Gibson Brothers....Joe Walsh's mandolin

[NickAlberty]

Hello,

Got to see The Gibson Brothers at Grass Valley, CA this weekend. Great festival. Anyway, I didn't get to see Joe Walsh's mandolin up close and was wondering if anyone knew what he was playing. It was a very nice sounding A style.

Also got to play my friend's Brock, 1937 Gibson, and the Gilchrist mandocello.

[Fiddler3]

Joe's F model is a LaPlant made by Lloyd LaPlant in Minn. I believe. Not sure on the A model.

[hedgehog]

There has been some discussion on the "A" style he's playing while his LaPlant mandolin (Made by Lloyd Laplant / Grand Rapids, Mn.) is being repaired. Unfortunately I can't seem to dig up the thread I read about his replacement "A". The information is either here on the Cafe or over on Mando Hangout. If given the choice between listening to big Bill. or Joe W. Joe with his relatively simple sounding but powerful tone and style, I'd lean toward Joe every time. I never really paid much attention to Bill M. until Joe's playing got me hooked on the how pure a mandolin can sound, now I appreciate Bill's music far more, but without Joe W. I never would have taken Bill M. seriously ....... sorry, I was an Earl Scruggs man, still am really.

[SternART]

I read that thread........wasn't it a Gil?

[mandomurph]

I was at Grass Valley also and Joe's mandolin did have some deep tone to it. I tried to make out the name on the headstock. I was too far away to see it clearly but it looked like a rather short name, not as long as "Gilchrist".

[doc holiday]

a musician friend of mine just got back from the Kluane BG festival in Whitehorse, and got to hang out with JW a little. The A style is a Gilchrist, and a sweet one at that by all accounts.

[NickAlberty]

Yes, it was a very sweet sounding mandolin. I kept saying to my wife....."that's what a mandolin should sound like".

It was nice. Joe was pretty cool too. Bumped into him while we were jamming and he asked to play my Gibson. He plays really well and it was nice to actually hear my instrument being played by a great musician. We don't get that too often. Usually we only hear it when we play them ourselves. Nice to stand out in front of it and listen to it.

The Gibson Bros (even though they were minus one) were really good. My first time to see them live.

[Rob Fowler]

About a week or 2 ago I emailed Joe to ask him about his mandolin and he said he bought that AWESOME Gil due to the fact that his LaPlant was having real problems staying in tune.

Pick up his latest album "Sweet Loam" if you don't have it yet. It's really great.

[mandopete]

Pick up his latest album "Sweet Loam" if you don't have it yet. It's really great.

I will heartily 2nd that!

Five Stars.

[hedgehog]

Nick - Was one of the brothers missing, now that's unusual. Was there a reason given?

Tuning issues, you'd think it would be fairly easy to replace the tuners, atfter that what could be going wrong, an unstable neck?

[NickAlberty]

Yeah........the banjo playing brother was gone. I can't remember his name since it was my first time to see them. Keep them in your prayers. They said it was a family emergency and his boy was in the hospital. It sounded pretty serious from what I gathered.

My friend told me how excellent their harmony is, but even without the one brother, the group was still top notch.

[hedgehog]

That would be Eric, can't imagine them not having him alone, he's more than 1/2 the show. They are both tight family men so I'm sure he was where he should have been, Lets hope all is well with his son.

[surfnut]

I was there at Grass Valley also, and I really enjoyed Joe Walsh. It never seemed to be about him but about the song. Perfect fills, tags, kick-offs and breaks that weren't note-ee but seemed to fit perfectly. I really dug listening to him.

[hedgehog]

That's sort of a signaure with the Gibson Brothers and their band. There are very few "Look at Me Play" moments, all the music is there for the purpose of supporting the song. I first noticed Joe W. on the Gibson Brothers song, Farm of Yesterday. His mandolin made me sit right up and listen, so simple, so perfect, I can't imagine that song without what Joe did or Eric's banjo for that matter.

[John Adrihan]

The mandolin is a Gilchrist. I played with him at christmas when he was home. Its a great intrument. It is so loud that it hurts your ears.