have in mind. Can any of you who have dark brown finishes with no sunburst, and not so dark that you can't see the grain of the wood, post a picture of your instrument in case I can find one that's pretty close to what I have in mind?

The closest things I've found so far are on a couple of Mowry F5s: this one (http://www.mowrystrings.com/images2/F5_images/IMGP3665.jpg) and the color around the edges (not in the center) of this one (http://www.mowrystrings.com/images2/F5_images/back_shoulder1.jpg). Thanks.

[bradeinhorn]

try looking at some of the old all brown flatirons.

[Alex Fields]

Any particular place with images of more than one of those?

Btw if they are anything like the Gibson -9 models where it's all color and no visible wood grain, it's not what I want.

[Gutbucket]

I have a Weber Custom Yellowstone with a Chocolate colored #top and back. You can still see the grain on top and back. I'll try to post some pics.

[delsbrother]

Are you talking about just the back, or both the top and the back? Something like this? (http://www.vintageinstruments.com/photos/inst18/24lhadolaful.jpg)

BTW the 9 series Gibsons aren't solid (opaque) color. It's just that there's not much figure to see on the early ones and it doesn't show up in photos. That changed as time went by. My F9 (from the great GC closeout) shows quite a bit of flame figure; my (older) A9 only a tiny amount of birdseye. You can clearly see the grain on both tops.

See this thread. (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=15;t=20598;hl=f9+and+flame)

Oh, and I'll second gutbucket's recommendation. Go to the Weber site. They've done lots of chocolate brown finishes over figured wood.

[cooper4205]

try looking at some of the old all brown flatirons.
like this? I've seen them darker, mine's faded some over the years though


http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/wesb4217/flattyground3.jpg

[Alex Fields]

That Flatiron is a lot lighter than I'm thinking. The first link from delsbrother is a lot closer.

[Lane Pryce]

Alex look at the chestnut colored mandolins on Andrew Mowry's web site. My A that you played at MerleFest is one of them. If you need pics shoot me a PM. Lp

[mandolinrick]

Here's one of my latest ones - a dark, solid brown.

http://www.torzynmusicalinstruments.com/images/blog/final/final_back1.jpg

You can see more pics on the blog (http://www.torzynmusicalinstruments.com/blog/wordpress/?p=17) for T3, Torzyn Mandolins.

[jasona]

Check out Craig Murray's Heiden. (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=15;t=27913;hl=heiden)

[bassthumper]

i've got a WEBER SPECIAL EDITION in ANTIQUE WALNUT stain....is that the visual you're looking for?

[Alex Fields]

I don't think chestnut or walnut is right.

That Heiden is pretty darn close. Not exactly what's in my mind. But then, if I show Sim some pictures and try to describe how what I want is different...he will come up with something that, if not exactly what I had in mind before, will surely be beautiful and I'm sure I'll be happy with it. I just wanted some pictures to show him so I wouldn't get something radically different from what I wanted. Thanks everyone for the help.

[T W Perez]

Alex
Do an archive search of Gerald Anderson.Russ Jordan had #93 that has the look I think you have in mind.Geralds done a lot in this dark fiddle brown.Hope this helps

[Gutbucket]

Weber Custom Cedar top Yellowstone

[Gutbucket]

The back

[mandolirius]

<Can any of you who have dark brown finishes with no sunburst, and not so dark that you can't see the grain of the wood, post a picture of your instrument in case I can find one that's pretty close to what I have in mind?>

I don't have mine anymore, but you might check out Bob Givens mandolins. He sort of specialized in the dark brown finish. Some had no sunburst, others a slight one. Greg Boyd's ususally has a few.

[mandroid]

Are you thinking,

... like all those good Ol' 'Sheraton Brown' Gibsons, perhaps? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[Brad Weiss]

One more stab...

[bradeinhorn]

darker than this?

[Alex Fields]

Those last two are both close. Especially that A5. Thanks. And I will look up Anderson and Givens.

EDIT: I guess that A5 is a Givens.

[Greenmando]

BTW the 9 series Gibsons aren't solid (opaque) color. It's just that there's not much figure to see on the early ones and it doesn't show up in photos.
I wish my 01 had some flame. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b109/ferretkona/Mandolins/Gibson004.jpg

[Alex Fields]

I guess I was remembering inaccurately what those -9s look like. Strange because I've played a bunch of them. I like them, IMHO they're the only Gibsons worth the price.

[bradeinhorn]

IMHO they're the only Gibsons worth the price.
you might learn to avoid statements like that at some point as they tend to breed animosity....

[Alex Fields]

ou might learn to avoid statements like that at some point as they tend to breed animosity....

