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View Full Version : Steffey's New Daley....



Kevin K
Sep-29-2009, 8:37am
Take a look at the new Daley for Adam.
http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/new-steffey-model/

Mark Walker
Sep-29-2009, 9:00am
Sweet! I bet that gets 'distressed' before too long!

chasray
Sep-29-2009, 9:12am
Just beautiful!
It's interesting to me a big guy like him plays a mando with a 1" nut width.

Fretbear
Sep-29-2009, 9:27am
Sweet looking axe....

AlanN
Sep-29-2009, 9:29am
And I thought my 20-fretter was short. I count 17 for the big guy.

Fretbear
Sep-29-2009, 10:01am
Seventeen is the magic number for a top fret; it gives you the matching octave to the string below just like on the fifth fret....

AlanN
Sep-29-2009, 10:58am
I like the look. Unadorned, simple appointments, a tool for the trade.

Kevin K
Sep-29-2009, 11:11am
It has a split top, half red spruce, half engelmann spruce.

Jason Kindall
Sep-29-2009, 3:45pm
Wow - the simplicity and understated look is simply stunning...

Chris Biorkman
Sep-29-2009, 3:49pm
I like it except for the way the fretboard ends. It just looks too plain for an F style body to my eyes. Nice looking mandolin though. The hybrid top sounds pretty interesting.

Glassweb
Sep-29-2009, 3:52pm
[QUOTE=Chris Biorkman;718894]I like it except for the way the fretboard ends. It just looks too plain for an F style body to my eyes.

better that than the dreaded "black tongue" syndrome...

Tom C
Sep-29-2009, 4:30pm
I do not like the looks of he short ftret board. Why not just leave the upper frets there? What is gained by less frets?

Dfyngravity
Sep-29-2009, 4:34pm
And I thought my 20-fretter was short. I count 17 for the big guy.

Steffey is a bluegrasser. He definitely doesn't stay in 1st position, but I don't think he needs anything up past the 17th fret.

I actually really like how simple the mandolin looks. Clean and classic.

RichieK
Sep-29-2009, 5:07pm
I'm waiting for Jim Simpson to chime in....!

Chris Biorkman
Sep-29-2009, 5:09pm
[QUOTE=Chris Biorkman;718894]I like it except for the way the fretboard ends. It just looks too plain for an F style body to my eyes.

better that than the dreaded "black tongue" syndrome...

True, true.

sgarrity
Sep-29-2009, 5:27pm
I like it all but the way the fretboard ends too.

chasray
Sep-29-2009, 5:42pm
Different opinions and tastes helps make the world go 'round, and that's cool. But I like the length of the fretboard....and guess what, no pick clicks.

Charles E.
Sep-29-2009, 7:06pm
Back photo's please, the top looks so pretty I want to see more. ;)

BlueMt.
Sep-29-2009, 7:51pm
If it would enable me to play as well as Mr. Steffey, I would gladly chop off the fingerboard on my mando.

Walt
Sep-29-2009, 8:15pm
I remember talking to Steffey a few years ago right when he got his Gibson Steffey model. He said that even though it had a scooped fingerboard extension, he still had to deal with pick clicks. He doesn't have to worry about that on this mando.
I like the look of the mando. Fingerboard extensions are a waste of maple, ebony and fretwire.

jim simpson
Sep-29-2009, 8:31pm
"I'm waiting for Jim Simpson to chime in....! RichieK"

Hey Richie,
Wait no longer... I love it! It is classy looking and I can only imagine what it must sound like. There is something about black topped instruments that have always appealed to me.
I still love my Daley!

Jim

D C Blood
Sep-29-2009, 9:27pm
He makes it sound mighty, mighty good...

hank
Sep-29-2009, 9:50pm
Here ya go Charlie.

Glassweb
Sep-29-2009, 10:06pm
It's so funny to me... some folks don't like the look of this squared-off, F-12 style fingerboard, but at the same time there seem to be no lack of fans who have purchased the Gibson "Sam Bush Model" - which is modeled after an iconic, butchered F5. Go figure! I find it hard to believe that so many people are still ordering and buying mandolins with "the black tongue" (or as seen here recently, the white tongue!) when builders like Collings and Ellis have come up with simple and elegant design choices to eliminate the problem of "pick-click". I know, I know... people say "well, I like the way an extension looks, but I don't like pick-click". That's fine and dandy, but for me, all these fretless, tongue-like extensions leading to nowhere and serving no purpose are ridiculous. Save the trees... kill the tongues...

