Adam Steffey's 'Daley' - the DVD one.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I was watching Adam Steffy's tuition DVD a couple of days ago & the Daley he plays on it,seems to have very wide frets - is this so & is it a 'customised' thing for Adam, or are these Sim Dayley's 'standard' frets ?. The pics.on Sim Daley's website seem to show Mandolins with 'normal' width frets,
Ivan ~:>

[Grandude]

When Sim made mine he asked me what size frets I wanted, and said he would put any size I wanted. I opted for a medium width, between the narrow fret wires on my friends Gibson F-5 Fern and the wide (possibly banjo width) frets on my Flatiron.

I haven't seen Steffey's video, so I don't know if he's playing his first Daley, which is kind of a red-birst, or his newer distressed Daley. Steffey's distressed Daley seems to be modelled after Sam Bush's Hoss. If that's the case, then the neck might be wider also, and I believe that's an upgrade on Daleys. Call Sim or email him, he'll tell you the answer and explain what he knows about why some players prefer one over another.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Randy - many thanks for the info.I think Adam plays his 'Redburst' on the DVD,it certainly isn't the distressed one that he also plays.The very fact that Sim Daley even offers a choice of fret width,would indicate that Adam Steffey's Mandolin may have a wider fret,
Ivan

[Jeff Wheelock]

Lousy pic but it shows the fat fret wire on my Daley

[Rick Crenshaw]

Opportune thread here. I talked to Sim just yesterday.

My Daleys have the small wire... that's what I like and what I ordered. Also, my fretboards are radiused, but just barely. It's hard to notice without looking closely.

The DVD features Adam's original Daley, not the 'Hoss' which was actually built to persuade Sam Bush to play a Daley. Adam saw it and played it and must have liked it a whole bunch as he convinced Sim that it was meant for him and took possession of it. Speaking of Adam Steffey, Sim mentioned that he and Adam are working on a special Adam Steffey Model Daley. I asked but didn't get anymore information on what the appointments, woods, etc would be... I reckon they're still working that out.

Also, Aaron Ramsey with Mountain Heart has his new Daley which has a dual wood (Englemann/Red) top. Sounds funky, but Sim said it turned out really well and that Aaron is loving it.

Well, that's all the Daley news I have.

[Kevin K]

Hey Rick,
Thanks for letting me play your adi Daley Saturday, that is a nice one.

Do you know how they split the two woods on the top? Red for EA, Eng for DG?

[Rick Crenshaw]

Hey Rick,
Thanks for letting me play your adi Daley Saturday, that is a nice one.

Do you know how they split the two woods on the top? Red for EA, Eng for DG?

I'm not positive... I saw Aaron at IBMA and he played my Daley. (He doesn't know me, he just saw my Daley.) I'm not sure if he wanted the Englemann for the bass or to round out the highs. Dang, getting old here.

By the way, Kevin... your group, Crosswind, was fantastic. Great singing, timing, breaks, the whole works... the mandolin playing was excellent, too, I might add!

[Ivan Kelsall]

Thanks for the pic.Jeff - that's just what i saw on Adam's DVD - fat frets. I must assume that they 'possibly' make for easier & more accurate fretting.There's a LOT of fret to claim the strings
& get a good intonation. My Fern is getting to the point where in maybe about 18 months time it's going to need a re-fret,judging by the wear over 2 1/2 years,& i might go for 'slightly' wider frets - just one gauge up,
Ivan ;)

[Steve Perry]

I'm not positive... I saw Aaron at IBMA and he played my Daley. (He doesn't know me, he just saw my Daley.) I'm not sure if he wanted the Englemann for the bass or to round out the highs. Dang, getting old here.

By the way, Kevin... your group, Crosswind, was fantastic. Great singing, timing, breaks, the whole works... the mandolin playing was excellent, too, I might add!

Here's a couple of youtubes of Aaron playing the Daley. Sounds Awrite!:grin:

K3_DmQN8qm4

-o3v14pQpe8

[Bernie Daniel]

This is just a small tab off topic -- but there seems to be quorum of Sim Daly experts here. Mr. Daley has always been a bit of "mystery" to me.

