One heck of a scroll [Archive] - Mandolin Cafe Forum

JeffD

Dec-03-2011, 4:51pm

My favorite scoll. And its a blonde!

After almost ten years of dreadful MAS, constantly perusing the classifieds and auction sites for one of these at an affordable price, and several years of building up the MAS budget account so that I could raise my definition of affordable, I have acquired the most beautiful mandolin in the world. Nothing spontaneous about this one - the inclination was always there, but then the opportunity lined up with the ability.

It sounds wonderful. Reminds me of the sound of a really great bowlback. It came to me strung with Thomastick Mittels, so how much of the tone is wood and how much is metal I cannot say.

Mandolin Mick

Dec-03-2011, 5:31pm

Nice scroll Jeff. What's the faceplate of the headstock made of?

Clement Barrera-Ng

Dec-03-2011, 5:43pm

Wow congrats Jeff. I also think the Style A is one of the most beautiful mandolin ever conceived, and hopefully I'll be able to afford one some day.

Charley wild

Dec-03-2011, 8:06pm

Beautiful mandolin, Jeff!

MandoSquirrel

Dec-03-2011, 9:08pm

Yes, beautiful.

Jim Garber

Dec-03-2011, 11:28pm

A big hearty congratulation to you, Jeff!!

What's the faceplate of the headstock made of?

If it is an all-original Lyon & Healymandolin, the faceplate and thje pickguard are made from vulcanized fiber, an old plastic similar to bakelite.

JEStanek

Dec-03-2011, 11:36pm

Congrats, Jeff. That's my favorite design too.

Jamie

JeffD

Dec-03-2011, 11:56pm

If it is an all-original Lyon & Healymandolin, the faceplate and thje pickguard are made from vulcanized fiber, an old plastic similar to bakelite.

Yes its all original everything. Fantastic shape, the neck was reset, excellently. The action is just low and easy all the way up the neck the intonation is perfect.

Vulcanized fiber, or vulcanized rubber or something, yes. And if I remember, while there is no truss rod the center line through the neck is a similar material.

I have wanted one of these for a long time. You can easily find posts where I listed it as my dream mandolin. I have been half heartedly putting money aside for general MAS, thinking I would spend it on something, and then this turned up.

Its a little surreal to want something so badly and then to be able to get it. I was shaking when I made the phone call. It would be like Marty Stuart showing up at your open mike. It would be like getting a voice mail message from Valarie Bertinelli and calling her back. OMG. This kind of thing doesn't happen.

I got it Thursday but and considered taking a day off. But I was good, and with work and everything today is the first day I have really had the time to kick back and enjoy the thing. Just holding it gives me shivers.

So if Valeria calls me any time soon I will just drop dead away.

JeffD

Dec-03-2011, 11:57pm

Nice scroll Jeff. What's the faceplate of the headstock made of?

I think its the same material as the pickguard - some kind of vulcanized rubber predating plastic.

JeffD

Dec-04-2011, 12:00am

The original hardshell case is in great shape, but those cases don't really protect the instrument as well as some of the modern ones. I need to figure that one out.

Phil Jolly

Dec-04-2011, 12:37am

Gorgeous!

Mandolin Mick

Dec-04-2011, 5:45am

Thanx for the info on the faceplate guys. When I zoomed the photo, it looked like stainless steel or nickel, and I thought that it might effect the sound as well as make the headstock relatively heavy.

Jim Garber

Dec-04-2011, 7:38am

I think its the same material as the pickguard - some kind of vulcanized rubber predating plastic.

Common misconception. Vulcanized fibre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcanized_fibre)is not rubber at all but a cellulose-based plastic dating back to the mid-19th century. Yes , they used it laminated in the neck which is pob the weak point of their design.

I posted this 1925 L&H catalog page some time ago.

KristinEliza

Dec-04-2011, 10:40am

Congrats Jeff! This mando is on the top of my MAS wish list as well...now if I could only keep my MAS bank account well stocked...

JeffD

Dec-04-2011, 12:41pm

Common misconception. Vulcanized fibre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcanized_fibre)is not rubber at all but a cellulose-based plastic dating back to the mid-19th century. Yes , they used it laminated in the neck which is pob the weak point of their design.

