Anyone plays a weber beartooth traditional

[Dalton Maples]

Anybody play one of these or have any thoughts. I read alot about other A5s, but nothing about this one.

Dalton

[Ivan Kelsall]

I have a Weber 'Beartooth' but not the trad.model,which had been discontinued at the time.I think that the only difference was the headstock shape. The trad.had a 'snakehead'
style while the 'standard' Beartooth had the style you can see in my avatar (if you've got good eyes that is !).
The sound of the Beartooth is loud & tight,with crisp sounding notes & a lovely bell-like treble. On the bass side there's plenty of that as well. On a chop-for-chop basis,the Beartooth is much more 'punchy' than my Fern,with slightly less sustain, whereas the Fern is more 'mellow' & has more sustain. Both Mandolins are built differently & sound totally different,each is excellent in it's own way. If you were thinking of buying one & can find one for sale,certainly check it out. The build quality of my Webers is second to no other top quality Mandolins that i've seen & indeed,is better than a few others i've seen.
If you want some 'absolute' info. re.the differences between the trad.Beartooth & the
'standard' model,contact Weber direct & they'll help you out,
Saska

[Dalton Maples]

Thanks for your reply. I just read so much about Gibson A5/A9s and the MT's and Absoraka's. Just never anything about the top of the line Weber A. It seems it is the A of the Weber Fern and would assume the build and sound would be similar.

Dalton

[Kevin Briggs]

Dalton,

It's funny that you refer to it as the Fern A. That's exactly what it is called now, ever since Weber rehauled their mandolin line a year ago. There are some other changes that I'm not completely aware of, but it is indeed their top A model.

Steve at www.acousticmusicworks.com has one right now. he's a cool dude and a good guy in the mando world. I recommend giving him a call as well. He has a mountain of experience with different kinds of mandolins.

[Ken Olmstead]

Saaska, I love the matching set you have there! Have you ever posted a pic of your Beartooth? I would love to see it "up Close." My favorite mandolin of all time was a 8 year old Beartooth (X braced F-Hole) and was not for sale. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif BIG beefy tone and rang for hours!! I think that oval hole is pretty cool next to that Fern! You have my favorite avatar on the board!! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Ken - I wish i could oblige,but uploading pics.onto the 'Cafe doesn't seem to work from over this side of the pond,i've tried & failed a few times in the past,maybe it's just me !. If you send me a 'personal' e-mail with your e-mail address on it,i'll send you the pic.of my 2 Webers together. Many thanks for the kind words re.my Avatar. I nearly put a pic,of my Stelling Banjo headstock on,but i guess that would have been a bit provocative,
Saska

[Ken Berner]

Like saska, I have an original 1999 Beartooth and it is still my main axe. If you will message me here, I can e-mail a few pics (front and back) to you.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Ken - This is the only pic i have of my 2 Mandolins.I don't have any pics of the back of the Beartooth (Yet),
Saska

[Ivan Kelsall]

Well looky here,gosh darn i done it !!! - There's no stopping me now folks. Incidentally,the MOP truss rod cover on my Fern,Weber had made for my by Brian England's Custom Inlay company - perfect. The catalog style name of the chair in the background is 'Monroe',
Saska

[blawson]

I have a Beartooth Traditional. The differences between it and the regular Beartooth, at least at the time of my purchasing, were traditional Gibson-looking snakehead, A4-like fingerboard extension, Brekke traditional adjustable bridge (which may now be standard, but was instead of the Brekke all-wood adjustable bridge). The claim was also better choice of woods.

It's a fine mandolin, and I'm glad I made the decision to go with a nicer A instead of a lesser F for the same money. Unfortunately, it has been demoted from #1 for a while now, so I should probably move it.

[a12]

I have a Beartooth oval hole, snakehead.
It's several years old, so I don't know exactly what
the trad. specs. are.
The oval hole has binding, and pickguard.
It doesn't sound like my A4 1915 Gibson.
I switch back and for when I get tired of one sound.

[Tim Peter]

Saska, an off topic question... how is the strap secured on your Beartooth? I've rigged up a strap for my A-50, but wonder if there is a better way...

[Ken Olmstead]

Bravo saska! The perfect matched set!!!! Top of the line Weber oval hole and the Fern. Absolutely magnificant!! What vintage for both? Thanks for mentioning Mr. England. I had forgoten who was doing Weber's special order inlays. How has the oval hole matured over the years? Has it approached a Gibson sound (sorry, only reference I really have), gotten darker, more open? The usual banter I know but, curious none the less! Ithink you need to get aquainted with youtube so we can hear and see those lovlies in action!!

