Pomeroy #57

[recklessmando]

"Well, she's not here yet but the shipping date is getting oh so close. After five months of waiting not so patiently and hounding Don about every last detail (He says that having to respond to all my emails really improved his typing skills) it's down to one more week until Pomeroy #57 arrives at my house. Until then all I've got is pictures to drool on so I thought I'd share. It's going to be a long week!

Here we go; the top is Red Spruce and the back is Sugar Maple.

[recklessmando]

And the back

[recklessmando]

As you can see it's strung up and playing music already. They're out of order but I've got some pics to mix in that were taken during construction. Here's the rear.

[recklessmando]

I love the finish. #It's got sort of a burnt orange look to it. #Don claims he's never done a finer burst.He's been fantastic to deal with, honest at every turn and totally devoid of hype so I'm going to take his word on it.

[recklessmando]

The B side.

[JimRichter]

Very nice mandolin! I like the satin finish. Seems like a very cleanly made instrument.

Jim

[recklessmando]

One of the many curves I threw Don was asking for an unbound fingerboard but a bound and inlaid headstock. I just prefer looking at wood on the side of the fingerboard as opposed to binding but I also like the full treatment on the peghead. It was the first one he'd built this particular way and he handled it with character and grace (meaning he only swore at me in his shop, not online).

[recklessmando]

Last one for tonight. For the tuner buttons I have to say a huge THANK YOU to Peter Coombe. I got in touch with him as a result of a post he made awhile back on an ebony button thread. I was thinking ebony at the time but after a few conversations we ended up making them out of a native Australian wood called Gidgee. Dark brown with some beautiful reddish accents. Mr. Coombe built and installed them and got them shipped here in plenty of time. Thanks again. Don used the Gidgee as the inspiration for the finish color on the mando. I think it matches incredibly well.

[phynie]

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif nice

[Ken]

Beautiful mandolin! Love the color, the satin finish, the unbound fretboard and the back wood. And the tuner buttons and the inlay. And everything.
Ken

[jasona]

very nice!

[Jonathan James]

Gorgeous. I think Don is one of the emerging luthiers to watch and you couldn't find a nicer chap. Enjoy it!

[Skip Kelley]

I love that red burst! It looks great! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[levin4now]

I haven't seen a Pomeroy that didn't knock my socks off in the color department!

[recklessmando]

IT'S HERE!!!!!! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif Arrived a couple hours ago. It's a rather nasty day here and as I watched the mail carrier walk up my hill with the big box all I was thinking was "Don't trip, don't trip, please don't trip". She didn't; I signed for it, opened it up and..... I'm not worthy! Pictures just don't do it justice. The color is off the charts beautiful, the fit, finish and craftsmanship are top notch and the sound, even being this green, knocks me out. I haven't played many high end mandolins so I don't have the perspective to define the sound that many of you have but it makes me want to play for days on end. I'm going to keep the coffee pot hot. The biggest surprise so far is the neck. It's like Don had a mold of my hand. Perfect fit and in concert with his fingerboard it's the easiest and most playable instrument I've ever touched. I'm ecstatic! And I really want to get back to it. I'll take some pics later on and share. Till then here's another one from last week because it's golden to me.

[Lee]

Wow, that's a really nice looking mandolin and your enthusiasm practically brings tears to my eyes. I'm not an F5 kinda guy but that one makes make me reconsider. #
Thanks to another Cafe member I'm holding Pomeroy #26 A5 right now and couldn't be happier. #Well, maybe I could. I got Don's number.

[recklessmando]

Well, my left hand is tired so I traded off and used my right to snap a few shots. Got these in natural light during the five minutes of sun we had today. The color in these is much closer to the true color than the previous photos and boy is it beeeautiful.

[recklessmando]

Another;

[recklessmando]

And another;

[recklessmando]

Two more to go;

[recklessmando]

In response to a question currently on another thread; My opinion is that it's a mandolin when it gets Jeremy's seal of approval on the scroll. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Jonathan James]

A work of instrumental art, Jay. I love the tuner button customization. Really makes it unique. Enjoy!

[Tom C]

That it a really nice looking mando. I got to play one once and it was darn nice.

