Silver Angel #231 - Oliva II (and a little about #192 - Oliva)

  1. Don Christy
    Don Christy
    I'm reposting Mark Walker's great post on his Silver Angel.

    -----
    My Silver Angel - #231 and named 'Oliva II' - I got in 2005, and is the second Silver Angel I've owned.

    I originally bought 'Oliva' in 2002, (#192) which was an F-5 with the same flying angel on the headstock, German-spruce top, and lacquer finish. It was more of a reddish sunburst, and had a great tone and playability. (Like all Silver Angels!) I loved that mandolin, and it's even featured on a CD by a singer-songwriter from Tennessee, which she cut in 2004.

    I had some minor issue with Oliva in early 2005 - something like a fret lifted or the outer E-string slot in the nut cracked (can't recall) - and I'd sent it back to Ken. (He's got a lifetime guarantee on his mandolins of course.) Some kid stopped into Ken's shop and played mine after Ken repaired it, and fell in love with it. He yammered at Ken to sell it to him, so Ken called me and we struck up a deal to make my current mandolin, and agreed to sell my first one to this kid. (I can't recall his name, but I recall Ken said he went out and promptly won some state-wide mandolin playing contest a few weeks after he bought it.)

    Regarding my 'new' one, I had Ken remove the custom tailpiece from my original one and put it on this one. (I think it was the last or next-to-the-last one of those tailpieces Ken had struck; certainly one of the last few.) I also had him put a flying angel logo in the headstock (he had switched to a 'script' reading 'Silverangel'), finish it in oil varnish rather than lacquer, and my wife actually talked me into paying Ken to include the custom oil-painting of an angel on the back. The top is among a number of them he made from some 100-year old spruce he got from an old building in upstate New York that had been torn down.

    I've no desire to ever change mandolins, though at some point I want to get a two-pointer from Ken!
  2. Don Christy
    Don Christy
    Hey Mark, do you have any photos of Oliva II or Oliva I for us?
    -don
  3. Mark Walker
    Mark Walker
    Don - sorry about the delay in my reply; I forget we have a 'social group' here for Silver Angel owners! I put pictures of Oliva 'I' (#192) and Oliva II in the photo ALBUM section of this social group. I hope you can see them there!
  4. D C Blood
    D C Blood
    Don...you can also see photos of Mark's and many other wonderful SA's at the Silver Angel Myspace site... www.myspace.com/silverangelmandolins
  5. Mark Walker
    Mark Walker
    Hi everyone - again. I might post this in the general Message Board somewhere, but you can get a glimpse of my Silver Angel being played by a member of the Williams Family Bluegrass Band HERE. It shows up about halfway through the show, with my 3rd cousin Adam Williams playing it. This show was taped a few years back; Adam's an even better mandolin player now. Half the family had a cold when this was recorded (early November) but they still do a pretty good job. I've got another show they did this past June where a Silver Angel 2-pointer owned by Dave Williams (and played a bit by Adam as well) can be seen; I'll get that link up soon. Enjoy! Comments welcome!
Results 1 to 5 of 5