Mark Robertson-Tessi
Mar-30-2009, 9:16am
Had a fun couple of days in Savannah, GA last week. I flew out to meet Bob Altman and check out three new mandos he just built, in hopes of picking one out. It was an interesting trio of instruments: they were all built the same, except each had a different wood for the top. There was a red spruce, an Engelmann spruce, and a Sitka spruce. They were still in the white, meaning that the finish had not been applied yet.
All three were really great mandolins, and very loud with amazing tone. Some notes almost hurt your ears if you dug in a little! It was interesting to see what voice the different tops gave. The Sitka had huge pop, and was a great traditional BG mando. The tone was dryer than the other two. The Engelmann had the most sustain I’ve heard in a mando. The notes were rich, almost piano-like. Not as much attack as the spruce, so it played extremely smoothly for melodic lines. The red spruce mando was somewhere in between the two: nice attack, and a round bell-like sustain.
Bob was in Savannah to meet with Mike Marshall and show him the mandolins. After he and Darol Anger played them for a while, Mike ended up liking the red spruce a lot, and it looks like he’ll be playing it after Bob finishes it in the next month or so.
Mike played a few sets with Darol and the Swedish group Vasen at the month long Savannah music festival. We caught one of their shows, and it was amazing. Never heard Vasen live before. The blend of the 5 instruments was superb. Mike is also the nicest guy you’ll ever meet! Playing some Bach duets with him on his mandocello was a highlight of the trip for sure. That's a really cool instrument, even if the stretch is brutal!
For myself, I loved the sustain and smooth feel of the Engelmann, so I’ll be receiving that mando next month. Now the hardest part: wait patiently for Bob to finish it! I’ve been playing an earlier Altman (from ‘05) on loan from a generous friend, and have really liked that instrument, but this new batch was eye opening. I can’t imagine what they’ll do once they’re played in, because they already sound incredible. I’ll post some pics and clips of it when it comes.
Cheers,
Mark
All three were really great mandolins, and very loud with amazing tone. Some notes almost hurt your ears if you dug in a little! It was interesting to see what voice the different tops gave. The Sitka had huge pop, and was a great traditional BG mando. The tone was dryer than the other two. The Engelmann had the most sustain I’ve heard in a mando. The notes were rich, almost piano-like. Not as much attack as the spruce, so it played extremely smoothly for melodic lines. The red spruce mando was somewhere in between the two: nice attack, and a round bell-like sustain.
Bob was in Savannah to meet with Mike Marshall and show him the mandolins. After he and Darol Anger played them for a while, Mike ended up liking the red spruce a lot, and it looks like he’ll be playing it after Bob finishes it in the next month or so.
Mike played a few sets with Darol and the Swedish group Vasen at the month long Savannah music festival. We caught one of their shows, and it was amazing. Never heard Vasen live before. The blend of the 5 instruments was superb. Mike is also the nicest guy you’ll ever meet! Playing some Bach duets with him on his mandocello was a highlight of the trip for sure. That's a really cool instrument, even if the stretch is brutal!
For myself, I loved the sustain and smooth feel of the Engelmann, so I’ll be receiving that mando next month. Now the hardest part: wait patiently for Bob to finish it! I’ve been playing an earlier Altman (from ‘05) on loan from a generous friend, and have really liked that instrument, but this new batch was eye opening. I can’t imagine what they’ll do once they’re played in, because they already sound incredible. I’ll post some pics and clips of it when it comes.
Cheers,
Mark