Lebeda

[Mollina]

Am looking for a Lebeda A4 Premium mandolin.In general/ballpark terms what would one expect to pay for a good s/hand one? I think they sound so sweet and are so playable. Any views on this beautiful instrument?

[Ivan Kelsall]

I'd hazzard a guess & say that maybe in the region of $2,000 US - that's around £1,600 UK. TAMCO in Brighton UK currently has a lovely Lebeda F4 'Master Model' for sale at £2,495 - $3,270 US,so i based my 'guess' on that.

You could e-mail Trevor at TAMCO & ask his advice. He was a main Lebeda dealer at one time & might give a better estimate as to the cost of a 'used' A4. OR - e-mail Jeff Cowherd ''J.Bovier'' mandolins. Jeff was Jiri Lebeda's main man in the US for a long while.

I will add,that based on my own experience,if you do find a top quality Lebeda,you'll never part with it, & good luck in finding an A4,
Ivan

[mandroid]

Jiri being in CZ republic , UK is closer than USA ... to source in Prague.

IDK he may go for the Scroll envy buyer and the bigger price tag .

[foldedpath]

Since you asked for views on the instrument, I'll chime in and say my Lebeda F5 P+ was the first mandolin I ever bought, based on research here on the Cafe, and it's still the only mandolin I play. It has a redwood top which is a little unusual, but Jiri knew what he was doing. I think any Lebeda you can score at a good price is likely to be a "keeper."

As for price on an A model... the name isn't that well known, at least here in the USA which will tend to keep the prices down on used models. As just a wild guess, a premium A model in excellent condition should run somewhere around $1500-2000 USD? But I'm just guessing. I'll second the idea of contacting Trevor at TAMCO for price advice, and maybe a line on any used ones around.

It's a shame Jiri quit building these more "affordable" (at the time) handmade mandolins for the retail market. I heard he was planning to move on, to even higher-end custom builds, but I haven't heard any updates on that.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Several years ago,Jiri went through a divorce which threw his future building plans out the back door !. He moved home,& currently only builds to order - this is one of 2 F5 models he built in 2014,
Ivan

[Mollina]

Cheers.That's useful

- - - Updated - - -

Cheers

[Mollina]

Cheers.Much appreciated.

[Willie Poole]

The first and only Lebeda that I ever played was on a rainy day under an awning at a campground and it sounded like someone had put a wet towel inside of it, then a few years later I was watching a friend play on the stage at a festival and his mandolin sounded as good as anything I had ever heard so when he came off of the stage I went to see what he was picking on that day and it was a Lebeda, I told him about the one that I had tried and he said he also was really shocked when he first picked up one and he just had to buy it because it had the sound that he was looking for...I am due to try another one to see just what improvements have occurred since that first one that I played...If Ivan says they sound good you can take it to the bank...

Willie

[Hubs]

As an owner of a 2005 Lebeda F4 Premium, I can highly recommend them!
I am very happy with it.

[foldedpath]

I've posted this before, but since we're tossing in pix for posterity, this my chocolate stained Redwood top Lebeda. Tuning gears have since been replaced with ebony button Waverlys:

[Ivan Kelsall]

Putting aside a biased view (sort of) of Lebeda mandolins,i suppose that it's 'which' Lebeda you buy. When Jiri had his workshop in full production,other builders (vilolin makers) built for him ie. he didn't build them all himself (common sense). Thus - there will be differences in individual mandolins,many of them maybe down to set-up,strings used etc.,so we can't really 'judge' them as a 'brand' any more than any other 'brand'. I've personally heard a couple of Collings mandolins that would have sounded better crackling away on a bonfire,& i know that it was down to set up - action waaaaaay too low,coupled with too light strings. I know much better to think that Collings mandolins as a 'brand' all sound like that. One of the Collings was being played with a pick,so thin you could almost see through it. So - if a mandolin sounds 'not too good', consider set-up etc. before damning it to hades .