Fretbear
Sep-29-2009, 10:43pm
You can tell that fretboard end is a player's choice. It does look abrupt, but I'm sure Adam spends a lot more time playing over it than looking at it, and he obviously didn't want anything there getting in the way that wasn't absolutely necessary.

hank
Sep-29-2009, 11:23pm
I think the fretboard cut reflects the same theme this mandolin has from start to finish, nothing but the stuff Adam thinks a mandolin should have to play and sound right. This mandolin focuses on what you hear(mixed tone wood sound board) not what you see. I like it and what it represents. I'm a huge Adam Steffey fan and think it's a gutzy move by two masters of our time.

mandognome
Sep-30-2009, 12:17am
I've often wondered about what a fretboard extension (or lack of extension) like that would look and play like. I felt sheepish about this wondering until now. Would love to hear it. See it. Play it.

Nice to see this executed. I think it looks good.

Ivan Kelsall
Sep-30-2009, 3:16am
That looks wonderful. Do you think that no dots on the fingerboard is catching on ?,it's certainly my favourite inlay.It's nice to see that the end of the f/board has a slight radius to it. Dead square looks a bit too severe IMHO,
Ivan:cool:

Skip Kelley
Sep-30-2009, 6:30am
Nice looking mandolin! That is a short fretboard for sure!

Mike Bromley
Sep-30-2009, 7:40am
What is gained by less frets?

Er, nothing?:confused:

Stephen Cagle
Sep-30-2009, 7:49am
Well I like it..:grin: Very simple. I've never been a huge black top kinda guy but dang I think I want one now. Sim does outstanding work no 2 ways about it. (BUT) Always a but...8500 is to rich for me.:crying:

Kevin K
Sep-30-2009, 7:54am
The end of the fingerboard is rounded a little, not squared off. I like the look and the lack of fingerboard allows him to be in the sweet spot with no chance of any pick clicking.
Nice look and I'm sure the sound is there. Anybody at IBMA that gets the chance to hear it, let us know.

SHORTY
Sep-30-2009, 8:07am
Being a lucky student of Adams and having held and beginnerly plucked his Daley I would say it's a real eye piece and player. As for a change in the finger board tail it never accured to me to there was a change. I guess it fits the mando being short.
Shorty

SHORTY
Sep-30-2009, 8:13am
I forgot to add that unfortunately I have no lesson with Adam this week " but"
every one can seem him and his new Daley at IBMA this week.
SHORTY

Randi Gormley
Sep-30-2009, 9:35am
I'm a fan of the black top myself -- and the end of the fretboard looks remarkably like my strad's fretboard, so i'm all for it. A lovely, lovely instrument. fwiw

lenf12
Sep-30-2009, 1:01pm
Very nice indeed. Say Shorty, does this new mandolin mean that Adam has retired his "distressed" Daley (the one Sim made for Sam Bush)? If so, I wonder if it's for sale?? Not that I could afford it but I thought that was a wonderful mandolin as well.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

Nelson Peddycoart
Sep-30-2009, 1:36pm
I like it. I was just watching Steffey's DVD yesterday. He talks about the area where the fretboard is "missing" as the place where some of the sweetest tone comes from. He is also very picky about any sound other than the intended note(s) coming from his instrument.

Nelson

Rick Crenshaw
Sep-30-2009, 5:25pm
Very nice indeed. Say Shorty, does this new mandolin mean that Adam has retired his "distressed" Daley (the one Sim made for Sam Bush)? If so, I wonder if it's for sale?? Not that I could afford it but I thought that was a wonderful mandolin as well.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

I can say since I just spoke to Sim last week. The fact is that Adam never owned the distressed model mandolin. Sim kept that mandolin hanging around the shop for himself and to hopefully entice Sam Bush to pick it up and play it. Didn't happen. Anyway Adam played it and loved it and took it on loan for awhile. Sim told me he's going to put the distressed 'Hoss' look alike up for sale. I think he plans on asking a pretty penny for it.

