Pava #1

[Br1ck]

A guy I play with at an open mic owns the very first Pava ever made, a beautiful blacktop A. It was recently refretted on a visit to the Ellis shop. Very nice mandolin. Loud and punchy with a brightness that was not harsh. Really a joy to get to play.

[OlDanTucker]

Proud owner of Pava #7. I've only had it about a year, but I've played a bunch of them. I was told by a guy at Fiddler's Green that he thought the first 12 were kind of one batch and had similar qualities. And that Tom Ellis was really involved with them. He also said the earlier one's weren't as loud and punchy as the later ones. From my experience I think this is somewhat true, but they are also a little richer, warmer and deeper which I like. I think this has more to do with age than construction. They really do warm up quite a bit in a couple of years.

[LadysSolo]

My Pava is more recent, but it too is a wonderful instrument, and great to play. Fits me very well, and wonderful sound.

[jshane]

Love mine.

[JeromeLCSW]

I have a Pava blacktop too! It’s the lowest-end Satin model but it is a very nice instrument.

[Tracy Fleck]

How old is it? I’m surprised it needed a refret.

[Br1ck]

I really don't know, but it gets played a lot and very aggressively. Everyone has their own standards. I've played instruments I thought were fine that others thought needed more fret height.

Reminds me when I was in Gryphon and the fine jazz player Tuck Andruss brought his guitar in for a recrown. No one at the shop could feel the fret divots that were driving him crazy. No one played like him either.