Every once in awhile we remember something posted long ago on this forum that was interesting. Went looking for it today and found it. Read about these photos and this Rice University project here. Fascinating.
Every once in awhile we remember something posted long ago on this forum that was interesting. Went looking for it today and found it. Read about these photos and this Rice University project here. Fascinating.
Mandolin Cafe - Since 1995
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Wow, completely forgot about this. What a cool project. Thanks for the throwback.
Must admit I don't remember, too new a member I guess. Agree it's cool.
whoa, awesome. It'd be cool to do a "where are they now?"
I tried to score one of those posters at the time. Never heard back...
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That was a great thread. I wound up contacting David and writing an article for Mandolin Magazine on it- their first color issue. The irony of the whole project was that the crusty crusty old architectural department as a whole saw the project as a waste of time and showing noting related to architecture and I believe David was let go from the department......
Stephen is still very busy and a good friend of mine. We've been talking for years about getting a joint project going on some mandolin builds but so far nothing has been finished.
j.
www.condino.com
www.kaybassrepair.com
10 years - wow, can't belief I've been hanging round here that long!
Anyone know where these are now? It would be cool to know how both the mandolins and their builders are getting on...
I certainly remember it. I was amazed at all the different designs,some of which i really liked,some not so much,but all infinitely better that anything i could conceive.
Many thanks for the re-cap - it's nice to see the mandolins & their builders once more. I'd love to know how the builders think their mandolin are sounding after 10 years. It's 10 years since i bought my Weber "Fern" after taking early retirement, & that has certainly changed in tone for one reason or another,
Ivan
Weber F-5 'Fern'.
Lebeda F-5 "Special".
Stelling Bellflower BANJO
Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.
Another thing that would be interesting is to know how many of the builders went on to building more mandolins, surely if any did they would have become members on the Mandolin Cafe site, or at least I would think some of them would have...Maybe they will chime in if any did....After all, what good is learning something in college if you aren`t going to use it?
Willie
This 2008 article in Mandolin Magazine gives some more detailed information about the project that I don't think was included in the original thread: http://marchione.com/wp-content/uplo...ndolin_mag.pdf
Among other things, it states that two of the students got hired at design firms after pulling out their mandolins during job interviews.
Mandolin Cafe - Since 1995
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Such a shame that David was let go. This is a brilliant project and very relatable to architecture on many levels. Discipline, ergonomics, precision, performance. Wow. I'm blown away by Rice's lack of creative vision.
Lack of vision is pretty widespread.
"Boy, I've got vision and the rest of the world's wearing bi-focals!"- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid!
Timothy F. Lewis
"If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett
Wow! I remember this project very well. I worked in the media relations office at Rice University at the time. I was invited to meet the students and even played some of the mandolins, which was a hoot. This was a very unusual architecture class, but the students learned a lot about form and function. The students had a good time, I do remember that. They had developed some intriguing ideas about mandolin construction. The one mandolin that fascinated me more than any other was the fretless mando.
Thanks for posting this.
Monk (aka Philip Montgomery)
Weber f-style Buffalo Deluxe, Gibson F-5G (2016)
National RM1 (2009), Burton tater bug (circa 1920)
Taylor 810 Brazilian rosewood (1995)
Taylor 710 12-fret slot head (2013)
Taylor GS mini
Martin HD-28 Custom (2001)
Dobro HD33 resonator (1999)
Stella-like parlor (circa 1936)
I looked up a couple of the students names on the web just out of curiosity, the ones I looked up were all listed as working architects, on their own, or in other firms, but interestingly M J Kwan (Mary Jane Kwan) is making high quality violins shown on her website, which also shows a photo of her college project mandolin.
Richard Singleton
Somewhat off-topic, but semi-related. I was just looking through this month's issue of Bluegrass Unlimited, and came across an article on guitar and mandolin maker Ben Pearce (http://www.outlierworkshop.com/). It seems Ben started out as an architect, having gotten a design degree from Clemson and a Master's Degree in Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. He worked mainly as an architect for a few years, until jobs in the field dried up during the 2008-09 financial crash. He then turned to instrument making full time.
As an architect who weathered (barely) several economic downturns during my career, I found it telling that work as a luthier provided more job security than that as an architect.
I was not familiar with Ben until seeing the article. He builds beautiful instruments (I think the squid pegheads are pretty cool).
Cool--I would like to have seen that.
I wasn't playign mandolin 10 years ago--I may have had some thoughts about it though.
Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?
That's actually a great project for architects. The lesson for me, as a builder, is that while design is great, it actually has to work. We get more than a few designs that while you might be able to figure out a way to make a design work, it's too expensive for the client. Here, form and function had to go hand in hand. I like most all of those designs myself, "unusual" is always a nice way to test something. Some improvements may be discovered, and some "avoid in the futures" as well.
I feel for EggerRidgeBoy, stuck between interesting design work and what the clients want and what the clients can actually afford. I'm sure luthier's clients can be a pain at times, too, but once you get to a level like a Gilchrist, no one os going to argue with you.
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