Heiden, Where does it stack up?

[red7flag]

I have never played a Heiden. Heard wonderful things from people I really respect here at the cafe. How does it compare with the Gils and Dudes? How about the Ellis, Altman, Red Diamond, BRW and Kimble? Just trying to figure out the relative pecking order. I know personal preference comes to play.

[Chris Biorkman]

Don't know about pecking order, but it's definitely top shelf. I love mine.

[Chris Biorkman]

My precious.

[Jill McAuley]

That is what I would call a looker - beautiful mandolin there Chris!

Cheers,
Jill

[Toycona]

A friend of mine LOVES his, but they are way too rich for my blood.

[mandolirius]

I haven't played most of the mandolins on your list, only three or four Gils and at least a dozen Heidens, probably more. So many I've lost count. They're fairly plentiful around here. I had a student that has two. Andrew Collins (Creaking Tree String Quartet, Foggy Hogtown Boys) plays one. At a recent FHB show he was saying that he thinks Michael has brought his mandolins to a new level over the past four or five years. I thought the older ones were really good, so that's saying something.

[Scotti Adams]

Heidens are fine mandolins and you might want to include Clark in your stack.

[red7flag]

Scotti, I have one of Austin's card in my wallet. I had the pleasure of trying out some of his work at IBMA this year. A fine mandlin. I guess what I am trying to get here is what the tone of the Heiden is like, not really comparing which is better. I am sure the true lovers will say that the Heiden sounds like a Heiden and has its own sound. For example, I would say that the Stanleys fall in the Loar sound category. I hope this clears up my original post.

[Rick Schmidlin]

Heiden's,Ellis and Red Diamonds I have any F or A and sell the farm for.

[AW Meyer]

I have been in Michael's shop and watched him work. (He was doing a setup and constructing a new bridge saddle for me.) His work is thorough and meticulous. His mandolins are wonderful. I'm not very good at sound descriptors, but I will say that I preferred the sound of the Heidens I've played to the only Gichrist I've played and to John Reischman's Master Model. John has owned at least two Heidens, and it was Michael who worked on John's Loar -- adding a radiused fret board, for example. If I could afford a Heiden, I be all over one as quickly as I could.

[Ray(T)]

Can't compare them all but I did have the chance to compare a Heiden A5 with a Kimble A5 several years ago. New, they were very similar. The Kimble was slightly warmer but that was down to the choice of wood. I preferred the Heiden for its truss-rod cover but bought the Kimble as it was significantly cheaper. In my mind, at that level, its down to which you prefer and what you're willing to pay although for some people it can also be down to who you're trying to impress.

[billhay4]

Top ten, if not top five.
Bill

[UncleNorm]

Michael's overall stated objective is to make every instrument "player friendly," or "what the player wants" .... not only for tone and playability, but for the "eye" too. He does all this with attention to detail in the extreme...wood selection, workmanship, carving/voicing, finishing, and set-up. Generally, Michael's instruments (my experience) exude clarity and are easy to play. Depending on what you want/order, or how you play, tone can range from deep and throaty to piano like.
Where does it stack up? Top tier. But this is like going to a world class Art museum and asking the curator which one (or rank the top five) is the best? Only you, with your wallet and taste, can decide.

[JeffD]

Where does it stack up? Top tier. ... Only you, with your wallet and taste, can decide.

Thats it right there. Play 'em, try 'em out. Decide.

Its not a narrow hierarchy, there are different sounds, different playabilities, to match different preferences.

[MONami]

While it is true that a top-tier luthier will seldom produce a lousy instrument, there is variability in the output of builders. I am not sure by what measure we should rank luthiers. How much $$ they command? There is surely some correlation, but, there are limits to what a builder is able to control. One can never be sure what each instrument was intended to achieve, or what directions the luthier receives, and we should not be surprised that they don't all sound the same. I have heard Gilchrists that were thin and hard sounding, and some that were just great. I've heard modern Gibsons that were great, and not so great.

Having said that, the Heidens I have heard have all been very good, at minimum. I just played one which the owner said was Heiden's 12 or 13th mando ( I don't recall, I was just so thrilled to be playing it... ) and it was really good, but just a touch less powerful on the G & D than I expected. Others I have played were so good I thought that there could not be any improvement to the sound--they were perfect.

[Jim Roberts]

Shaun Garrity owns and plays one of the greatest A5's on the planet and it is Heiden.

[Mike Black]

Jim, I thought that you had one of the greatest A5's on the planet.

[SternART]

Michael is top drawer. We had a Heidenfest at my studio back in 2005.

[SternART]

That is Michael wearing the shorts.

[SternART]

These are mostly SF Bay Area folks, quite a few Heiden's in the area.

[Chris Biorkman]

That's some eye candy right there.

[woodysny]

Never played a dude, but played (or owned) most of the top ones and my Heiden is as good as any of them. That's one reason why I still own it.

[red7flag]

Since you have a stable of top F5s, how does the tone of each compare?

[AlanN]

That first SternART pic looks like those pickers all have divining rods, searching for buried treasure. I think they actually have that treasure in hand :mandosmiley:

[sgarrity]

It's no secret that I'm a fan. I've played somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-15 Heiden's and they are all great mandolins. Sometime around 2003-2004 I understand he made some changes and the ones I've played since then have been exceptional. I got my A5 from Jim and I've never been happier with another mandolin. I've owned a bunch of the bigger names and played examples of the Big 5 and my Heiden takes a back seat to none of them. Is it better? That's for the indicidual to decide.