Thanks. There it is. I am going to copy that and print it out.

I guess folks "vulcanized" and think rubber, half remembered from eighth grade, when vulcanization is the process.

JeffD

Dec-04-2011, 12:43pm

Congrats Jeff! This mando is on the top of my MAS wish list as well...now if I could only keep my MAS bank account well stocked...

The only kind of personal economics I have been able to practice is "Coffee Can Economics", where I keep a virutal coffee can for everything I can think of. That way I know which Paul to rob in order to pay Peter.

Jim Garber

Dec-04-2011, 2:34pm

Thanks. There it is. I am going to copy that and print it out.

Maybe we need a tee shirt... :)

bratsche

Dec-04-2011, 3:37pm

Cool mando, Jeff. Congrats and enjoy!

If it were a mandola, I'd even be jealous.

bratsche

Charles E.

Dec-04-2011, 7:56pm

Nice catch Jeff. I have played a couple of these and they are sweet. That one look's to be in mint condition.

JeffD

Dec-05-2011, 9:10am

It feels and sounds minty, and the looks are stunning, but its my understanding that the neck was reset several years ago. There is no way I can tell this by looking, and the only indication may be that the intonation is perfect all the way up the neck, which in 80 years likely had some assistance.

My only complaint is I feel like I need to dress up when I play it. I normally go to a jam in jeans and a henly with my Gibson, but with this elegant little beastie I feel I need to put on a blazer.

Gregg Henry

Dec-05-2011, 1:20pm

If you are real uncomfortable about the dressed-up factor then I guess I could go ahead and trade you even-up for the more understated - but equally gorgeous in many eyes - B-style. Having said that, it would be dang hard to let that delightful instrument go anywhere.

Gregg

JeffD

Dec-05-2011, 3:00pm

Is the 'B' style the one with symmetrical points. Yea that is a beauty too, but the asymmetrical two points is just such a nice aesthetic touch.

I got it bad. I woke up this morning, and took it out to look at it. I was going to play it, but not in my bathrobe. I had to get dressed first.

JEStanek

Dec-05-2011, 3:07pm

IIRC, the L&H had a Style A with symetrical points as well. Jim will know, but I think one or the other had a slightly shorter scale length. I prefer the asymetrical design, myself. The Labraid I had was based on the asymetrical design and Brian nailed it. It is lovely and elegant.

Jamie

Charles E.

Dec-05-2011, 7:22pm

Jeff, can we get a picture of the back of this mandolin? The ones I have played in the past were very pretty.

Bob DeVellis

Dec-05-2011, 7:50pm

A styles did, indeed, have symmetrical points. It's the Professional that has the asymmetrical configuration. Lyon & Healy mandolins are amazing instruments. In addition to being perhaps the best mandolin design ever visually, they also sound very nice. They're not bluegrass instruments particularly, but they're great for just about anything else.

I have one with a replaced neck and Doug Unger used ebony for the neck reinforcement. L&H probably would have done well to do the same. Although the re-neck compromises originality, the playability (brand new neck with a perfect angle, new fingerboard, fresh frets) certainly has its advantages. Along with the F-4, these are my favorite vintage mandolins (although I have a warm spot in my heart for Vega cylinder-backs and Howe-Ormes, too, I must admit).

JeffD

Dec-05-2011, 8:19pm

Jeff, can we get a picture of the back of this mandolin? The ones I have played in the past were very pretty.

Here you go. I am not a very good photographer. I am sure someone with skill would be able to capture the wood better.

It is a stunner.

JeffD

Dec-05-2011, 8:23pm

In addition to being perhaps the best mandolin design ever visually, they also sound very nice. They're not bluegrass instruments particularly, but they're great for just about anything else.

Along with the F-4, these are my favorite vintage mandolins .

I do love F-4s as well. I played on a beautiful black top F-4 at Pickers Supply in Fredericksburg a year or so ago. Lovely.

JeffD

Dec-05-2011, 8:27pm

One surprise. This thing is sturdy. It pushes back. I was expecting something delicate and fussy, like my bowlbacks. This guy is less fussy than my A2. And pushes back harder.

