Would y'all be so kind as to post photos, audio, video, and/or share the things you love about your silverangels?
Would y'all be so kind as to post photos, audio, video, and/or share the things you love about your silverangels?
No one is playing, eh? Perhaps there has been a few SA threads lately. My main thoughts about them is that too few have had the experience of playing one. Just like I'd like to play a Ratliff, a Summit, a.....on an on. Unless one shows up at a dealer used, I'll only be able to try one if I buy one. I live in a fairly mandolin friendly area where I can cruise by Griffon or Sylvan, but even then, beyond the Kentucky, Eastman, Northfield, Weber, Collings and Girouard brands carried by these two fine retailers, I have to luck into one having a trade in or consignment instrument. This is how I've tried Lebeda, Gibson, and a handful of others.
Now with maybe 500 Silverangels out there you might not find one even in Nashville. So how did I come to own one? Well I read some threads here and the prices seemed pretty reasonable, but then I had a major surgery and two weeks after, my wife left town on a business trip for a week. I was just starting to feel human, had just started playing some and needed an emotional pick me up so decided the time was right to upgrade, what with a week alone and all.
So being relatively uninformed or experienced, I just decided to buy a new Collings MT, what with that being a very safe bet. Now I didn't know how I was going to make the 20 mile drive with a seat belt across my chest but I was determined to do it. Took one last look at the classifieds, and there was a Silverangel for a thousand less the the MT, so I called the owner and had it air freighted to my door.
So why do I like it? Looks like a well kept 80 year old instrument for one thing. Binding cracked here and there, and a bit short where it would have shrunk over the years, a few dings and scratches, varnish sunk in between the grain of the redwood top. Little touches like Ken angling the bridge a bit back toward the Allen tailpiece to prevent bridge leaning toward the fretboard. Binding front and back and neck and headstock. Speed neck that looks like it was worn off naturally on a very comfortable to play neck. Then there is the script Silverangel logo inlaid on the headstock.
So what about sound? I'd say resonant sums it up. Warm and rich. Voice to the low end about like a Collings is voiced bright. It is cross braced and any more toward the warm side and it would have an oval soundhole. Not the mandolin to take to a bluegrass jam, or at least not the best one, but plenty loud enough to play BG in a band. Great woody chop only bested by Gibsons I've played. I can see the validity in not liking the mandolin, just like I don't like Taylor guitars. Different strokes....
My mandolin is in one of Ken's videos where they are playing two in the white, but not sure which one is mine. I have not yet got the nerve to go to the heavier strings the mandolin was made for (J 75s?). I play mostly fiddle tunes, but I surely will have a mandolin that is voice differently IN ADDITION TO my SA. I actually do, but I want the equal tone quality of the SA. AN MT would do nicely, but I've got the scroll bug so there may be a Northfield some day.
If you are looking to sell, something like an MT would be easier, but then you would never know the beauty of the SA sound.
Silverangel A
Arches F style kit
1913 Gibson A-1
Br1ck, Ken should hire you to write summaries for his mandolins. That was excellent.
Well, I don't want my exuberance to send someone down the wrong path if they are in love with the Collings sound profile, just to save money. Just like someone wanting a mandolin that sounds just like a Gibson. I haven't played one. But I haven't played that many. I can imagine being somewhere 500 miles from a decent store. Yikes, that would suck.
Silverangel A
Arches F style kit
1913 Gibson A-1
There is a Silverangel social group, doesn't get a huge amount of traffic but there are pics and discussions that might help you out :D
Jason Anderson
"...while a great mandolin is a wonderful treat, I would venture to say that there is always more each of us can do with the tools we have available at hand. The biggest limiting factors belong to us not the instruments." Paul Glasse
Stumbling Towards Competence
Gibson F5 'Harvey' Fern, Gibson F5 'Derrington' Fern
Distressed Silverangel F 'Esmerelda' aka 'Maxx'
Northfield Big Mon #127
Ellis F5 Special #288
'39 & '45 D-18's, 1950 D-28.
1924 Gibson A Snakehead
2005 National RM-1
2007 Hester A5
2009 Passernig A5
2015 Black A2-z
2010 Black GBOM
2017 Poe Scout
2014 Smart F-Style Mandola
2018 Vessel TM5
2019 Hogan F5
Though I've never heard (or seen) a Silverangel in person, based on what I've heard from recordings, they sound like nothing else. Check out David Mold's (oldsausage) YouTube stuff with his - seriously nice tone (and playing). His has a headstock shape that looks like a knife blade. Very cool.
...
To tide you over, I once owned #337, the finished A5 that Donnie is playing in this video:
I found it to have a pleasing dark tone, comfortable fiddlish playability, and satisfying rustic aesthetics. Unfortunately, mine suffered from a sinking arch and needed to be retopped when I acquired it. But to Ken's credit, he offered to do the work for free even though I was not the original owner.
