Weber Bout Thickness!

[banjer23]

After seeing my Yellowstone beside a Gibson and a BRW mandolin,,I noticed how much thinner the body was,,Im sure Bruce knows mandolins as good as anyone,,and the tone is super,,just wondering if its a cost issue,etc??

[Mike Black]

Are you talking about the height of the sides?

[banjer23]

Yes,,I apologize,,the side height,,,

[Ivan Kelsall]

Bruce Weber used to build for Gibson.The only Bruce Weber signed Gibson i've ever seen wasn't any different than my Weber Fern,other than the fact that it was without doubt the most dreadful sounding mandolin i've played to date. I put that down to poor set-up & neglect rather than it being a 'bad' instrument. I don't think 'bad' instruments are part of Bruce's day. My Lebeda 'Special' is a slightly larger instrument than my Weber,but when i measured both my instruments in line with the Calton case order form (just in case i wished to buy one),i found that the body depth was only 1/16" deeper on the Lebeda & that was at the heel.Other than that the depth was the same.The Lebeda body is however,5/8" longer. I've played a lot of mandolins since i began playing,but i have to say that the depth of my Weber hasn't seemed to be much different than any other instrument.
It's not a cost issue,as there are other ways of reducing cost than skimping on wood,& it still takes the same amount of time to build even if the sides were half the height,it's simply Bruce's interpretation of what makes a good mandolin. As you say,'the tone is super' - just enjoy it,
Ivan;)

[Robert Mitchell]

Bruce Weber used to build for Gibson.The only Bruce Weber signed Gibson i've ever seen wasn't any different than my Weber Fern,other than the fact that it was without doubt the most dreadful sounding mandolin i've played to date. I put that down to poor set-up & neglect rather than it being a 'bad' instrument. I don't think 'bad' instruments are part of Bruce's day. My Lebeda 'Special' is a slightly larger instrument than my Weber,but when i measured both my instruments in line with the Calton case order form (just in case i wished to buy one),i found that the body depth was only 1/16" deeper on the Lebeda & that was at the heel.Other than that the depth was the same.The Lebeda body is however,5/8" longer. I've played a lot of mandolins since i began playing,but i have to say that the depth of my Weber hasn't seemed to be much different than any other instrument.
It's not a cost issue,as there are other ways of reducing cost than skimping on wood,& it still takes the same amount of time to build even if the sides were half the height,it's simply Bruce's interpretation of what makes a good mandolin. As you say,'the tone is super' - just enjoy it,
Ivan;)

(Words of wisdom from Rivendell) My 2011 Weber Yellowstone meas. 1- 5/8",,, the exact same as my Gibson f12,,1971.
both meas. taken @ the side next to the armrests. I've had some that meas. 1 -11/16, also had a km1000 @ 1- 3/4".. I don't
know if there is a standard, or not,,perhaps some builders can weigh in. If it sounds good,, enjoy it as per Ivan!!