Push back, to me, is the quality where an instrument doesn't lose its tone when played loud. This thing sounds beautiful played softly, and then really sounds wonderful when pushed. And stays in tune, darn it.

I am using the Thomastic strings that came on it, and I think I will keep using them. Why screw around with something that works.

Charles E.

Dec-05-2011, 8:31pm

Jeff, those folks at L&H had some nice wood, that is for sure. I like the finish on these instruments also.

JeffD

Dec-05-2011, 8:34pm

Is there a site or a book where I can look up the serial number and style number and find out exactly when this was made?

Charles E.

Dec-05-2011, 8:59pm

The best book I have found is by Hubert Pleijsier. "Washburn Instrument Styles guitars, mandolins,banjos and ukuleles 1883-1940" It has serial and production numbers in the back section. All in all a good book.

Bill Clements

Dec-05-2011, 11:16pm

You found a beautiful example of a Lyon & Healy A model. I've been looking at these for a little while and found three so far, but none of them look as great as yours! I'm drooling all over my keyboard.

Congrats and enjoy!

mrmando

Dec-06-2011, 4:22am

Hubert's book doesn't have a year-by-year serial number chart; the L&H numbering system isn't as tidy or well understood as Gibson's. But: this is an asymmetrical short-scale A that says both "Lyon & Healy" and "Washburn" on the label. I assume it also says "Style A" and not "Style 5283." If memory serves, that would put it sometime between 1922 and 1925.

JeffD

Dec-06-2011, 8:59am

I assume it also says "Style A" and not "Style 5283." If memory serves, that would put it sometime between 1922 and 1925.

It is a Professional, style A, but not so indicated on the label. The label has STYLE ___________, and the number 5283 is written in pencil. The label says Washburn, while the tail piece cover, that wonderful work of art, says Lyon and Healy.

JeffD

Dec-06-2011, 9:04am

You found a beautiful example of a Lyon & Healy A model. I've been looking at these for a little while !

They do show up. I have seen two or three in the last 5 or 6 years.

journeybear

Dec-06-2011, 9:36am

That is one beautiful mandolin! I am not used to seeing the scroll there, other than on violin family instruments, and the notion of a scroll on an A model is, well, taking some getting used to. ;) Speaking of adjusting - How are the rest of your instruments handling the situation? :confused: Are they chafing at being overlooked in favor of the newcomer? :disbelief: Especially the A, who is probably concerned about being replaced as your avatar. And if that happens, how will we recognize you? :confused:

Congratulations on acquiring such a fine instrument. It probably won't cure MAS, but perhaps it will keep it at bay - for a while. And don't fret over the dress code too much. Sam Bush dresses pretty casual even with his F-5, so let yourself off the hook. You might have to spring for a Blue Chip to go with your Thomastiks, though ... ;)

Bob DeVellis

Dec-06-2011, 10:19am

I am using the Thomastic strings that came on it, and I think I will keep using them. Why screw around with something that works.

I use Thomastics on mine, as well. They seem to suit these instruments.

Jim Garber

Dec-06-2011, 10:34am

One thing you didn't mention, Jeff, is how are you adapting to the shorter scale?

Gregg Henry

Dec-06-2011, 1:39pm

Jim Garber

Dec-06-2011, 2:38pm

I was under the impression that L&H started out with only a symmetrical body style and with +/- 14" scale for both A and B-styles - that all of the early ones up into the early / mid 20s had both of these two features, and that later on - mid-to-late 20s - they switched to the asymmetric body coincident with switching to a shorter +/- 13" scale. And, if serial numbers indicate anything, it might be that this switch occurred somewhere in the #1400 range. I could be wrong - this is just a supposition based on snippets. Or maybe me trying to introduce an orderly system to the process. Anybody know the truth?

I am not sure about the exact serial number -- and there also might be some overlap, perhaps an asymmetrical with a longer scale or a symmetrical with a shorter scale (not that I know of any) -- but for the most part what you say is true about the 13" scale on the asymmetricals. I can check in Hubert's Washburn book for more details.