Maybe. I've never understood the point of avoiding honesty to make other people happy. I'm always polite about sharing my opinions here and I've always thought that if someone decides to get ticked off because of my humble opinion then they have some kind of serious emotional problem. Disagreeing with me or even thinking my opinions are really bad is a totally different thing and doesn't bother me.

Lots and lots of people will say the exact same things I do (about, say, Gibson mandolins) if you talk to them in person, and even be far less reserved about it and quite sarcastic and nasty, and yet it's taboo to give such an opinion in a polite form around here. Why?

What is wrong with the things I say? Is it just the fact that I'm sharing an opinion some people will disagree with? I can't imagine that you actually think it's wrong to share an opinion just because it's controversial. And don't say that I could say "I don't like X" instead of "X isn't worth the price" because they're two different meanings and the latter is the accurate one. Is it the way I say things? I certainly have no intention of ever seeming rude, I consistently say "imho" or "a lot of people will disagree and that's fine" or "I mean no disrespect to anyone" and similar things intended to show that I'm not trying to be controversial or to be disrespectful to anyone, just saying accurately what I think.

I imagine what you will say is that I shouldn't make comments like that when they aren't strongly related to the topic at hand and so aren't necessary. But I don't see how that makes a difference. You're still just saying I should edit what I say based on whether other people will disagree. I don't understand why we're required to avoid talking like real people actually talk just to be super politically correct or something. We're not even talking about cussing or being rude or condescending or anything, just about giving a genuine opinion based on extensive of personal experience. And at least in this case I know lots and lots of people including professional musicians who agree with me so it isn't like it's some crazy radical opinion that only a fool would have. What's the deal?

[MandoBen]

I used to have a very old Gibson F9 w/MOP dot neck, highly figured back and sides and the darkest brown finish I have ever seen on a 9 series Gibson. As dark as it was, the grain in the spruce showed plain as day and so did the flame in the maple.

[Alex Fields]

Ben, is that mando sans fingerboard extension? It looks like it in the picture but it's hard to tell. I love the look of fingerboards that just stop at a whole fret with no extension.

[MandoBen]

Yes, as far as I know, all the A9's and F9's stop square at about the 20th fret. Here's another pic I just found in my archives:

[gnelson651]

Here's one of my latest ones - a dark, solid brown.

http://www.torzynmusicalinstruments.com/images/blog/final/final_back1.jpg

You can see more pics on the blog (http://www.torzynmusicalinstruments.com/blog/wordpress/?p=17) #for T3, Torzyn Mandolins.
Look Ma, no hands!

Great leviation trick here. Are you a magician and a musician? Must be great at kid's birthday parties. Play a little mando, then do some magiac tricks. Or do some magic tricks with the mando.

[MandoHog]

Ok, perhaps like this one: http://www.roundmountainsounds.com/grommet....ull.jpg (http://www.roundmountainsounds.com/grommetsonmandosmall.jpg/grommetsonmandosmall-full.jpg)

[red7flag]

I like the brown on the Lebeda Mandola, called Summer Brown. Hope this helps.
Tony

[bassthumper]

the back on GNELSON651's mando is real darn close to the ANTIQUE WALNUT on my weber ....which is slightly darker than RED7FLAG's LEBEDA....both show off the grain really well...having seen the weber & lebeda side by side in realtime....i would say tony's mandola shows off the grain more....

[rnjl]

Hi everybody, Neal here.

I just took some new pictures of my Parsons F- I got it about 18 months ago but never took pics- and my 83 Flatiron A.

The Parsons is reddish-brown, but comes out a little more reddish in the sunlight for some reason.

I am deeply psyched about it, and play it more than the Flatiron, frankly.

You can find both sets of pics here:


http://picasaweb.google.com/rabbineal

[delsbrother]

You mean like this?

http://www.janetdavismusic.com/images/f5g_deluxe_bk.jpg

If that's what you're after, that's a pretty common look that every builder would be familiar with - the Gibson F5-G. Dark brown back, glossy, no distinguishable sunburst, figured wood shows through.

Here's another, (http://images.miretail.com/products/optionlarge/GibsonBluegrass/517388.327_sn-61018010_back.jpg) another, (http://www.vintagemandolin.com/images/07gibsonf5g_70118010/backlarge.jpg) and another (http://www.themandolinstore.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=7710) (to show you a range, more can be easily found through Google).

Some of the F5-Gs I've seen have been really tight and flamey, others less so. I really like this color over heavy figure (like the last link); I wish they would've kept the '9 series darker like this instead of 'bursting them, but then the two series would've looked too much alike.

[Jonathan Peck]

This would take a little effort on your part, but why not go to a local woodworker or furniture maker and have them mix some custom stains for you. You can tweak it until you're happy and then send a 'sample' as well as the formula to Sim. This would take alot of back and forth out of the equation. Doing samples over the internet may only get you close to what you want.