Sim and Adam have been working on this 'Steffey' model for a while. Adam liked the tone of Aaron Ramsey's new red/englemann top so much that he incorporated that into the new mandolin. This Steffey model will be available from Sim I understand.

FWIW, I have the abbreviated fretboard very similar but goes up to 20 frets on my Daleys.

Charles E.
Sep-30-2009, 6:08pm
My wife and I ride motercycles and this is obviously Adam's custom Bobber. It's his ride and that is all that matters.

lenf12
Oct-01-2009, 12:30pm
I can say since I just spoke to Sim last week. The fact is that Adam never owned the distressed model mandolin. Sim kept that mandolin hanging around the shop for himself and to hopefully entice Sam Bush to pick it up and play it. Didn't happen. Anyway Adam played it and loved it and took it on loan for awhile. Sim told me he's going to put the distressed 'Hoss' look alike up for sale. I think he plans on asking a pretty penny for it.

Sim and Adam have been working on this 'Steffey' model for a while. Adam liked the tone of Aaron Ramsey's new red/englemann top so much that he incorporated that into the new mandolin. This Steffey model will be available from Sim I understand.

I didn't know that Adam doesn't own the distressed "Hoss". I met Adam at a mandolin workshop here in Clearwater, FL last March. He seemed rather attached to the mandolin although he freely passed it around the room to all the attendees for a closer look and test drive. I took a couple of pictures of the mandolin and of Adam too. I'll post them later when I get home from work.

Does anyone know whether the red spruce is on the bass or treble side of the soundboard? I wonder if Sim has experimented with this and if it makes any difference. How does this change the sound from an all red spruce or all engleman spruce top?

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

Rick Crenshaw
Oct-01-2009, 3:48pm
Does anyone know whether the red spruce is on the bass or treble side of the soundboard? I wonder if Sim has experimented with this and if it makes any difference. How does this change the sound from an all red spruce or all engleman spruce top?

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

OK, I know this is going to float Spruce's boat, but here goes....

Adam's first Daley had an Englemann top. The distressed "Hoss" has a Sitka top. The new model has an Englemann/Red Spruce split top. The Englemann is on the bass side from what I understand and the Red on the treble. I don't know if Sim was experimenting around with this or if Aaron Ramsey suggested it, but I think the mandolin Sim made for Aaron was the split top Adam heard and had his new mandolin made to match.

Personally, I still think the top wood variety makes a big difference, but like Spruce, I guess Adam is not concerned as much about that as he is tone and Sim seems to have found a tone Adam likes a lot, regardless of spruce variety.

Chris Biorkman
Oct-01-2009, 4:13pm
I like the satin finish look, but after wearing huge shiney spots into the top of a satin finished guitar I used to own, I'll never have an instrument with one again.

Mike Romkey
Oct-01-2009, 4:28pm
Interesting. The Gibson Steffey has a radius'd fingerboard and big frets. Change in preference?

literarymadness
Oct-01-2009, 4:57pm
The trouble with having a custom mandolin on back-order is second guessing choices before the luthrier begins...like to go Englemann or Red Spruce. Then you see something else cool. Now I have a third one. Split top...MMM!!! Just when I though for sure I knew what I wanted.

D C Blood
Oct-02-2009, 6:29am
quote
"The Englemann is on the bass side from what I understand and the Red on the treble."
Does this mean that the bass side will be matured early on and the treble side will take longer to "open up" ?:)

Kevin K
Oct-02-2009, 7:55am
Mike,
Did someone say something about the radius or lack of and fret size?

Paul Statman
Oct-02-2009, 1:03pm
It's so funny to me... some folks don't like the look of this squared-off, F-12 style fingerboard, but at the same time there seem to be no lack of fans who have purchased the Gibson "Sam Bush Model" - which is modeled after an iconic, butchered F5. Go figure! I find it hard to believe that so many people are still ordering and buying mandolins with "the black tongue" (or as seen here recently, the white tongue!) when builders like Collings and Ellis have come up with simple and elegant design choices to eliminate the problem of "pick-click". I know, I know... people say "well, I like the way an extension looks, but I don't like pick-click". That's fine and dandy, but for me, all these fretless, tongue-like extensions leading to nowhere and serving no purpose are ridiculous. Save the trees... kill the tongues...