P.D. Kirby

Dec-06-2011, 3:26pm

JeffD

Dec-06-2011, 4:25pm

One thing you didn't mention, Jeff, is how are you adapting to the shorter scale?

I like it. It seems to add to the feeling of sturdyness. Less moment arm or something.

JeffD

Dec-06-2011, 4:50pm

[QUOTE=journeybear;994039]That is one beautiful mandolin! I am not used to seeing the scroll there, other than on violin family instruments, Yea that is fiddle envy pure and simple. It looks so cool!!
How are the rest of your instruments handling the situation? Thats the great thing about it, you can fall in love with a new instrument, and the old ones will welcome you back.
Are they chafing at being overlooked in favor of the newcomer? Especially the A, who is probably concerned about being replaced as your avatar. And if that happens, how will we recognize you? I have been playing the L&H and the A2 back to back (all weekend) to kind of groove on the difference in tone. Back to back it is striking. And its hard to say which is more desirable. The Gibson is creamier sounding, and more "Loarish" if I can be a judge, while the L&H has a less brutish sound, and the tone of a fine bowlback. I have some thoughts about changing to an L&H avatar. But keeping the blue background.
It probably won't cure MAS, but perhaps it will keep it at bay - for a while. Its gonna have to be a while, as my MAS budget is in arrears to my new tires budget.
You might have to spring for a Blue Chip to go with your Thomastiks Yea, I have been using the TAD60 on it. Plays really slick with that one.

mrmando

Dec-06-2011, 5:03pm

It is a Professional, style A, but not so indicated on the label. The label has STYLE ___________, and the number 5283 is written in pencil. The label says Washburn, while the tail piece cover, that wonderful work of art, says Lyon and Healy.
Then it's from no earlier than 1925 according to Hubert's book. The Lyon & Healy Style A was renamed the Washburn Style 5283 in that year.

Style A's had symmetrical points and a 13.875" scale until 1921. The asymmetrical body and 13" scale were introduced more or less simultaneously, although in another L&H thread on the Cafe, someone did claim to have a long-scale instrument with asymmetrical points.

Steve Roberts

Dec-07-2011, 9:51am

There has been a L&H A in California for sale on the Bay for months. Repaired cracked neck and face, and no tailpiece cover. Anyone know the instrument or ever played it?

Just curious.

Markus

Dec-07-2011, 10:35am

Congrats Jeff, that's a really beautiful instrument and it's great hearing you so excited about it.

I sure would be ... I too love the design of it, and this seems like a particularly awesome incarnation.

If we don't hear from you here, we'll smile knowing what happened to you.

JeffD

Dec-07-2011, 11:37am

Then it's from no earlier than 1925 according to Hubert's book. The Lyon & Healy Style A was renamed the Washburn Style 5283 in that year..

Thats great. Makes sense too that the label says Washburn.

Thanks. 1925 or so is good.

JeffD

Dec-07-2011, 12:26pm

One thing you didn't mention, Jeff, is how are you adapting to the shorter scale?

I think this deserves a bit more of a response.

I am really liking the shorter scale. It is very much like a bowlback in that way. The reaches are easy. I haven't checked but it also feels very close to fiddle spacing.

And the sturdiness. I can't over emphasize that. It feels as if the neck was a part of the body, an extension of the body, as opposed to feeling like a neck attached to a body. The feeling is subtle, and I get this feeling from bowbacks as well.

The sturdiness was a surprize because looking at the instrument you kind of expect it to be dainty and delicate. Those elegant curves and the decorative scroll give one the impression of great beauty, not great structural sturdiness. But playing this thing its quite obviously very sturdy and compact. More of the compact little bulldog than the sleek whippet. Plays like a bulldog, looks like a whippet.

Looking at it, you would not, for example, give it to Bill Monroe to try it out, because you have the feeling his powerful playing would tear it up. The truth is however, this thing can take it, and provide great tone at high volume.

I am convinced that if one of these had been the mandolin that caugh Bill Monroe's eye, rather than the Gibson F5, the mandolin world would different, but bluegrass would be the same.

Gregg Henry

Dec-07-2011, 12:31pm

A pretty good alternative to the Thomastik Mittels are the JazzMando / LaBella JM-11s, and at a more tolerable price. Seems like Ted had an ad on the Cafe not too long ago.