As for construction and attention to detail, I hesitate to use the word flawless but it certainly describes his work. Collings instruments are flawless but tend to look and feel slightly sterile to me. (I own a Collings guitar so this is certainly not a "diss" on them.) My Heiden is perfectly finished but still has a very comfortable, organic feel to it. The wood choices are spectacular. It's also far and away the easiest playing mandolin I've had the pleasure of playing. Considering their extremely high level of quality they are a bargain IMHO!

[Mike Bromley]

Mike McCleod has one in his Calgary shoppe. I've had the opportunity to play it for about half an hour, and once I got the tonal center figured out, the thing was a freakin' cannon. Extremely balanced and responsive. So there. FWIW.


That's for the indicidual to decide.


I'm indicidual...mostly due to price point. Maybe that makes me dicidual. Maybe deciduous, but I'll leaf that to someone else.

[Chris Biorkman]

Shoppe. Hehe. ;)

[Dan Margolis]

Heiden's,Ellis and Red Diamonds I have any F or A and sell the farm for.

Huh?

[blawson]

Garrity and I concur -- it's tough to beat a Heiden A, eh Shaun?. So responsive, fat notes with overtones -- a sweetheart to play. And Michael and Kay are superb human beings.

[Dan Margolis]

I just looked at the website. Stunningly beautiful instruments.

[swinginmandolins]

With the A showing up in the classifieds today, I went to Gregboyds site to listen to some soundclips, not that I could afford one. Anyway it sounded to me that the notes were effortlessly flowing from those mandolins, blooming from a nice woody attack to a clear bell decay. Creamy and decadent. I don't think you could really could go wrong with one. There was one clip of an Ellis I listened to that was up there too, but the Heidens had that extra something to my ears.

[dcoventry]

Oh dear Lord. That Heiden A in the classifieds as a beauty of the highest order. Drool-worthy to say the least. Someday. sigh.

[sgarrity]

That A5 will make someone a very happy mandolin picker!

[Dan Margolis]

That Artist A in the classifieds is surely beautiful and undoubtedly spectacular sounding. At $8900, it makes me realize why Ellis mandolins at around 5k are considered bargains. I am not implying that one is better than the other. I have not been lucky enough to play a Heiden.

[sgarrity]

I've played them both and the Ellis is a HUGE bargain at $5k.

[Pete Martin]

Right up there. Michael makes wonderful mandolins.

[Randalline]

Yesterday I was at a jam session and had a chance to play a Heiden A the whole time. What a wonderful instrument! I consider myself pretty fussy when it comes to tone and playability. This instrument delivered. Great tone and clarity up the neck, Was pretty loud when you whipped it, and soft and clear when you wanted a quieter approach. I didn't have my instrument (Gibson F5-L). It is getting a fret job done on it right now. I feel M. heiden is way up there with the other top notch builders. Do the Heiden vs Loar quiz on his website. Rieschman had one made, and it sounds pretty awesome.

[rockies]

Randalline, actually John Reischman has had 2 Heiden mandolins made. Both were exceptional insruments especially the Heritage made with 100 year old wood for the top, and Oh !, the color and trim ... the most beautiful mandolin I have ever seen and played IMHO. I believe there are photos on Michaels website www.heideninstruments.ca/ I believe John gave his first Heiden to his daughter Vanessa. As a proud owner of Heiden A #41 I love the workmanship and especially love the TONE. Some mornings I just sit and play slow tunes up the neck just to hear the sweet bell like sounds that come from it.
Dave

[John Kinn]

Great quiz, but very short clips. I couldn't find the correct answer anywhere, but my guess was 1. Heiden 2.Loar.

[Chris Biorkman]

Great quiz, but very short clips. I couldn't find the correct answer anywhere, but my guess was 1. Heiden 2.Loar.

The pick click is a dead giveaway as to which one is the Loar.

[Rick Schmidlin]

John told he sold the mandolin to his daughter because he did not like the neck, and then ordered one to his specs.

[John Kinn]

Got an email now confirming I was right. Another giveaway for me was that they said the Heiden was just strung up, and I thought the strings sounded fresher. And again, I've always liked the dark sound of Reischman's Loar, and kind of recognised it..

[trevor]

I am expecting a Heritage model any day. I'm very excited.. Every mandolin I've had from Michael has been truly outstanding.

[Randalline]

Rockies . . . . Perhaps one day I will own 2 of them myself. Hopefully soon.

[trevor]

Micheal's Heritage model has just arrived. here's some eye candy;

680956809668097

680986809968100

[Rick Schmidlin]

Congrats :)

[trevor]

Not mine personally, unfortunately.

[Paul Cowham]

That looks amazing Trevor...

You may remember that I purchased an A Artist model early 2009 which I am loving and I think the sound has improved .... :mandosmiley:

[trevor]

It must be truly remarkable now then?

[Carleton Page]

That Heritage is awesome.

[Paul Cowham]

I think it is Trevor, and if I am coming down to Brighton ever, I would be interested for you to hear it to compare... (and I could maybe have a go on what you have in stock ;))

[trevor]

You are welcome anytime.

[Paul Cowham]

You are welcome anytime.

many thanks Trevor, possibly sometime in April, it would be fantastic to come to your amazing shop again and have a heiden tasting session ;)

[SternART]

My Heiden up close.

[doc holiday]

Mine & no it's not backwards....

[Carleton Page]

heard a Heiden for an extended period of time at the Joe Val Festival and it sounded awesome! Throaty, Loud, etc... Had everything I would want to hear. An amazing instrument.

[Spruce]

Michael will be at Wintergrass this year.....