1924 Gibson A Snakehead
2005 National RM-1
2007 Hester A5
2009 Passernig A5
2015 Black A2-z
2010 Black GBOM
2017 Poe Scout
2014 Smart F-Style Mandola
2018 Vessel TM5
2019 Hogan F5
+1 David gets super tone out of that mandolin
https://youtu.be/_pL6kKfk8D0
By the by I find the redwood topped SA's to be "woofier" sounding
Last edited by noah finn; Mar-04-2018 at 12:00pm.
I’ve owned 3 SAs, including #337 above. Still own #388. #337 had the darkest tone. #388 is a bit less dark, but is exceptional to my feeble ears. I just wish I could do it justice in the playing dept. I think it’s a love/hate thing. You either dig the tone or you don’t. Same with Ken’s construction style. I do. Just my $.02. Here’s a bad photo of the back.
Last edited by Mike Scott; Mar-04-2018 at 11:17am. Reason: Stupid auto correct
Thanks
Several mandolins of varying quality-any one of which deserves a better player than I am.......
Wow, mine is 335, so probably made from the same batch of wood. I think almost everyone who has owned one will attest to the fact they are their own uniquely styled instruments, and not everyone's cup of tea. There are always folks who don't see the big deal regarding Gilchrists too, while still recognizing the validity of those who do.
I think SA's strength is their beauty sitting around the backyard picking just for yourself. For me that is 95% of the time. I'm better picking guitar with others. Anyone in the SF Bay Area is welcome to try mine.
Silverangel A
Arches F style kit
1913 Gibson A-1
If an instrument is responsive, it's tone doesn't matter much. And I personally find this the true when playing any instrument.
Isabel Mandolins
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arche...50923841658006
We're snowed in here in Ireland, so I've some time on my hands and I put together a video or two of my Silverangel should anyone find it helpful.
(Best just use the computer speakers however, when I recorded the audio through my zoom H1 , I didnt realise the dishwasher was on in an adjacent room, while not audible at the time to my power tool abused ears the zoom picked it up effortlessly )
My mandolin is #308 built in 2010. Taking good care of it Andy
Effie.
What did he name all yours?
This thread is fantastic. Thanks for the resources and sharing your mandos! They are damn beautiful!
Gibson F5 'Harvey' Fern, Gibson F5 'Derrington' Fern
Distressed Silverangel F 'Esmerelda' aka 'Maxx'
Northfield Big Mon #127
Ellis F5 Special #288
'39 & '45 D-18's, 1950 D-28.
Here's a pic of my A5, #6 signed by Laura Ratcliff. It has a tighter, more midranged tone than the dark tone typical of Silverangels. I will work on getting as true a recording of it as I can when I am back in town.
Jason Anderson
"...while a great mandolin is a wonderful treat, I would venture to say that there is always more each of us can do with the tools we have available at hand. The biggest limiting factors belong to us not the instruments." Paul Glasse
Stumbling Towards Competence
I have an big muddy m4 and an eastman 305. The eastman has an e string i'd characterize as tinny and shrill or "bright." i have been listening to silverangel audio files for weeks now and love the tone. I was just wondering how the silverangel e strings compare to "bright" instruments like the eastman, from those who play 'em.
I went from an Eastman 505 to my Silverangel. I was playing it yesterday trying to find fault with the high end, given all the talk of the quality of the low end and it's dominance, but the highs are all there and they ring out loud and clear. There is definitely no shrillness there. I just seem to want to caution folks who want to play bluegrass on them, an unwarranted over reaction on my part.
Silverangel A
Arches F style kit
1913 Gibson A-1
I have an Econo, number 381, built two Halloweens ago. I guess it's the redwood top and high arching that give it that delicious thick sound, but I'll bet spruce-topped ones sound just as good.
It's really come into its own in the last several months, and is just a joy to play. The neck is a bit on the small side for my taste, but that's a very small complaint.
https://goo.gl/photos/Kv6xirjhYaHS9QVK9
Here is a recent video I took of me playing 392, a redwood topped A style that I asked Ken to build for me last year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFwc...tYZVOrFIrjsO9A
And here is one of me playing #157, a 2001 F5 that I got from the original owner through the Cafe classifieds when it was less than 6 months old.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N33E...tYZVOrFIrjsO9A
There are other videos of me playing both, as well as my early Breedlove Olympic, on my YouTube channel. I love 157 and wouldn't trade it for the world. I have owned it since right after first getting serious about playing mandolin. It is quite loud without much player effort and is quite ergonomic to play. People are always complimenting it and offering to buy it. The new one is great in its own right, especially in ease of play, and is probably closer to Ken's signature sound, dark and warm. It is a joy to play now and is still opening up. It isn't as loud as the F but it isn't quiet at all. In fact, I have been playing it more lately than the F model.
I live less than an hour from Ken and have gotten to know him some since he's been doing maintenance and repair work for me since 2001. I like the guy and am probably a bit biased because he has been so good to me about doing work and was great to work with about building my new one. However, I am first and foremost a fan of his work. I have had the opportunity to play more than a dozen of his mandolins over the years and like them all. His pre 2000 work may have been less consistent than his later work but I haven't found a dud in any that I've played.
Last edited by Scott Rucker; Mar-09-2018 at 6:06pm. Reason: grammar
Scott
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