Gregg Henry

Dec-07-2011, 12:44pm

So what does Pleijsier say about L&H / Washburn mandolins in general - what year did they start making them and when was the last of the type / quality we are talking about here? I take it that my B-style #77 - a wonderful instrument, as Jeff is describing - is a +/- 1919 - 1920 vintage.

Gregg Henry

Dec-09-2011, 12:21pm

Gentlemen, start your engines...

Ad Number: 52705

Barry Wilson

Dec-09-2011, 5:17pm

Jim Garber

Dec-09-2011, 5:22pm

I understand the desire for old yet it also has this air of wondering why to me.

There is some mystique to these old instruments. Some have that sound that, for some reason, is never approached in a new instrument. Plus, there is the history, known or unknown, that comes with it: who played it, what kind of music did they play, what was their life like, etc. Antiques have that for some people, and, of course, you may not feel that. of all the many instruments I own there are prob 4 or 5 I actually bought new.

JeffD

Dec-10-2011, 2:17am

JeffD

Dec-10-2011, 2:20am

That thing is sure pretty. One of these days maybe. I understand the desire for old yet it also has this air of wondering why to me. Surely something built recently would last and play well too? Not knocking, I just have always liked buying my instruments new so the wear is from me

Its not like used cars :) where, like my Dad used to say, you are buying something someone nolonger wants for some reason. You are buying someone elses problems.

These instruments have become classics, and are usually not abandoned due to dissatisfaction, more likely they are passed from enthusiastic player to enthusiastic player until inherited by an indifferent family member.

Jim Garber

Dec-10-2011, 2:40pm

JeffD

Dec-10-2011, 2:58pm

Brian Dean has a very beautiful "copy" of the style, very beautiful. I bet it sounds killer too, but you are right, I doubt if it sounds like the L&H.

Charles E.

Dec-10-2011, 3:12pm

In the case of this particular instrument, there is no new. Nobody is making them, haven't for years. Well check that, there are a couple I have seen who make models that copy the beautiful lines and features of this one, but they are just not out there new.

In the eye candy section there is one builder offering L&H A-style mandolins

http://www.hirschguitars.com/

But that said I did have to build my own L&H inspired mandolins to get what I wanted. Do they sound Like L&H instruments? I doubt it but they do sound very good, and keep on getting better.

Willie Poole

Dec-10-2011, 3:33pm

I owned one like it made in 1919 and kept it hanging on the wall for about 3-4 years...Sold it because I wanted to make a profit on it, I couldn`t stand the sound of it myself, it sounded more like a tenor banjo than it did a mandolin....

I have to agree though that they are beautiful to look at and are made really nice and have some features that should be copied by todays builders, like the tail piece how it cushions the strings so there isn`t any '"buzzing or twang" as some people on here get from newer mandolins....

Enjoy it Jeff, it just wasn`t for me.....Willie

JeffD

Dec-12-2011, 2:59am

I know what you mean. The tone is different. Its much more bowlback-y.

How much is the mandolin and how much is the strings, I don't know. But I do like the tone alot. Its not for bluegrass, certainly not a "high lonesome" sound, but classical, and Christmas carols, and even ragtime is sounding awful good on it.

JeffD

Dec-12-2011, 3:19am

I have yet to put a sticker on the case. Its a matter of time. I have my dog tag on there, and I have a Mandolin Cafe sticker left from my last batch, and a treble cleff on a white background sticker, so its just a matter of time.

JEStanek

Dec-12-2011, 8:59am

Yeah, the L&H Style A is not a grasser's mandolin. Playing grass on it would have a Green Acres reaction I think. This mandolin isn't ready to leave its world for the farm. ;-) Made for a funny TV show but not a good instrument mix up!

Jamie

Jim Garber

Dec-12-2011, 9:11am

In the eye candy section there is one builder offering L&H A-style mandolins

http://www.hirschguitars.com/

This is merely a cosmetic L&H -- he is also charging a few thousand more than retail price of a vintage one:

I’ve made a number of structural changes from the old design borrowing from some of the advancements made in mandolin design from the Gibson F models. One major difference is that, on my instruments, the fretboard is elevated over the face of the instrument allowing for a more responsive face.

