I have not heard from Gail in a number of years. I am not aware of any on her build list. Take care Jim.
I have not heard from Gail in a number of years. I am not aware of any on her build list. Take care Jim.
To me that is a no brainer. The Eastman is a very nice instrument at it's price point, but the Flatiron is another level of tone and feel. Flatiron is my choice.
Robert Bowen was at my home for a picking party. The daughter of a good friend asked him to play her new cheep guitar. I played that guitar before the session and it sounded tinny and was extremely...
You can live with out your wants. You cannot live without your needs. By that I guess I don't need any instruments, but my... life would be drab.
I suspect Pheff being an owner of a Hester A5 knows exactly why I am keeping my Hester F4. I just thought it was a worthy question to try to share my answer.
My buddy Pheff asked why I decided to keep the Hester and rehoming the Collins. There a few reasons. One the Hester has a slightly solter more gentle sound that I prefer. Second, Gail made that for...
A friend, who is a luthier, brought me a Loar (the real deal) to try out. According to him, it spends most of the time in a safe. I sat down with great excitement so afraid that I might drop it. ...
While not specifically called bench copies, I can think of dated Red Diamond and Stanley that make every effort to copy the Loar sound and the look as close as possible.
Flatrock, while I have not bought a mandolin at Carter's, I have bought a guitar. I also have sold a lot of instruments by consignment through Carter's during the last year. I would never take...
I went to a 12 step meeting concerning the topic of gratitude then read the Gilchrist thread. Normally when I read a thread about a high end maker or go to Carter Vintage and play a great mandolin,...
Over the years of being a Cafe member, I have noticed that there seems to be two different approaches to collecting. One buying different versions of a type of mandolin. For example, six different...
I just wanted to update this post. After a couple of days of hard playing, I found the J65 a bit bright for my playing. I went on Acoustic Guitar forum and found that the J40 is the same basic...
Put a F5 or A5 in. my hand and before long bluegrass will mostly be played. Put an F4 or oval in my hand, folk, Irish and gypsy will result. Put my Martin in my hands and English folk comes out. My...
A number of years ago, I learned a song on the banjo by tab that I had never heard, *Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor." It sounded kind of flat. A week later at a street fair, I bought a Doc Watson...
I was looking at a row of Martins at Carter Vintage and saw one the didn't look right. It was blond back and sides. Checked the tag. Said Martin J65M. I never heard or seen on before. I is a...
While somewhat in the bluegrass realm, Skaggs and Rice, has some beautiful arrangements. Bury Me Beneath the Willow is to me sublime.
As has been commented on, the tone of a particular instrument has a number of factors that may well be more important than the shape. I prefer the GOM to the traditional shape because guitar shape,...
My music studio was a little slow this week giving me time to play all my mandolin family instruments. What a collection... As you can see from the list below, I have a wide variety of instruments...
I have had and have both. I have a raised fret, Collings MT2-O. Great instrument. I have a Hester F4 recreation of a 20s F4. Awesome. I prefer the short neck sound of the F4 when playing alone...
Pheff,Walter Carter has an Old Wave oval A mandola. Was mine in the past. Great instrument. I have a Giroaurd sp? Oval A Studio Mandola (mine on consignment, I traded in the Old Wave to get it). ...
For the past week, playing electric bass, I have been working on arpeggios using three different chord shapes around the circle of fourths, starting with C. Then, staying in one position: frets 1-5,...
Here are some pictures from Gail when the F4 was finished
I have played 4 Loars. Two were mind blowing. Both had tone and feel. The body just seem to reverberate in my hands. Both of those were played on a regular basis. The other two were great...
I am really fortunate to have two oval hole mandolins that meet different roles. First, is the Hester F4, maple back and sides, addi top, and short scale with the fret board attached to the top. ...
11 years and still interesting. I have four instruments that were made for me by top builders, Ellis, Hester, Mowry and Nyberg. I spent time both playing examples of each builder and getting...