Blawson - I think the traditional also had tone bars didn't it? You win the most qualified to respond to Dalton as you are the only one with the actual mandolin in question! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Ken Olmstead]

[QUOTE]It doesn't sound like my A4 1915 Gibson.


Sorry missed that a12. Which do you prefer or play more? How does it differ soundwise? I know its hard to describe in words but I apprciate the attempt. As an oval is my next mandolin purchase and Weber is on my short list, as is an old Gibson or an Old Wave.

[a12]

Which do you prefer or play more?

I play the Gibson for old time and early bluegrass.
It's very tubby and the G string is good and bassy.

I like the Weber for classical and Italian stuff.
It has a brighter sound. The fingerboard is longer and is radiused too. The sound is more
evenly balanced. Plus it stays in tune better.

They're just different, not better than each other.
One's chocolate, the other vanilla.

[Ken Olmstead]

Thanks Bill. Pretty much confirms what I expected but it is nice to have feedback like this.

[Ivan Kelsall]

OK ! - To answer tpeter's question re.the strap fixing. I fixed a strap button to the body of the Mandolin just at the point where the neck joins the body,where a good solid heel block is placed. I used a VERY small drill to drill a pilot hole & then opened up the hole to the correct size for the screw. It looks neat & is as solid as a rock. The Mandolin doesn't tip forward in the way it would if the strap button were screwed to the lower part of the neck.
# #Both mandolins are pretty new. I bought the Fern in December '06 & the Beartooth in September of last year. I traded in my Lebeda F-5 Premium Plus for the Beartooth. The Mandolins sound totally different as you'd expect of instrument built differently. The Beartooth is tight & punchy when chopping & it's VERY loud,very percussive in sound. The Fern is very open,more mellow but still loud enough for any occasion - i just chop harder - the Beartooth is a real Banjo killer,but it doesn't have the 'finesse' of tone that the Fern has. Considering that the Fern cost twice as much as the Beartooth,that's maybe not surprising.
# Both mandolins are very different & are equally good in their own right.I was very lucky indeed to have been able to afford both of them while i was still working.Since i had to take early retirement because of severe back trouble,such luxuries are no longer affordable,but i do get more time to play what i have & right now, that's the most important thing going on.
# As soon as i get chance & now i know how to get #pics.on here,i'll take a shot of the strap button on the Beartooth & a couple of others & get them on.
# Many thanks indeed for the nice comments guys,
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Saska

[Ivan Kelsall]

Well i did warn you !. Pic. 1 the backside of my Beartooth
(in the nicest possible sense)

[Ivan Kelsall]

For the benefit of 'tpeter' the strap button on the back of the Beartooth.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Here's a pic. of the braided 'A' style strap made for me by John Brown down in Miami FL. Super-soft & super-comfy !.

[Ivan Kelsall]

The next photers is gonna be all BANJERS !!!! I wouldn't dare,i'd be getting the 'midnight knock' from the Mando-cops,
Saska

[Dave Harbst]

"Steve at www.acousticmusicworks.com has one right now. he's a cool dude and a good guy in the mando world. I recommend giving him a call as well. He has a mountain of experience with different kinds of mandolins."
Just thought I'd chime in on this one. I was the previous owner of the Beartooth which is now for sale at Acoustic Music Works. It is a fabulous sounding and playing mandolin, one of the best I ever played. I traded it to Steve for a Collings MT, one with the wide, 1-3'16" nut. The only reason I traded the Beartooth was that it didn't have the wider nut, which I very much prefer because I have "chunky" fingers and really need the extra width that I got in the Collings. If you're looking for an A body mandolin which will perform as well as a ton of F bodies, I suggest you get in touch with Steve about the Beartooth.
Cheers.

[Dalton Maples]

Thanks for information. I had wondered how the sound was compared to the MT's. I also had not heard that the woods were a higher grade which would make sense. It is a beautiful mandolin, I had just not heard or read anything about them like the other A options.

Dalton

[blawson]

Blawson - I think the traditional also had tone bars didn't it? You win the most qualified to respond to Dalton as you are the only one with the actual mandolin in question! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Yes, that's correct. Tonebars in the Beartooth Trad.

Interesting how much alike the back of mine and the back of saska's look.