Also, rather than have a simple cross brace directly under the sound hole, I have an offset X brace as found in high end acoustic arch top guitars. I use an ebony center strip, rather than a vulcanized rubber strip, on the neck and I have added ebony points whereas the originals just had the ribs meet at the edges. I made that last modification after looking at a number of the old original models and noting that many of them had sides that were opening at that critical area.

Arching of the plates is mainly determined by what the wood tells me as I’m carving it but it comes close to that found on the Lloyd Loar Gibsons. However, my graduations are generally a bit thinner. I attribute that to the Red spruce I use for the top and the X brace design. The result is an instrument that blends the sweetness normally attributed to Gibson’s A models and the volume and punch of their F models.

Charles E.

Dec-12-2011, 9:33pm

Jim, I saw that and mostly I would have to agree with the changes. I got a chance to study one like Jeff's a few years ago at Tony Williamsons shop. I was able to trace the out line and take measurements and notes. I hope to build one for myself in the future but I will incorperate my own ideas to suit my needs, so I guess it will be a cosmetic one as well. As Tony told me at the time, " Why would you want to make one of those when vintage ones are available and the only people who want them are old lady's who play in mandolin orchestras?"

Jim Garber

Dec-12-2011, 11:21pm

I guess old Tony has a pretty narrow world view. I am sure that he would also say, oh yeah, that Embergher 5 bis is a piece of junk, no one would want it and it is really just a wallhanger.

Frankly, I applaud you makers who go out of your way to not make a Loar copy. "Why would you want to make one of those when there are hundreds of people out there making the same thing and the only people who want them are guy's who play in bluegrass bands?" Hey, I have nothing against F5s but, man, it is refreshing to see something else once in awhile.

mrmando

Dec-13-2011, 2:08am

Hubert says the carved models (A, B, and C) were introduced in 1917. The last year they were listed in a catalog was, I think, 1939, although it's probable that production ceased in 1928 and the ones sold after that were old stock.

Charles E.

Dec-13-2011, 7:04am

To Jeff, I apologise for taking your thread about your new mandolin off topic a bit. They are wonderful instruments and you are quite right that no one is making faithful copies. You wont find the cool little 'kick stand' and you certainly won't get the most beautiful tailpiece ever put on a mandolin! You also won't get the vibe that only a vintage instrument can provide.These L&H mandolins are one of my favorite designs of all time. I hope you enjoy it for a long time.

mrmando

Dec-13-2011, 7:14am

Who says you can't play bluegrass on a Lyon & Healy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DalZ25LIJ6c

journeybear

Dec-13-2011, 10:17am

And on a mandola, at that! I hope the price tag didn't affect the tone too much, hopefully less than the tuner on that mandolin. ;)

If it were a mandola, I'd even be jealous.

Hope you saw this. :)

mrmando

Dec-13-2011, 3:36pm

Heh, heh ... no one at the convention bought it, so I took the price tag off. Honestly, I can't hear any difference.

Charles E.

Dec-13-2011, 8:49pm

So to remind myself what these instruments sound like, I revisited the first "Tone Poems" (1994) recording by David Grismad and Tony Rice. On track 3, "Sam-Bino", David plays an L&H style A (1925) and I think it sounds great. I tend to like oval hole mandolins any way but I really like the deep (some say tubby) bass and the clear tone it has. In the liner notes David likens the tone to that of a harpsichord. If Jeff's sounds any thing like this one I'll bet he is happy.

mrmando

Dec-13-2011, 8:51pm

I would have to disagree with Hirsch that the Gibson design necessarily represents an "improvement" over the L&H Style A. Good players can get tonal qualities out of an L&H that I've never heard out of any Gibson.

JeffD

Dec-13-2011, 11:20pm

I had forgotten that there is an L&H style A on the Tone Poems album. I need to check that out.

I did a lot of A versus B tonight at the jam, the L&H with Thomastic Mittels against my A2 with D'Addario J74s, and both were great. The L&H was more formal sounding, and carried the day with all the Christmas carols I played, while the Gibson held forth with the fiddle tunes and chopping backgup to some Grateful Dead tunes.

