Ken Olmstead
Mar-04-2009, 12:44pm
Cool article Dan! This appeals the “other” side of me. The “main” side likes mandolins like Brentrup’s Stealth or Eclipse or the Phoenix Jazz and Neoclassical or Ted E’s stunning Clark JM. These are all different, a departure from the usual stuff. The “other” side really appreciates the art of trying to recreate something of significance in a very exacting way.
I can’t imagine how incredibly hard it would be to make a mandolin that looked, played and sounded so close to a Loar, that even the fortunate "connoisseurs’" that own the real thing would be impressed or better yet, “fooled.” Of course there is no such thing as exact is there? Since there are plenty of seeming small differences between the real Loars, one could really only set out to copy a particular example. Otherwise, you would wind up with an amalgam of several examples. Of course this is an advantage of having one built to get those tiny details the way you want them.
The artist that could successfully pull this off must equate to a classical musician. Someone that is willing to restrain their own personal interpretations in order to recreate an existing work of art in such an exacting, predescribed manner.
My hat is off to Dan and Jamie for trying to faithfully recreate the “Holy Grail.” I am sure that Dan would be willing to take donations of any copies of the Chicago Tribune from the late 30’s that you might have laying around! (You will have to read the article!):grin:
Thanks FBJ for publishing such cool stuff that is not the normal “mainstream” drivel. You folks are obviously appeal to the “main” side of me!
By the way, the photographs of the Weins are quite savory!
I can’t imagine how incredibly hard it would be to make a mandolin that looked, played and sounded so close to a Loar, that even the fortunate "connoisseurs’" that own the real thing would be impressed or better yet, “fooled.” Of course there is no such thing as exact is there? Since there are plenty of seeming small differences between the real Loars, one could really only set out to copy a particular example. Otherwise, you would wind up with an amalgam of several examples. Of course this is an advantage of having one built to get those tiny details the way you want them.
The artist that could successfully pull this off must equate to a classical musician. Someone that is willing to restrain their own personal interpretations in order to recreate an existing work of art in such an exacting, predescribed manner.
My hat is off to Dan and Jamie for trying to faithfully recreate the “Holy Grail.” I am sure that Dan would be willing to take donations of any copies of the Chicago Tribune from the late 30’s that you might have laying around! (You will have to read the article!):grin:
Thanks FBJ for publishing such cool stuff that is not the normal “mainstream” drivel. You folks are obviously appeal to the “main” side of me!
By the way, the photographs of the Weins are quite savory!