Can someone tell me what years he was a luthier at Gibson?

What years did he overlap with Derrington, Roberts, and Harvey?

Was he ever the chief luthier at Gibson? If not what was his relative position -- if that is an answerable question.

Finally, for those of you who know both mandolins, how do the Daly-named mandolins differ from the ones he made while in the employ of Gibson?

Thanks and I hope this is not a full bourne HI-jack!! :)

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Bernie - go ahead & 'hi-jack' all you want :)),it's all good info.& i have my answer already,
Ivan;)

[Chris Biorkman]

Great videos. Very entertaining.

[johnhgayjr]

I don't know the details on Sim's time at Gibson, but he was there with Charlie. If I remember correctly, Charlie left to start his own repair business and took Sim with him?? Something like that.

Charlie eventually went back to Gibson and Sim started his own business building mandos and guitars and doing repairs, setups, etc... I'm not sure I have the chronology right on that. I know Sim stayed in touch with Charlie. He mentioned having spoken to Charlie fairly regularly when Sim was building my Daley back in 2003.

There was an article in Bluegrass Unlimited about Sim a few years ago with the bio. Also some of that info is on Sim's website - www.simdaley.com

As far as differences between Gibson and Daley mandolins - Sim mentioned he gets to spend more time tweaking and dialing in his own than he did at Gibson. Gibson was about production - Sim's are about spending the time to get it right.

John Gay
Memphis

[AlanN]

Thanks for linking that Ain't It Funny vid, Steve...good stuff. The fiddle break got a Rice 'Yeah!'. Norman Wright wrote that tune. And the Daley sounds very good.

[Bernie Daniel]

johnhgayjr: There was an article in Bluegrass Unlimited about Sim a few years ago with the bio. Also some of that info is on Sim's website - www.simdaley.com

John, Thanks a lot for the information and the link. I look forward to reading up on Sim.

Bernie

[Steve Perry]

Thanks for linking that Ain't It Funny vid, Steve...good stuff. The fiddle break got a Rice 'Yeah!'. Norman Wright wrote that tune. And the Daley sounds very good.

Isn't that a great video!? To me, that shows the joy of a good jam. Watch the faces of the Banjo, Fiddle, and the Singer. They can't believe they're actually jamming with Tony Rice!:)) Priceless!:grin:

That is a good tune. I don't think I've ever heard it before. Do you know who has recorded it?

[AlanN]

Country Gentlemen on Return Engagement, Rebel Records 1663, recorded in 1988.

Has the great line

"I'm closing the bars, you're counting the stars."

[lenf12]

I've been meaning to post these picures to the forum in this thread. I went to an Adam Steffey workshop here in Florida 3 or 4 months ago and took a couple of pictures of his Sim Daley "distressed Hoss" mandolin. BTW- That's Adam holding the mandolin (big hands). Please enjoy!!

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[AlanN]

Looks like what appears to be an overlay on the top, right where Adam plants his pinky. Smart move.

[Bernie Daniel]

Speaking of Daley mandolins the cute lil mandolin player in Sim Daley's band, Cages Bend, also plays a Daley mandolin.

Her name is Jenny Lynn Gardner -- with a name like that she is bound to be a bluegrasser. What do we know about her picking?

Sim Daley Band (http://www.cagesbend.com/index.html)

[Ivan Kelsall]

Good pics.Len & yes,Adam has pretty big hands,that too is evident from watching his tuition DVD.I wonder if that could be the main reason for the larger frets ? - an awesomely smooth picker & from what i've been told by a friend of mine who's met him a couple of times,an all round nice person,
Ivan

[Scotti Adams]

Looks like what appears to be an overlay on the top, right where Adam plants his pinky. Smart move.

Looks like bare wood to me...to get the Hoss look.

[AlanN]

Right you are. I did the close-up view.

Dang.