View Full Version : Danny Roberts?
Willie Poole
Apr-23-2011, 12:20pm
I just heard a recording of Danny Roberts playing "Bonaparts Retreat" and was wondering if anyone knew (Maybe Danny will jump in here) just what mandolin he is playing on this recording? It sounds as good as any mandolin I have ever heard, of course in his hands there are many that would sound great....:mandosmiley:
Willie
Caleb
Apr-23-2011, 12:45pm
I heard him play on Woodsongs with the Grascals and was blown away. I'm surprised the instrument stayed intact with the workout he gave it. Serious chops!
woodwizard
Apr-23-2011, 1:37pm
My guess is that it would be his unsigned Loar... depending on how old the woodsongs show is.
On the recording it is a 2002 Sam Bush with J-74 strings using Dunlop Ultex pick (From Danny in the archives)
woodwizard
Apr-23-2011, 3:01pm
On the recording it is a 2002 Sam Bush with J-74 strings using Dunlop Ultex pick (From Danny in the archives)
Yep! 2002 was way before he snagged his Loar. I may be wrong But I heard he traded just about everything he had plus some to boot for that Loar. He deserves it too. What a picker!
Big Joe
Apr-23-2011, 7:46pm
I saw Danny play with the Grascals last Friday and I don't think he ever played better. He is not only one of the fastest you will ever see or hear, but also one of the cleanest. He has lots of recorded material and his talent is scary great. Even better he is one of the finest people you could ever know! Oh... and a great friend!
Rick Schmidlin
Apr-23-2011, 9:30pm
Yep! 2002 was way before he snagged his Loar. I may be wrong But I heard he traded just about everything he had plus some to boot for that Loar. He deserves it too. What a picker!
He still has his Red Diamond.
dcoventry
Apr-23-2011, 9:40pm
Rick, you still have yours, too.
Dusty
Apr-23-2011, 10:31pm
Joe, I just want to agree with your post. Also, I have seen Danny encourage young players and just generally be nice and friendly to them. I have seen other artists who won't take the time with these kids and he just seems to make them feel special. He's real..
I met Danny in Felton, CA at a show. He played my Gilchrist and handed me his Loar to play before the show. I ended up sending my Gil and 22 Gibson F4 back to Nashville to have him refret, etc. both. What a great guy. He had just purchased a 52 or thereabouts Gibson Mandolin that he played a couple of songs with. Turns out that my F4 is 13 numbers away from his Loar...ex> 70000/70013..not those numbers but that the gist. What a picker and just a great dude...
Clyde Clevenger
Apr-24-2011, 11:29am
A few years ago I got to see Danny play with the Grasscals at Strevenson, Washington. After burning the house down on stage for a couple of hour, Danny was gracious enough to hang out with a bunch of us mandolin nerds and just talk mandos. He played everyones mandolin, had nice things to sat about them all, even the bad ones. One, with all the resonance of a brick, was so bad even Danny couldn't make it sound good. He just smiled and said, "that sure does have it's own sound." I was very pleased at his reaction to mine, of course. He said, "now that's a good box, that's how a mandolin should sound." Then I pointed out that it was his signature on the label. A gracious gentleman, besides being a fine picker, I'm really looking forward to getting to see him this summer up in Darrington, Wa.
Danny is just what I like in a picker: down-to-earth, honest, supportive, can burn it when needed. And knows a good mandolin.
Lukas J
Apr-24-2011, 3:22pm
Danny uses Dunlop Ultex picks? That's good enough for me. I discovered them a couple of months ago, and they are leaps ahead of the other dunlop ones I've played on, for my personal tastes.
GTison
Apr-24-2011, 4:23pm
Danny Roberts is a fine player and person. He has been very helpful and very gracious to me when I have met him. I had him sign my case (gray nylon).
When I saw him play last he was playing a Gibson Master Model (model) mandolin. He was also using a BlueChip pick. He is or was an endorser of the BlueChip pick. I am a little suprised to learn of the unsigned Loar, Red Diamond, and other things on here.
You learn some new information every day.
Lukas J
Apr-24-2011, 5:50pm
I knew about this Loar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqk6nohVCAk , but I didn't know about an unsigned one he had... ???
Rick Schmidlin
Apr-24-2011, 6:25pm
Red Diamond: #207 F (Vintage25) Danny Roberts
Big Joe
Apr-24-2011, 6:45pm
Danny's Loar is a December 20, 1922 and has a great story. I love instruments with a story. His Loar had been returned to the factory for some work... likely to remove the Virzi in the late 20's or earl 30's and they replaced the labels at that time. The did put the original serial number and date on the label, but he Loar signature label was removed at that time. That's the way the factory did things in those days. Some still do. It is a GREAT mandolin. His Red Diamond is as good as they get as well. Those are his two mandolins he plays currently and the last I knew he was using his Blue Chip pick. He got me started on Blue Chip's. Great picks.
After burning the house down on stage for a couple of hour, Danny was gracious enough to hang out with a bunch of us mandolin nerds and just talk mandos. He played everyones mandolin, had nice things to sat about them all, even the bad ones. One, with all the resonance of a brick, was so bad even Danny couldn't make it sound good. He just smiled and said, "that sure does have it's own sound."
I remember that too Clyde... Danny stayed late and even passed around his Master Model for us to play. Wow... that is one of the best mandos I've ever played! That mando had a neat story too. I believe Gibson built it for a customer who was unhappy with a previous MM but they didn't like the replacement mando either so it sat it Charlies office. I believe Danny said he'd play it whenever he stopped by Charlies office and he really liked it... then one day he was playing it and Charlie said something like, "You like that mandolin? Merry Christmas, it's yours" or something to that affect. Maybe Danny will get on here and tell us the whole story. Made me realize how we all have different tastes in what a good mandolin should sound like. To me, that mandolin had everything but to whoever they made it for, they didn't like it.
Here's the entire Loar story from beginning to end for anyone interested.
Loar Story (http://www.bluegrassjournal.com/2008/11/16/danny-roberts-a-loar-at-last/)
Nolan
Apr-26-2011, 12:34am
When I say "they" I meant the customer didn't like the mando ...not Gibson. Anyway.... killer mando, I wonder if he still has it?
Here is the post by Danny. He was "Andiwayne" then. Mandolin Orchard is a great recording.
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-8619.html