[Lane Pryce]

Outstanding. Beautiful scroll work. Hey Wreck-less what size fret wire is that? Enjoy brother!!! If ya need help breaking it in PM me for my address or I can meet ya half way. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/coffee.gif Lp

[Strado Len]

Congratulations. It's a beaut'!

May I ask why you decided to have the inlay dot on the 14th, rather than the 15th fret?

[Jonathan James]

whoa, what an eye. Was that intentional or a slight creative oversight?

[recklessmando]

Good morning all,
This thing is SO much fun to play and very nice to look at as well. I found myself scrolling through my own post and drooling. After further review though I have to say that my pics aren't a totally accurate representation of the actual color either. They're a bit too orange but it still looks great and if you want to see the real color you're all welcome to come on over.

JLP, the frets are definitely in the banjo wire range but I don't know the exact spec. I never asked. Traditional mando fretwire is about .055" and banjo wire ranges from .065"-.078" or .080" with the wider gauges being more popular, if I remember right. These seem to be on the fat side. Whatever they are, they fret very smoothly.

Len, good eye on the 'custom' 14th fret dot. It's there either because; A) the natural harmonic of this instruments hidden 9th string is on the 14th fret or B) Don put it there. I didn't ask for it and hadn't even noticed it until you pointed it out. Too busy going gaga over the sound it's putting out. I looked at all the Pomeroy pics I have and they're all normal so I guess mine's unique. Like the stamp with the upside down plane that's worth as much as a Loar. I'll have to ask Don what the story is on my 'one of a kind' model.

[Yellowmandolin]

That is one good looking mandolin. #I love the one piece back and as everyone else has said, the color is incredible. # http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[mandorado]

Jay congrats on the fine looking mandolin!
Hate to say it ... but in a year or two your going to be [really and truely] amazed when this baby opens up. Something big to look forward to.
(owner of Pomeroy #21, Blackjack)

[bluegrassjack2]

Does this builder have a web site?

[recklessmando]

Yup, pomeroyinstruments.com. You can access it from the builders section of the cafe too (Don Paine of Pomeroy Instruments).

[Lee]

Recklessmando, you pushed me over the edge. While reading your ecstatic comments, #44 became available and...well, I was scrolly afflicted.

[barricwiley]

recklessmando, Now that you have had a chance to play a while on your beauty. how do you like the sound and playability?
Richard

[Lee]

I guess he can't put it down...

[barricwiley]

Yeah, I'm sure you are right, but, it has me wondering for sure. recklessmando gushes overtime about the new Pomeroy and then... Nothing... for quite a long time now. I know I know, I am not his relative or anything and it is none of my business. I am just hoping he(she) is alright. I was enjoying the updates???
Richard

[mandorado]

LOL ... A new Pomeroy will do that to ya.

[barricwiley]

Hey mandorado you sound like possble Pomeroy owner. I just got on Don's list for one of his beautiful F4 models, one of the reasons I enjoyed recklessmandos' reckless excitment over his new baby. I have an A2 from Don and love it, a lot.
Richard

[LKN2MYIS]

barricwiley -

I just jumped on Don's list for an F4 as well!

lkn2myis

[barricwiley]

LKN2MYIS, Congrats to you. I think Pomeroy is a GREAT choice!!! Hope to share pics as it is being born and when in hand. I know it will be some time in coming but that will just make it sweeter. By the way, I am in old Va.
Richard

[LKN2MYIS]

Check your eMail. I'm in NY.

[recklessmando]

Good morning all,

I just got back in town and noticed what I've been missing. Spent the last week visiting family. We played a lot of music and had tons of fun but I realized that my best talent at the moment is making my girlfriend's guitar and vocals sound better by comparison. Oh well, keep on playing.

Congratulations on the F4's that are soon to be built. I've never had the chance to hear one but I'd sure like to one day.

Lee, you are absolutely correct about not being able to put it down. I'm only online a fraction of the time I used to be because I'd rather be playing. And I stopped posting when I thought I'd said enough. My intent was to share the experience of owning a new instrument, not shill for a particular builder. I certanly don't want to be the next guy to submit 103 posts that all say "my mandolin is the best that ever was". Besides, it's not, but it fits me very well.

