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FrankenMouse
Sep-07-2004, 1:43pm
I'm thinking expanding my horizons to include a mandola or OM... maybe even a bouzouki or cittern. In searching for options, I stumbled across the website of Nyberg Instruments. (http://www.guitarmaker.ca)

Has anyone tried one of these? It's worth checking out the website, if only for the sound files.

s1m0n
Sep-07-2004, 11:53pm
I used to own a Nyberg Bouzouki. I recommend his work highly. He seems to build them all with an extra two scoops of sound--you'll have no trouble at all being heard. Down the block, even.

As a matter of fact it was WAY too much horsepower for my newbie status. In a session, there's nowhere to hide if you're in the cockpit of a Nyberg Bouzouki.

Rich, highly complex sound. Did I mention LOUD? Solid workmanship, attention to detail, no sign of any corners cut. My tastes at the time ran to the plain, even austere, and that's what I got, but it turned heads.

The unamplified sounds made a pretty good accoustic fake for fuzzed out rocknroll electric guitar, by the way.

I found the 25.5 inch scale length a little much for my fingers, however. I began to play more and more melody, and that was too much money to keep tied up in a chord-o-blaster that I wasn't playing enough.

He does a lovely french polish finish. He leaves or left the back of the neck unfinished, for a reason I don't recall, but it turned some heads.

I had no trouble at all dealing with him by mail, and he had the instrument ready exactly when he said he would. I think the waitlist was six or seven months.

My experience dates to about '98--I understand that some of his designs have evolved since, so some of what I tell you may be true no longer.

Fretbear
Sep-12-2004, 9:19pm
If people are having to give up on a Sobell (from the news I have heard here) this Canadian builder is definitely to be looked at. His standards are the highest, and he takes his craft very seriously.

Bob DeVellis
Sep-13-2004, 7:44am
For those of you who were following the Sobell thread, Lawrence was on my short list of builders had I been unable to find a Sobell. I actually feel badly that I have twice contacted him about the possibiolity of having him build me an instrument and ended up going elsewhere both times. Neither time was it in any way a poor judgment of him that led me elsewhere, just having something else sort of fall into my lap. I've only heard good things. The pictures I've seen of his instruments have looked great and I think he has some interesting design concepts that seem to work well.

otterly2k
Sep-13-2004, 10:26am
In my recent OM search, Nyberg was on my short list. I ended up with the Trillium that was posted in the classifieds... and made that decision because I knew it to be a high quality instrument on which I could develop my skills and my own preferences...For myself, I decided that I didn't feel comfortable investing (both financially and psychicly) in a custom instrument of that caliber until I knew better what I wanted and that I was sure about OMs in general as an instrument I'd be sticking with for a while (I'm a notorious dabbler!)

However, I still consider Nyberg at the top of my list for when I'm ready to have a custom instrument built. I have had some correspondence with him, and find him to be accessible (without being overly self-promoting), knowledgeable, responsive, and open to suggestions/requests. I don't have any direct hands-on experience of his instruments, but the website and soundclips tell much...I like his design and aesthetic... I'd love to hear from more folks who've played his instruments.

And I'd encourage anyone considering his instruments to strike up a conversation with him (at the risk of making my eventual waiting period even longer!)...
KE