Martin Mandolin

[junglejoe]

I'm looking for info on Martin Mandolins. #I had the opportunity to play one in Roanoke, VA. #I'm totally sold on Martin guitars and would like to get my hands on a mandolin by Martin. #Quality, price, sound, construction etc. #Any info would be a great help.
Thanks

[Bob DeVellis]

Well, there are several very different types of Martin mandolins. The bowlbacks are fine instruments of their type. These ran from student models up to ornate, professional quality instruments, all very well built. Styles 1 through 7 represent the bulk of the line, but there were other bowl back styles as well. The flat back Martins are very nice playing sweet sounding instruments that are great for many musical styles but not for the percussive chop of bluegrass. Again, they come in several grades, Style A being a fairly plain mahogany-backed instrument and Styles B through E being rosewood backed with progressively more ornamentation. Next came the carved back instruments with either an oval or f-shaped sound hole. The former have model designations 15, 20 and 30 while the latter have corresponding models designated 2-15, 2-20, and 2-30. The 20 and 30 models (with either shape sound hole) had a 2-point body and are quite attractive. ALthough the oval hole models are nice sounding instruments, the f-hole models have never really won very many hearts or minds. They aren't that good for bluegrass and yet lack the warmer tone of the oval holes. But all Martin mandolins I've seen have been very well made and have a nice feel to them. Even the simple ones are really attractive to my eye, with nice proportions and excellent materials. Whether one is right for you depends on what you want the instrument to do. I consider the flat backs to be terrific values, although prices have escalated in the last few years. They're very nice for Irish or folk music, but not cutting enough for bluegrass. They're also not super loud, but they're able to produce more volume than most people think. It's more a matter of not having a penetrating, percussive tone, I think, than a true lack of volume. I've pulled some additional information together here (http://bellsouthpwp.net/r/d/rdevelli/martind.htm) if you're interested. It focuses on a particular instrument but also has lots of information about Martin flat backs in general.

[Eugene]

Yeah, I'm with all of what Bob said. My main mandolin is a 1908 Martin.

Do you know what model you played, junglejoe?

[junglejoe]

I don't know what model, year or anything about it. #I played it for a week so I got to know it pretty good. #It played gently without a lot of volume. #The bowl back was a twelve piece and looked exactly like the "taterbug" mandos for sale on eBay. #Oval sound hole but a painted on pick guard; could be a cheap repair job or a home made mando. #I don't know but it certinly looks like a Martin. #But the sound was appreciably less than my Chinese made Johnson F mando.

[Jim Garber]

I don't know but it certinly looks like a Martin.
What makes you think it was a Martin? Was there any indication/label/stamp? Painted pickguard doesn't sound like a Martin bowlback to me. Even the most inexpensive Martins had real inlaid pickguards.

In fact, it doesn't even sound like you liked it anyway...

Jim

[Moose]

Well, bobd certainly gave an excellent "critique" on Martin mandolins ; and I agree totally with him. Martin mandos ARE made like the proverbial "bricks..h..se" - as are MArtin guitars. As both a music store owner(mid-60's) AND a professional musician for some 30+ years I add here my .02... - MArtin mandolins are NOT for bluegrass - as Cadillac cars are NOT for NASCAR ; Quality-built yes.. - for Bluegrass NO!. I guess the "bottom-line would be.. "different strokes for different folks" - Yes, I'm sure you would have an EXCELLENT instrument for the sereral other "genre's/styles of music. TRY various makes/types of mandos before you buy - take time and and let us know your decision.(Hey..,Eugene.. ; lov' ya man ; this is just IMHO & experience). Moose. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/coffee.gif

[Eugene]

That's a fine opinion, Moose. #It may even approach fact. #I will go so far as to side with you in that I believe Martin mandolins clearly are not the best suited to generate the tone that is expected of mandolins in bluegrass, not any of the historic Martin models. #...And I would argue that an f-holed Gibson clone might NOT be the mandolin with which to approach the classical/art music that was written for mandolin before there was bluegrass. #So, I will continue to play my Martin bowlback in classical music (the volume, by the way, is just fine in duo with piano, an instrument famous for concert-hall-filling volume) and never shall it meet bluegrass.