Funny, I thought they would not duet well together. The L&H would duet real well with any of my bowlbacks, but I think not with the Gibson so much.

Who knows ya know. It was just great playing them. The L&H has a little shorter neck, so the reaches up the neck are cake, and the Gibson rewards a nice slide into the chord.

Yea the L&H can play bluegrass, but its a little like when Itzhak Perlman and Andre Previn did that blues album - yea it was blues but, naw, it wadn't no blues.

zookster

Dec-23-2011, 7:21pm

How do you guys like this one? 1925.8010180102

Jim Garber

Dec-23-2011, 7:35pm

How do you guys like this one? 1925.

Zookster: is that a mandocello? Those are the most amazing 'cellos made of that period. I played one many years ago and it sang. Beautiful!

mrmando

Dec-24-2011, 3:44am

Yep, that's what it's gotta be. Pretty amazing. Tried one years ago when Pioneer Music in Portland had it. What's the tale here, zookster?

JeffD

Dec-28-2011, 11:46pm

How do you guys like this one? 1925.

Thats real pretty.

JeffD

Dec-28-2011, 11:54pm

Gotta tell you.. The thing gives me performance anxiety.

Way back in the way back I played very unimpressive mandolin for many many years before I got the Gibson '23 A2. And the first year I clenched every time I took it out at a jam, because it felt like the eyes were on me. Well over the years I got better and I got used to it, and now I can take it out and do well enough that the instrument doesn't seem innappropriate.

Well the L&H has be back at zero again. Over the holiday I took it out to show some classical violin friends of mine, and they asked me to play it and, well the difference between what I was able to do and what they expected from such an elegant instrument has reddened my face and sent me back to my music stand and my Kreutzer and Mazas.

JEStanek

Dec-29-2011, 12:26pm

That's probably not too uncommon of an affect a very beautiful mandolin has on the player. There might be some expectation form your audience but it certainly more comes from within. Remember, it's just a mandolin like your Gibson, there for you to play and enjoy. Easier to give advice than implement it...

Jamie

mrmando

Dec-29-2011, 1:34pm

I doubt your violin buddies would have done much better with it...

zookster

Dec-30-2011, 10:00am

yes , it is a style A mandocello which I bought for Christmas. With the carved back and top, it really has an exquisite sound and fabulous projection. Neck is a little chunky (no truss rod) but otherwise a true gem. I currently have it set up as an octave mandolin. I am used to playing a flat top bouzouki so the dynamic is taking some getting used to.

I play both Gibson ('15 F4 '27 A4) and other mandolins ('21 L&H Style A) and they are simply two different sounds each stellar in their own way. The Style A is extremely clear and focused, the Gibsons more throaty and deep. I have to scratch my head at the "classical" rap I kept reading about L&H. It's plenty loud, and cuts trhorugh well at an old time or Celtic session, even somewhat better than the Gibsons. I suppose the clarity of tone makes you think a moment toward a bowl-back sound, but it is suited to any musical situation. I have even played (GASP!) bluegrass on it, but I have to admit the F4 has got it beat in that department.

Of course, I belong to the Neanderthal Mandolin Players Assn. I have yet to buy an F hole model..........

mrmando

Dec-30-2011, 5:05pm

Congratulations! Where did you find it? I haven't been aware of any L&H cellos for sale for quite a while now.

zookster

Dec-31-2011, 10:25am

80333I actually purchased it through the classfieds here on the Cafe. I had placed a "wanted" notice, not expecting that I'd get a response........but I did! Just another reason why this is the best mando site in the universe. I had only seen pictures of them, but hoping it would be a big version of my Style A I took a chance and its nothing short of marvelous. I sold a '14 K1 earlier in the year after finally giving up on the HUGE neck that I'd struggled with on and off for a good number of years. The L&H is what I've been searching for, both in terms of sound and playability. And yes, I do realize my good fortune in acquiring it.
I own a '14 Vega cylinderback mandocello which I have tuned as a true mandocello. That should be enough long necks to do me for a while. 80332