So, after six weeks or so my impressions have evolved some but overall I'm still VERY happy with this instrument. My greatest joy has been listening to it in the hands of a couple pickers that can really do it justice. It's a very different experience sitting in front of it and listening and I find myself trading mandos with anyone who is willing just so I can listen to mine. I make a point of never asking folks what they think of my instruments but it's gotten some very nice unsolicited compliments just the same.

I've got a nice A that is about a year old now (not a Pomeroy) and maturing very nicely. It's a totally different animal (rosewood back and sides, flat fingerboard) but I can't help comparing the two. They both have wonderful tone and the Pomeroy actually helped me appreciate how nice the roseoood sounds. The rosewood has a very warm, kind of silky sound with more overtones, and an incredibly rich low end. The Pomeroy has a very balanced tone, with more bite, but it's voiced for bluegrass so it should. The bottom end isn't as full yet but the rosewood dodn't have it when it was this green either and the Pomeroy has a Red Spruce top which takes longer to open up from what I hear. Makes me wish I could snap my fingers and age it 15 years. Playability wise the Pomeroy wins hands down. The fretboard radius is perfect for me and I like the fatter neck, which is a source of concern for some folks. I'm not sure how well I can describe it but for me it provides better resistance to my fretting fingers. Think of it this way; if you push on the fingerboard to fret a note something has to push back, whether it's the thumb of the fretting hand behind the neck or the palm or combintaion thereof or the forearm of the picking hand or a broomstick duct taped to the wall. And the wider neck cradled im my palm feels solid and speedy to me. With a narrower neck I felt like my hand was not only fretting but also making microadjustments to provide the best resistance. The Pomeroy neck feels rock solid, I fret a note or a chord and the neck doesn't move so I can get on and off notes more quickly. I have made a slight adjustment in my fretting hand position, laying the neck more along the length of my palm and the downside is there's more skin to neck contact, hence more friction and sticky neck problems but Don's necks are less sticky than heavily lacquered instruments. I thought long and hard about asking Don for a bare neck and ultimately decided against it but I still may do it in the future. One other concern is that I have fairly small hands and it's not quite as easy to fret the G string with my pinky with the wider neck but every time I complain about fingers my girlfriend reminds me that Django did alright with only 3 of 'em.

[Kevin Briggs]

I'm curious. How's that Pomeroy holding up?

[recklessmando]

Hey, I recognize that mandolin, it's sitting right here beside me.

And it's holding up very well, thanks for asking, Kevin. Can't believe it's a year and a half old already. I'd say it is maturing very nicely. I still catch myself daydreaming in the middle of a tune, thinking about how wonderful this instrument sounds, and then forgetting my place.

Most of the talk lately has been about Don's ovals. I own a Pomeroy F4 as well, and can attest to the fact that they are solid instruments that do what they do very well. But it's his F5's that really float my boat. I'm just as happy and excited to own mine today as I was the day it arrived.

[recklessmando]

Oops. I meant to add a newer photo. I love photos on Pomeroy threads . Here it is.

[Kevin Briggs]

Thanks for the update. It's tempting, for sure. I'm just not in tj emoney right now, but wish I was, for reasons like your picture.

[red7flag]

Jay, I see you beautiful new mando has a different tail piece than is on the website. Is that a new option? What does Don say about them? Could you make a sound bite we could experience?
Congratulations.
Tony

[recklessmando]

Tony, the tailpiece is actually one of Keith Newell's creations. I've always liked the style of that design and the fact that they feel more solid than stamped pieces with covers to lose. I sent it to Don while 57 was being built so it's the only tailpiece it's ever had. As far as I know he's still using his same tailpiece on new instruments.

As far as a soundclip goes, first off my pickin' isn't going to be a great advertisement for anyones mandolins. Second, I'm trying to find something that will do the sound justice and a three dollar computer mic with an 1/8" plug isn't gonna do it. I may have a setup soon but I've also got a kitchen that is torn apart back to brick and plaster and rebuilding it is a bigger priority at the moment. We haven't had a stove or sink in almost a month. I'll get a recording out but it won't be real soon.