The notion that bowlbacks of quality are quiet is, I believe, largely in error. I think much of the bowlback reputation for being quiet-voiced comes from:

1) most bowlbacks were of horrible quality. #The mandolin was the most popular instrument on the western hemisphere from ca. 1890-1915, much like the guitar is now. #As with anything so popular, many were churned out just to feed the appetites of fickle beginners and ham-fisted amateurs who had no intent to invest in a professional-quality instrument. #Quality American instruments (like the nicer Lyon & Healy brands, Martin, Vega, Larson Bros. brands, etc.) are relatively scarcer than no-name junk.

2) most modern mandolinists in this country are familiar with bluegrass and folk styles where heavy strings and blunt, "Dawg"-like plectra are the norm. #Bowlbacks would typically have been strung with very light strings (down to ca. 0.009" on e") and played with a sharpish, reatively thin plectrum. #When so strung and plucked (and approached with an appropriately restrained touch to control dynamics), bowlbacks can be as loud as they need to be. #Again, I have no trouble being heard alongside piano in a smallish hall.

3) and finally, many bowlbacks, even those of some quality, have been wrecked beyond playability by years of use and abuse under modern, heavy, bluegrass-appropriate strings for which they were not designed.

I agree with Jim, junglejoe. #What you describe definitely does not sound particularly Martin-like. #If the painted pickguard had been added later as a ham-fisted repair effort, it would have been recessed into the table in filling the area where the original inlaid pickguard once was. #One possibility is that what you handled was a Martin back and neck that had been completely retopped (and evidently badly given your complaint of lack of volume) because of some past damage. #One big shop that was notorious for mass-producing instruments with a painted faux pickguard was Jersey City's Oscar Schmidt Co. #Many of their Stella brand mandolins had painted guards.

[junglejoe]

Wow, great information guys! #Thanks a million. #I think I'm going to play my Johnson and keep my eyes open for a good used Gibson or other top name. #I play alot in Roanoke, VA and there's a significant bluegrass music scene there. #I love the mandolin and I've found myself playing the mando more than my Martin D35. #My big problem is I live n Costa Rica and there's not much bluegrass here.

[PlayerOf8]

Joe,
What color is the grass in Costa Rica?

George

[junglejoe]

Geroge,
The grass definately isn't blue but a rich green. #I'm doing all I can in trying to find some blue grass but there's not that many traditional pickers here. #My bands name is the Fried Iguana String Band and we do more acoustic rock than traditional soley because I'm probably the only bluegrass player here. I own a bar/hotel/restaurant here and we have Acoustic Tuesday every week and it's a blast. We slip some bluegrass in when we can and it's always a hit. Tennessee Stud, Fly Away, Stuball and more. I just got the "Will the Circle be Unbroken" CD set and have been going through it for new material to play on Tuesday night. The rest of the band is interested so we're moving in the right direction.

[junglejoe]

George,
I was just thinking you shouldl come down and check out the Acoustic Tuesday and bring your mando and sit in with us sometime. We welcome any musician that can add something to the night and a total bluegrass night would be a ton of fun.
Joe

[mandroid]

Used to have a martin bowlback, nice simple one , thin plastic pickguard of Tortoiseoid.mahogany strip back. fine for classical or parlor use.

The later flat backs use the peaked top construction of taterbugs, but bigger and wider tops for the soundboard; this style is still available new, with a bit of order prompting.

Local fellow made a few off a set of flatback plans. no carving and graduating required. well, neck shaping , some tone bar tuning maybe.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Eugene]

The later flat backs use the peaked top construction of taterbugs, but bigger and wider tops for the soundboard; this style is still available new...
That crease in the soundboard is referred to as a cant, so, more technically, this is canted-top construction.