Red Valley mandolins-these look really nice-at Gryphons

**darylcrisp** · Nov-08-2017, 10:34pm

got a weekly email and these look really nice-anyone played any of them?

https://www.gryphonstrings.com/red-valley-mandolins/

**Br1ck** · Nov-09-2017, 1:36am

I played a mandolin on Monday. Had a very nice flattop tone. They had a mandola and an octave too. Seemed to be well made and it took to fiddle tunes really well.

**Sothoth** · Nov-09-2017, 2:42am

I played one of these as well when they had it side by side with a Trinity College mando. Both nice instruments but the RV had a much more balanced tone and sounded much fuller than the (thinner sounding) TC.

For some reason the flat tops just don’t look good to me compared to an f-style archtop. I look at the RV and sort of cringe at the shape. I realize that’s secondary to tone and craftsmanship but I can’t help myself.

I appreciate Gryphon pointing out that Bluegrass isn’t the only game in town and these do sound fantastic for Irish tunes. I wish there were more music available in different genres for the mando.

**Mark Wilson** · Nov-09-2017, 7:07am

This is my only exposure to RV mandolins. When I was jonesing for a new flattop it was on my short list

**Jim Garber** · Nov-09-2017, 8:06am

Originally Posted by Sothoth

I wish there were more music available in different genres for the mando.

Huh? What do you mean by that? Have you read threads in the other areas on these forums?

**Bad Monkey** · Nov-09-2017, 10:26am

I have two instruments by James, a mandolin and 'zouk. Materials and craftsmanship are great all around. The fretwork is particularly nice on each, no hint of a sharp end anywhere and everything dead level. I bought both through Dusty Strings locally so they had been set up pretty well before I got my paws on them. You will need a long T-handle hex key to make adjustments to the truss rod since the socket is set pretty deep compared to other instruments. At some point I'll end up replacing the tailpiece on each; not that it doesn't work well, but it can be a PITA to change strings. Zoom in on the tailpiece in one of the pics on his website and you'll see what I mean. That said I haven't moved on that project yet and I've been gigging the zouk for a couple years now.