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Thread: Professional Japanese style bowlback

  1. #1

    Default Professional Japanese style bowlback

    It looks lovely but does anyone know how good/bad they sound? Thanks.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/Professiona...UAAOSwRLZT6xI3

  2. #2
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Professional Japanese style bowlback

    Note it says, "Japanese style," not Japanese-made. The seller's blurb talks about "Master Song Teiji and his apprentices" that build these instruments in China. I'm not quite sure what a "Japanese style" bowl-back would mean -- a Suzuki clone?

    Quite an attractive instrument, but it seems to be a bit risky to lay down over $1K for a new Asian-import mandolin. Doing some research on Song Chung, who makes this instrument, found that they get decent reviews for their violin-family instruments, which are lower-priced clones of standard European violins. So the manufacturer -- if it is Song Chung -- produces good student-to-intermediate instruments.

    The other factor is that there are scads of good-quality bowl-backs on the used market at a fraction of what this one ls listed for. Were I in the bowl-back market (I have my fair share, not buying now), I'd look at a well-preserved US-made, or European, bowl-back, from a reputable dealer who'd vouch for its condition and do any needed adjustments and repairs.

    You probably aren't going to find many Cafe members who've played bowl-backs by Song Chung. From what I could find on-line, they're mainly in the violin-viola business, with an extensive mid-price line. Please note that I'm not speaking from direct experience, but my initial reaction is [a] that's a lot to pay for a bowl-back by a maker I've never heard of, and [2] there are many bowl-back mandolins by well-known makers on the used market, for a lot less money.
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  4. #3
    mando-evangelist August Watters's Avatar
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    Default Re: Professional Japanese style bowlback

    Notice the trapezoidal-shaped, Roman-style fingerboard, with very narrow spacing at the nut. No, thanks -- to me, that makes chord playing more difficult. Also the bowl looks shallow, and the scroll oversized. And there are new Italian bowlbacks in that price range.
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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Professional Japanese style bowlback

    You may be able to find a used Eastman bowlback for that price. I have played those and they are very nice. This Chinese one you link to is a real question. Could be all right. Or not.

    Funny tho. The Japanese first encountered mandolin when Raffaele Calace went over there around 1905 I believe. So most of their classical bowlbacks are patterned after Calace. The only exception is the Japanese luthier who inherited the tools and patterns from the Embergher shop and makes (maybe still) Roman-style instruments.
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  7. #5

    Default Re: Professional Japanese style bowlback

    Really good info, thank you guys! I just bought one from Carlo Mazzaccara; it should be here in a few days. I'm so excited!

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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Professional Japanese style bowlback

    I would love to hear your impressions of his mandolins. I have never seen one in person.
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  9. #7

    Default Re: Professional Japanese style bowlback

    It has been a positive experience dealing with Carlo though I'm still waiting for it to arrive. He seems like an honest man, fast responses. I initially wanted to see his shop and pick one but plane tickets cost at least half of his mando. So I decided to take the risk and purchase one without seeing it in person base on a few of his positive comments that were posted here.

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    mando-evangelist August Watters's Avatar
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    Default Re: Professional Japanese style bowlback

    Funny, this conversation about Chinese vs. Japanese bowlbacks. How far the internationalization debate has come! It used to be about American-made vs. European vs. Japanese. I was usually one of the ones who came down on the side of "mandolins are usually better if they evolve from builders servicing a musical community, rather than just a consumer product in a place where no one plays them." Perhaps people still take that stance in the ultra-high end, but the entry of Eastman and Northfield, etc. -- Chinese instruments aimed at the middle and upper parts of the market -- seems to have changed the game. Now Japan is one place with great players and builders honing their skills, and we're considering whether Chinese bowlbacks can stand up to them. Hey, didn't I just hear that someone opened up a mandolin factory in Vietnam?
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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Professional Japanese style bowlback

    Quote Originally Posted by August Watters View Post
    Now Japan is one place with great players and builders honing their skills, and we're considering whether Chinese bowlbacks can stand up to them. Hey, didn't I just hear that someone opened up a mandolin factory in Vietnam?
    Japan has a long history, almost as long as the US, of mandolin playing. Raffaele Calace and Samuel Adelson visited there around 1905 and some Japanese have been excited about mandolin ever since, incorporating bluegrass also later.

    There are have been fretted instrument factories in Vietnam for a decade or two. There are a few heavy volume Taiwan eBay sellers who sell Vietnamese instruments. I have played some of the older ones and the few I tried have been pretty terrible but perhas they have improved both in the workmanship and the seasoning of their wood and quality of the other materials.
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