Hmmm..in your avatar you're holding a very scroll-ey peghead, which could have saved some wood by having a snakehead, no? I don't believe the peghead scrolls serve any more purpose then a scalloped fretboard extension. I'm guessing that this mandolin would also have a body scroll and two points. Is this not, by the same logic futher examples of more 'wasted' wood?

Chris Biorkman
Oct-04-2009, 9:28pm
Hmmm..in your avatar you're holding a very scroll-ey peghead, which could have saved some wood by having a snakehead, no? I don't believe the peghead scrolls serve any more purpose then a scalloped fretboard extension. I'm guessing that this mandolin would also have a body scroll and two points. Is this not, by the same logic futher examples of more 'wasted' wood?

The only difference being that the headstock scroll doesn't get in the way of your playing. The fretboard extension is right in the middle of the sweet spot of the string. I don't know how anyone could like those things.

Paul Statman
Oct-04-2009, 9:50pm
The only difference being that the headstock scroll doesn't get in the way of your playing. The fretboard extension is right in the middle of the sweet spot of the string. I don't know how anyone could like those things.

I always thought of the scalloped (faux-fretted or not) fretboard extension as an ęsthetic part of the design. To each his own, I suppose.. :mandosmiley:

Chris Biorkman
Oct-04-2009, 9:55pm
I always thought of the scalloped (faux-fretted or not) fretboard extension as an ęsthetic part of the design. To each his own, I suppose.. :mandosmiley:

Ain't that the truth.

45ACP-GDLF5
Oct-05-2009, 12:54am
It has a split top, half red spruce, half engelmann spruce.


According to the link, this mando has a SOLID spruce top, not a split one.

Glassweb
Oct-05-2009, 3:54am
I always thought of the scalloped (faux-fretted or not) fretboard extension as an ęsthetic part of the design. To each his own, I suppose.. :mandosmiley:

yes, and i'm talking purely about aesthetics here... not so much saving trees! what i meant to convey was this... if you don't want an extended fingerboard, then why have one at all? i just think that these scalloped, fretless extensions look ugly... the dreaded "black tongue" is bad design, plain and simple. it glaringly distracts from the beautiful lines of the F-style mandolin. to spend a small fortune on a new, custom-built F5 that's already butchered is kind of silly. let's take a poll here... what do you prefer... a Collings fingerboard or a scalloped, fretless, full sized Loar extension (the black tongue)? i'll take the Collings myself... a perfect design that serves its purpose perfectly. (i.e. no pick click)

Rick Crenshaw
Oct-05-2009, 6:03pm
According to the link, this mando has a SOLID spruce top, not a split one.

Who you gonna believe? That blog? or Kevin K and me? Whazza matta? You don' think we know nothing? We're in like flint with Sim. Spoke to him last week.

Oh, and it is solid... solid spruce. Top half solid Englemann, bottom half solid Red Spruce.

Kevin K
Oct-06-2009, 7:35am
I didn't mean the top had a split in it just two different solid pieces of wood make of the top.
Rick - your Daley's doing good?

lenf12
Oct-11-2009, 10:45am
It's been a while since I posted about uploading some pix of Steffey's distressed "Hoss" inspired mandolin built by Sim Daley. I'm finally getting around to it.

Enjoy!!
Len B.
Clearwater, FL

Rick Crenshaw
Oct-11-2009, 5:56pm
For anyone who has the green, that distressed mandolin is now for sale according to my friend.

He just came back from Sim's place while checking out his mandolin which is being built right now. Wide grained Red Spruce top, one piece back, top and side bound tortoise binding with white/black purfling.

T W Perez
Oct-12-2009, 4:22am
The mandolin sounded great as I figure most would w/Adam Steffey playing it.His set was awesome at IBMA,though short as were all.Ron Stewart,Barry Bales,Randy Kohrs,Clay Hess and can never remember the young fiddlers name.Adam did all the lead singing.

BradKlein
Oct-12-2009, 7:37am
There was a player here in Brooklyn with a good sounding Daley, a while back, whose previous owner had taken a saw to the fretboard extension - inadvertently scarring the unprotected top where he went through.

As battle scars go, it's not a bad look. Old School luthiery!