If I were Sim, I wouldn't proceed until I had sent you a physical sample for you to sign. Once approved, I would then add the cost of the time sent preparing and shipping samples for approval and also add a fee on top of that.

That said, I wonder if Sim could make me one of these http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[El Greco]

I always find something like this useful in deciding about color/finish:

finisher's color wheel (http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=5371&mode=articles#tabs)

[bradeinhorn]

ou might learn to avoid statements like that at some point as they tend to breed animosity....

Maybe. #I've never understood the point of avoiding honesty to make other people happy. #I'm always polite about sharing my opinions here and I've always thought that if someone decides to get ticked off because of my humble opinion then they have some kind of serious emotional problem. #Disagreeing with me or even thinking my opinions are really bad is a totally different thing and doesn't bother me. #

Lots and lots of people will say the exact same things I do (about, say, Gibson mandolins) if you talk to them in person, and even be far less reserved about it and quite sarcastic and nasty, and yet it's taboo to give such an opinion in a polite form around here. #Why?

What is wrong with the things I say? #Is it just the fact that I'm sharing an opinion some people will disagree with? #I can't imagine that you actually think it's wrong to share an opinion just because it's controversial. #And don't say that I could say "I don't like X" instead of "X isn't worth the price" because they're two different meanings and the latter is the accurate one. #Is it the way I say things? #I certainly have no intention of ever seeming rude, I consistently say "imho" or "a lot of people will disagree and that's fine" or "I mean no disrespect to anyone" and similar things intended to show that I'm not trying to be controversial or to be disrespectful to anyone, just saying accurately what I think.

I imagine what you will say is that I shouldn't make comments like that when they aren't strongly related to the topic at hand and so aren't necessary. #But I don't see how that makes a difference. #You're still just saying I should edit what I say based on whether other people will disagree. #I don't understand why we're required to avoid talking like real people actually talk just to be super politically correct or something. #We're not even talking about cussing or being rude or condescending or anything, just about giving a genuine opinion based on extensive of personal experience. #And at least in this case I know lots and lots of people including professional musicians who agree with me so it isn't like it's some crazy radical opinion that only a fool would have. #What's the deal?
sorry to re-raise this. i didn't see your response earlier. (ignore this if you're here to look at brown mandolins).

i just think you should spend a bit more time qualifying your humble opinions when you make them. you will then spend a lot less time defending them. when unsupported, they just come off as pot-stirring brand jibes, especially when they are totally unrelated to the thread.

i'm all for you sharing what you feel might come off as your controversial opinions, but it will work out better for you if you explain yourself a little as to why, for example, out of the vast product line gibson offers, the a-9 is the only one "worth the price". also-assuming peoples' arguments is pretty condescending on a mandolin message board.

happy monday,
b

ps-i'm excited to see the new brown daley. i say, go with that givens a-3 color.

[mandolooter]

Back to them brown mandolins, noses, etc. haha!

Yea them brown Givens rock...go look at Greg Boyd's for some variations on his older vs newer color of brown. They have a 77,78,88,91,92 and a 64 or something, one of his first ones. I pulled my pic cuz they sucked, here's another better looking one taken in 2003.

[Dfyngravity]

How's about this Poe F5. I think it may be close to what you're after.

Poe F5 (http://www.poestrings.com/Gallery/010.html)

[mdlorenz]

Mine is in the brown family... well... maybe not.

[F5G WIZ]

This is a nice dark brown, one of Andy Poe's early Driftwood mandolins.

[Joe F]

My mandolin is an early-1980s Japanese-built Kentucky KM-200S. #The actual color is darker than the photo, and the lighter gradation towards the center is more subtle.

[Joe F]

This is me playing the KM-200S in an outdoor jam setting. The color is a bit more accurate in this photo.

[Alex Fields]

There are so many of these I like, and they are so different, that it's making doubt whether I really have an image in my mind of what I want, haha. Some of them are lighter than what I want but a lot are fairly close. Thanks to whoever suggested getting samples from a furniture place, that's a really good idea and I think I will try to do that.

[dstretch]

This one will be close to brown. #4, and the last one with "MY" on it.

[frankenstein]

photo of an ellis at carmel music that i kept coz i thought it is a nice lookin' thing. good colours..

[buckhorn]

here is a nice brown mando.....one of the first built

[mandolooter]

one more brownie, a old Gibson

[John Sawatzky]

I had mine done in a fairly dark brown as well, but yet a stain that would bring out the flamed maple back.
John

[mandolooter]

nice back!

[Mattman]

Brown Mandolin (http://www.themandolinstore.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=7423)

Does this fit the bill? I know a lot of Eastman's come in dark brown.