If you do come across a good sounding Lebeda mandolin - they're usually well worth the cash. I don't know which brand of strings 'foldedpath' uses on his Lebeda,but i use DR MD11's for their extra 'punch'. I suspect that like my own,his Lebeda is possibly a tad larger than 'standard' size ( is it ?) ,& so might need a bit more 'driving'. The MD11's do the job on mine very well.

Here are the dimensions of mine (according to the Calton case measurements diagram) compared to my Weber. The Lebeda is also 3/4 Lb heavier than my Weber,quite a bit in the weight stakes on such a relatively small instrument,
Ivan

[foldedpath]

Putting aside a biased view (sort of) of Lebeda mandolins,i suppose that it's 'which' Lebeda you buy.

I'e heard that, but since I've only run across this one example I have, I can't say how variable they are (or were).

The one interesting piece of info I've heard, was when I took it to the Seattle area luthier Cat Fox for a fret touch-up and and finely tweaked bridge fit (there was a small gap under the bridge she didn't like). She had seen a few Lebedas go through the shop, and said they had a slightly wider than normal recurve area in the top, compared to the Gibson-spec norm. Not that it was a bad thing, just an observation. This could be just selection bias, if it varied over the production years and those were the ones she had seen. I just thought that was interesting.

If you do come across a good sounding Lebeda mandolin - they're usually well worth the cash. I don't know which brand of strings 'foldedpath' uses on his Lebeda,but i use DR MD11's for their extra 'punch'. I suspect that like my own,his Lebeda is possibly a tad larger than 'standard' size ( is it ?) ,& so might need a bit more 'driving'. The MD11's do the job on mine very well.

I've been using GHS Silk and Bronze Regular strings for a while now. If I read the specs on the DR MD11's right, my GHS strings are the same gauge but with a heavier A string pair at .016 instead of .015. I think most (or all?) of the GHS medium strings have that heavier A pair. I like it for the even tension across the strings, and it lets me sneak the action down just a hair lower than .015's.

Regarding body size... I haven't measured mine, but it fits a Pegasus case with the Tonegard on (see photo above), so I think it has to be pretty close to the Gibson template.

[Packinton]

Several years ago,Jiri went through a divorce which threw his future building plans out the back door !. He moved home,& currently only builds to order - this is one of 2 F5 models he built in 2014,
Ivan

Do you really have contact info for Jiri Lebeda? I allready own an F4 and a mandola. Still looking for another one for my girlfriend!
All the best.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Jiri Lebeda's e-mail address is :- jiri.lebeda@email.cz At least that was the last one that i had for him. In the not too distant future,my own 2001 Lebeda "Special'' will be for sale at TAMCO UK,along with my 2006 Weber "Fern" & 2010 Ellis DelUxe "A" style,
Ivan

[August Watters]

Putting aside a biased view (sort of) of Lebeda mandolins,i suppose that it's 'which' Lebeda you buy. When Jiri had his workshop in full production,other builders (vilolin makers) built for him ie. he didn't build them all himself (common sense). Thus - there will be differences in individual mandolins,many of them maybe down to set-up,strings used etc.,

I met Jiri Lebeda several times in those busy years, and visited his house once outside Prague. Even bought an archtop jazz guitar, which he'd made as a sample. He told me that he had other builders making parts, carving tops and backs, etc., and that his job was to assemble them and to maintain quality control.

[Br1ck]

I've only played two, and the tone was lovely but they were not loud mandolins.

[Ivan Kelsall]

August -That period was when Jiri had to hire others (mostly Violin makers) to help fulfill his order book. Prior to that he made them all himself,& after his domestic troubles,which forced him to close down his operation,all his mandolins are now built by Jiri himself once more. Mine was also built by him.

If you want a 'loud' Lebeda,put a set of DR MD11 strings on it - it'll be as loud as you'll ever need,
Ivan