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Thread: The Cafe has SO influenced by buying

  1. #1
    Registered User red7flag's Avatar
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    Default The Cafe has SO influenced by buying

    All of my instruments were inspired by information and advice from the Cafe with some more than others. Here is the list of builders I would never have found on my own and learned about here: Andrew Mowry, Gail Hester, Lawrence Nyberg, Max Girouard, and Martin mandolins. From experiences at IBMA and Gruhns, I would have had contact with Ellis and Collings. I doubt I would have focused in on a A model with Italian spruce and birdseye maple without the Cafe. My movement to the A shape has slowly been influenced by the cafe (I was a VERY slow convert). I just want to thank the Cafe family for providing a wealth of information that has saturated me over the years to the point where my buying is definitely influenced by a number of Cafe concepts. What a great community. I am still a short neck F4 person over a hybrid, but I understand the strengths of the hybrid and for a person looking for that type of instruments could steer them wisely, not letting my prejudice influence that help.
    Tony Huber
    1930 Martin Style C #14783
    2011 Mowry GOM
    2013 Hester F4 #31
    2014 Ellis F5 #322
    2017 Nyberg Mandola #172

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  3. #2
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    Default Re: The Cafe has SO influenced by buying

    Yep. MC has probably informed all of my mandolin buying decisions to date and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have found the two builders in my back yard if not on the cafe. I might still be picking on my first mandolin if I didn't have the internet.

  4. #3
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    Default Re: The Cafe has SO influenced by buying

    The MC has influenced my OVERBUYING of mandolins!
    Almost bought another today but I stilled my trigger finger just long enough to hold off...

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  6. #4

    Default Re: The Cafe has SO influenced by buying

    The Cafe has shown me the way ! Saved me years of trial & error I've only been playing the mandolin for a few years but now know what I want a mandolin to sound like and recently commissioned a semi-custom build from a small shop in Nashville. Not sure if I would have figured any of this out on my own. Due to the limited number of available mandolins to try out in most major markets the info. from Cafe members is a fantastic resource for beginning to seasoned players.
    Lou

  7. #5
    Registered User Drew Egerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Cafe has SO influenced by buying

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Wilson View Post
    Yep. MC has probably informed all of my mandolin buying decisions to date and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have found the two builders in my back yard if not on the cafe. I might still be picking on my first mandolin if I didn't have the internet.
    Exactly! Never would have found out about Skip Kelley and gotten my awesome F5 without the Cafe and the input on his builds I read here.
    Drew
    2020 Northfield 4th Gen F5
    2022 Northfield NFS-F5E
    2019 Northfield Flat Top Octave
    2021 Gold Tone Mando Cello
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  8. #6

    Default Re: The Cafe has SO influenced by buying

    I heard about Mike Black through Mandolin Cafe and have a nice A2z from him as a result of that.

    I bought a Godin A8 mandolin from someone who advertised on the Cafe.

    And mandobart gave some great advice in a MC thread about Carvin amps. I ended buying a Carvin AG200 acoustic amp which is more like a small PA. Once again it saved the day this afternoon when I used it at a gig where the other acts did not bring anything other than their instruments and the house did not provide their system for us to use.
    "Those who know don't have the words to tell, and the ones with the words don't know so well." - Bruce Cockburn

  9. #7
    Moderator JEStanek's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Cafe has SO influenced by buying

    For me, the Cafe influenced what I have purchased and commissioned. I never would have considered a Spira (from Melbourne Australia) had it not been for a Cafe Meet Up. Even more interestingly, I find that even though I see particular builders who's work is inspiring and attractive but, given how and how often I play, my instrument is good enough to silence the siren song of MAS. Don't get me wrong, if I had tons of money, I would support some small builders for sure.

    This community is incredible for helping people find what they are looking for in a variety of price ranges (well there are always a couple of exceptions). I wish I had found the Cafe and used it MORE when I was getting started. I could have avoided a few silly purchases (e-bay) I made.

    Jamie
    There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946

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  10. #8
    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Cafe has SO influenced by buying

    The Café definitely influenced my decision to buy the Breedlove Cascade. Doing a ton of Google searches help me find enough information to feel confident to make the purchase. No, it's never going to be a Gibson oval hole. But it's still my go to instrument for practice and jams. Even used it as my performance instrument yesterday with my Finnish group.
    Brentrup Model 23, Boeh A5 #37, Gibson A Jr., Big Muddy M-11, Coombe Classical flattop, Strad-O-Lin
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  11. #9
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Cafe has SO influenced by buying

    There is an upside and a downside to educating oneself about what to buy using the Cafe as a resource.

    The upside -- I joined the forum and read it for something like a year, before deciding on a Lebeda F5 as my first mandolin. With the Czech-Dollar exchange ratio at the time, it was a great bang-for-buck in an individual luthier-made mandolin in the $4k-$5k range.

    The downside -- is that the advice was so good, that it's been my only mandolin since then. I'm immune to MAS. Partly due to finances, but also just because this one mandolin is good enough that it would be a pretty big stretch to get something "better."

    So ya'll be careful out there. Some advice is just a little too good, if you're looking to move through a bunch of instruments before finding a keeper.

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