Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Friend
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
Great piece of mandolin history. There's some stuff that we could argue about but that's actually a pretty amazing glimpse into Bob Given's the mandolin builder. Lovely. This was before the grand sharing of information we call the Internet.
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
This was a really, really interesting project I felt strongly about and there was so much that could have been included here, but if you even read the two PDFs attached it's a lot of content. Ostrow is a really interesting guy who gladly offered to have this shared. Enjoyed a single phone call with him. He has a lot more mandolin content and I haven't fully investigated it all and don't know that I need to but it's an option.
As you might surmise in the article, Ostrow is still active in his calling from the late 1960s and 70s and works or teaches in a holistic health center I believe he told me.
I learned a lot about Givens that I didn't know. I'd heard he was quite the "character" and that was certainly true but that detail is for someone else to share. Everyone should definitely read the article linked to in the Additional Information section on Charles Johnson's site that is about Givens. Quite the eye opener.
Like every builder whose mandolins I've played, not every one was a real ringer (nothing more than my sole opinion), but the best ones I've played were nothing short of phenomenal. I ran into someone at Folk Alliance a few years ago with an F that still haunts my memory. It was immediately to my mind one of the single finest mandolins I've every played and I would give anything to own, but the current owner was quite happy with it.
As part of this, some of you may wonder, I did contact Steve Weill who worked with him but did not hear back so possibly that email ended up in his spam folder or was just missed. Can't say. Email is not a 100% proposition and if he wishes to weigh in here he'd certainly be welcome.
Happy to see this information come to light and be discussed. Suspect many reading it barely know the name and nothing more but Givens was the real deal in the luthier community and probably one of the first to study in-depth the work on the best Gibson mandolins for the short period in the early 1920s.
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Glassweb
I would have liked to ask him why he chose not to use a truss rod in his mandolins. I have seen/played a number of Givens instruments that had badly bowed necks.
I realize there are other builders these days who do not use them, but given the choice between a mandolin with a truss rod and one without I will take the one with the truss rod every day... especially one with double action.
I bought a new Givens A3 in 1990. When I took it in for a little work recently I was told that Bob Givens wanted to keep the neck slim so he didn’t install a truss rod. However there were stories that he sometimes put a rat file in a groove under the fretboard for extra strength. I heard he was a real character so it could be true.
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
I just read the PDF's at the end of the article. I would like to order a Givens A mandolin and a Givens 16 guitar (I didn't even know he made guitars) at the catalog prices.
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
I may have published the last word on Bob Givens, a two part article that appeared in Bluegrass Unlimited, January and February 1992. Bob passed not long after that.
During his last months of productivity, Bob and his apprentice Steve Weill worked in an old Quonset hut outside of Hayden, ID. The state of Idaho had long since revoked Bob's privilege to operate a motor vehicle, so he walked to the hut from a small hotel room down the road. The only clue to what went on inside the hut was a truck muffler that hung by wire over the entrance door. Bob liked his privacy, and it took some doing to broker a meeting with Bob. After that, he opened up to a microphone and camera in a series of interviews that I conducted.
In 1992 I bought an A6 from Bob, and soon after a Gilchrist F5 as a backup ax. The A6 and F5 are the only two f-hole instruments in my tool box, and either one can readily substitute for the other.
If anyone would like a pdf copy of my article, or if you are really interested, a CD with all the interviews, let me know.
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
Quote:
Originally Posted by
elephantrock
I may have published the last word on Bob Givens, a two part article that appeared in Bluegrass Unlimited, January and February 1992. Bob passed not long after that.
During his last months of productivity, Bob and his apprentice Steve Weill worked in an old Quonset hut outside of Hayden, ID. The state of Idaho had long since revoked Bob's privilege to operate a motor vehicle, so he walked to the hut from a small hotel room down the road. The only clue to what went on inside the hut was a truck muffler that hung by wire over the entrance door. Bob liked his privacy, and it took some doing to broker a meeting with Bob. After that, he opened up to a microphone and camera in a series of interviews that I conducted.
In 1992 I bought an A6 from Bob, and soon after a Gilchrist F5 as a backup ax. The A6 and F5 are the only two f-hole instruments in my tool box, and either one can readily substitute for the other.
If anyone would like a pdf copy of my article, or if you are really interested, a CD with all the interviews, let me know.
You'd be welcome to attach that interview here if you'd like. Just go to advanced mode and click the paper clip icon. It's the same as adding an image. Or if you have problems happy to assist.
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
I can only speak for myself but I'd love to see that here on the Cafe.
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
+1. Not available on Bluegrass Unlimited.
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
1 Attachment(s)
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
Here is the interview elephantrock put together for Bluegrass Unlimited. Not sure if Bluegrass Unlimited will have issue with this but I'd think since those issues are no longer in print nor for sale and unlikely to ever be digitized that we're OK doing that. I like to err on the side of being safe but for information that may just virtually disappear or is in the process of doing so should be preserved if possible and posting that here accomplishes that.
Edit: new version of article with improved readability:
Attachment 180478
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
If I ever run into Roger Sprung again I'm going to ask him about that "D-45"! This is great stuff.
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
Great reading! The photos are a nice bonus.
Assuming the guy in the photo with Bob behind his company logo sign is Steve Weill and the other guy with full beard is Tut Taylor?
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
Thanks so much. Bob Givens: The pioneer of that approach mandolin building we are enjoying today?
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
It would appear from the last interview posted that Bob Givens kind of created the A-5 market. It does not say that he ever took apart the Ms. Griffith Loar as is the rumor that has been around for years. I'll also note that he apparently surmised, as did Darryl Wolfe, that the body of the Ms. Griffith Loar was based on the standard Gibson A models of the time. Lot's of good stuff here. I love seeing his jig for fitting bridges to tops.
Re: Article: The 1978 Bob Givens Interview from The Guitars Frien
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dbilello
On same weekend Russ mentions above at Monroe Camp, Randy Wood was sharing Tut Taylor stories later that evening and I specifically asked about the rumor of Givens taking apart the Griffith A. Mr. Wood indicated that never happened (at least to that instrument). Thanks for sharing the Givens article. Cool stuff.
Luthiers that held the Ms. Griffith Loar in their hands said the same thing, that the back had never been off.