steve V. johnson
Jul-14-2004, 8:08pm
I've had the good fortune of a couple of folks sending me some nice OMs to meet, play, and learn about. Both of these are pretty young instruments, under 90 days old each, as I understand. Both are strung .012, .022w, .034, .044 with phosphor bronze wounds.
The Mid-Mo is a 22" scale M-70, the maple one with mahogany neck and rosewood 'board and bridge and bone nut. The top is bound in black and white layers and there is a really nice little b/w binding on the soundhole. List price is at $800.
The Trillium is a standard 23.5" with mahogany b/s and neck, spruce top and ebony 'board and bridge. The bridge has a bone insert and the nut is bone, too. The sounhole is bound in MOP or abalone and the whole instrument is bound in Tor-tis, which looks really great. The mahogany is even and tightly-grained and the quiet nitro' finish is splendid. The black-faced headstock is really well done, and the pretty Trillium blossom on the headstock is much prettier than the ones that grow in our woods. <G> The list price of this one is just under $2k.
The difference between the sounds of the two is really wide. The Trillium is a much more complex sound, with lots more overtones and a deeper bottom. The highs I would call 'silky'. The Mid-Mo is a much simpler sound but it's clarity and projection are great, and it has none of the stridency of a lot of new maple-box instruments.
In Irish sessions, both cut thru nicely among a bunch of guitars, a mando, a tenor banjo, whistles and several fiddles. The Mid-Mo really shone for melody work and jumped right up to the head of the class. The more complex tone of the Trillium was more apparent in smaller ensembles, and with a trio or quartet it's richness really came out.
IMO, the Mid-Mo could use a better bridge, and I think that a solid tailpiece would help with mid- and low-mid overtones, and the tuners are ... a tad disappointing to use. They held tune, but I needed to tighten them a couple of times to get them to stay smooth. In use there was a bit of play to the buttons, so they didn't inspire confidence. The maple is really pretty and the satin finish is very nicely done, even and smooth. This one belongs in American musics (imo!!), and is ideally suited to OldTime and Appalachian ballads, and could easliy fit into a blugrass session!
I got this idea that my 25.4" Crump B-II was just too deep and boomy, and got a bit tangled with guitars in Irish sessions, so I thought I should look at shorter OMs to complement it. After playing these two... I'm probably wrong. <GGG>
The cedar/rosewood Crump is not yet a year old, but the complexity of its tone and volume and projection are huge compared to the others. I would expect that, at a year or so, the Trillium (already a very noble instrument!) will be really impressive.
I have no real vision of how the Mid-Mo will age, and that makes me want to keep it, do some upgrading and see what happens. it's raw charm is infectious, and it got more attention in sessions than the Trillium, which sure surprised me! Maybe I'll keep it... ?
Here's a pic attached (I've not done this before...) of the current family and visitors: left to right, 1936 Kalamazoo K-11 mandolin; Trillium 23" OM, Crump B-II; visiting Flatiron mandola; Mid-Mo M-70 OM.
All the best,
stv
The Mid-Mo is a 22" scale M-70, the maple one with mahogany neck and rosewood 'board and bridge and bone nut. The top is bound in black and white layers and there is a really nice little b/w binding on the soundhole. List price is at $800.
The Trillium is a standard 23.5" with mahogany b/s and neck, spruce top and ebony 'board and bridge. The bridge has a bone insert and the nut is bone, too. The sounhole is bound in MOP or abalone and the whole instrument is bound in Tor-tis, which looks really great. The mahogany is even and tightly-grained and the quiet nitro' finish is splendid. The black-faced headstock is really well done, and the pretty Trillium blossom on the headstock is much prettier than the ones that grow in our woods. <G> The list price of this one is just under $2k.
The difference between the sounds of the two is really wide. The Trillium is a much more complex sound, with lots more overtones and a deeper bottom. The highs I would call 'silky'. The Mid-Mo is a much simpler sound but it's clarity and projection are great, and it has none of the stridency of a lot of new maple-box instruments.
In Irish sessions, both cut thru nicely among a bunch of guitars, a mando, a tenor banjo, whistles and several fiddles. The Mid-Mo really shone for melody work and jumped right up to the head of the class. The more complex tone of the Trillium was more apparent in smaller ensembles, and with a trio or quartet it's richness really came out.
IMO, the Mid-Mo could use a better bridge, and I think that a solid tailpiece would help with mid- and low-mid overtones, and the tuners are ... a tad disappointing to use. They held tune, but I needed to tighten them a couple of times to get them to stay smooth. In use there was a bit of play to the buttons, so they didn't inspire confidence. The maple is really pretty and the satin finish is very nicely done, even and smooth. This one belongs in American musics (imo!!), and is ideally suited to OldTime and Appalachian ballads, and could easliy fit into a blugrass session!
I got this idea that my 25.4" Crump B-II was just too deep and boomy, and got a bit tangled with guitars in Irish sessions, so I thought I should look at shorter OMs to complement it. After playing these two... I'm probably wrong. <GGG>
The cedar/rosewood Crump is not yet a year old, but the complexity of its tone and volume and projection are huge compared to the others. I would expect that, at a year or so, the Trillium (already a very noble instrument!) will be really impressive.
I have no real vision of how the Mid-Mo will age, and that makes me want to keep it, do some upgrading and see what happens. it's raw charm is infectious, and it got more attention in sessions than the Trillium, which sure surprised me! Maybe I'll keep it... ?
Here's a pic attached (I've not done this before...) of the current family and visitors: left to right, 1936 Kalamazoo K-11 mandolin; Trillium 23" OM, Crump B-II; visiting Flatiron mandola; Mid-Mo M-70 OM.
All the best,
stv