=O Carter Vintage Guitars

[MandoBoris]

In Nashville today. Currently at Carter Vintage Guitars. Stay calm... stay calm...

:D

[MandoBoris]

Sorry about the click-bait title with no content. Got distracted. Forgot to even take pictures...

Anyway, I'd like to say that it's exactly like I heard about it hear at the cafe, and am thankful to everyone who've suggested at different times to check them out. People so welcoming it's unreal. Super friendly, available for questions and chat, but never made me feel pressured. Just the opposite: when I said honestly that I was there to feel and hear the differences between high end mandolins and my Eastman, I was told to play anything I wanted as long as I wanted.

Bought a set of strings by way of thanks. Couldn't spend much more than an hour, but it was great.

Also, turns out I really like Webers...

[dwc]

Carter's can be dangerous...

I was in Nashville for a long weekend about a month ago. That Saturday my wife and I took a side trip to Carter's before grabbing lunch. I had bought my Bourgeois from Carter's, so if I was only going to hit up one high end music store while in Nashville, it would be Carter's. Plus they had two Bourgeois Banjo Killers that I wanted to play.

When I walked in, one of the guys working there said that I could play whatever I wanted. The first thing I grabbed was a Pava F5. Excellent sounding, well built mandolin, but I was really there to play guitars. I played both Banjo Killers, both were very good, but one was slightly better. I played two Collings. Both guitars were good, not great, and I played a H&D, also good, not great. I really like the Bourgeois sound for flatpicking, and I didn't play anything that I would trade my Vintage D for. Funny story... My wife pointed out that there was a guy following me around, playing each guitar right after I did. I think he was following me because I tuned each guitar prior to playing it, so I was saving him some trouble.

My wife came over to me as I was finishing up playing the guitars that I wanted to play and said, "You know that there is a whole other room, right?" I said, "Yeah, but I am not really looking for anything vintage or super expensive." She said, "You should still go look." So I acquiesced.

I am not really into vintage gear, so I gravitated to the mandolin side. The first thing I grabbed was a honey amber Dudenbostel A1. Being a huge fan of Chris Thile and especially the tone he got on the first two Nickel Creek albums, I was anxious to see what a Dude sounded like. It was love at first strum. About four notes into "Soldier's Joy" I thought, "This is the mandolin tone that I have been searching for." But the thing was, I wasn't looking for a mandolin. I was firmly entrenched as the guitarist in my band, and we already had a mandolin player. I put the Dudenbostel up and decided to play a few more mandolins. I played an Ellis, 2 Duffs, a Kimble (side note, the punchiest, grassiest mandolin I have ever heard was a Kimble; this one was nice, more mellow, darker, not at all what I was expecting, but a really nice mandolin), and a few others, but I was already sold on the Dudenbostel. I went back to it again, having just played a handful of nice mandolins, and I was still drawn to the Dudenbostel.

My wife had wandered in by now, and I said, "Of everything in the store, this is what I would take home." She said, "Then get it." So I did.

This was truly one of those, "The wand chooses the wizard... It's not always clear why." moments. I don't really think that the Dudenbostel was the best instrument in the whole store, but it was to me. And above a certain price point, in my opinion it stops being about being "better" and really becomes about sounding "different". Ellis, Duff, Kimble, they could all be lifetime mandolins for even the most discerning palete, but I bought the mandolin that I bonded with.

Fast forward a month and I am now the mandolinist in our band and we have someone who is a better guitarist than I am, so I am completely satisfied with my purchase, but paying that off at the end of the month was... bracing, to say the least.

[Upis Land]

Carter's can be dangerous...

I was in Nashville for a long weekend about a month ago. That Saturday my wife and I took a side trip to Carter's before grabbing lunch. I had bought my Bourgeois from Carter's, so if I was only going to hit up one high end music store while in Nashville, it would be Carter's. Plus they had two Bourgeois Banjo Killers that I wanted to play.

When I walked in, one of the guys working there said that I could play whatever I wanted. The first thing I grabbed was a Pava F5. Excellent sounding, well built mandolin, but I was really there to play guitars. I played both Banjo Killers, both were very good, but one was slightly better. I played two Collings. Both guitars were good, not great, and I played a H&D, also good, not great. I really like the Bourgeois sound for flatpicking, and I didn't play anything that I would trade my Vintage D for. Funny story... My wife pointed out that there was a guy following me around, playing each guitar right after I did. I think he was following me because I tuned each guitar prior to playing it, so I was saving him some trouble.

My wife came over to me as I was finishing up playing the guitars that I wanted to play and said, "You know that there is a whole other room, right?" I said, "Yeah, but I am not really looking for anything vintage or super expensive." She said, "You should still go look." So I acquiesced.

I am not really into vintage gear, so I gravitated to the mandolin side. The first thing I grabbed was a honey amber Dudenbostel A1. Being a huge fan of Chris Thile and especially the tone he got on the first two Nickel Creek albums, I was anxious to see what a Dude sounded like. It was love at first strum. About four notes into "Soldier's Joy" I thought, "This is the mandolin tone that I have been searching for." But the thing was, I wasn't looking for a mandolin. I was firmly entrenched as the guitarist in my band, and we already had a mandolin player. I put the Dudenbostel up and decided to play a few more mandolins. I played an Ellis, 2 Duffs, a Kimble (side note, the punchiest, grassiest mandolin I have ever heard was a Kimble; this one was nice, more mellow, darker, not at all what I was expecting, but a really nice mandolin), and a few others, but I was already sold on the Dudenbostel. I went back to it again, having just played a handful of nice mandolins, and I was still drawn to the Dudenbostel.

My wife had wandered in by now, and I said, "Of everything in the store, this is what I would take home." She said, "Then get it." So I did.

This was truly one of those, "The wand chooses the wizard... It's not always clear why." moments. I don't really think that the Dudenbostel was the best instrument in the whole store, but it was to me. And above a certain price point, in my opinion it stops being about being "better" and really becomes about sounding "different". Ellis, Duff, Kimble, they could all be lifetime mandolins for even the most discerning palete, but I bought the mandolin that I bonded with.

Fast forward a month and I am now the mandolinist in our band and we have someone who is a better guitarist than I am, so I am completely satisfied with my purchase, but paying that off at the end of the month was... bracing, to say the least.

Awesome story, awesome wife; but it sounds like your caption should read Carter's can be serendiptous, rather than dangerous.

[Jess L.]

Cool story!

... there was a guy following me around, playing each guitar right after I did. I think he was following me because I tuned each guitar prior to playing it, so I was saving him some trouble. ...

Lol! Plus maybe he decided that you knew how to zero in on the better-sounding guitars, again saving him time in deciding which guitar to try.

[mcgroup53]

And let me be the first to say, you married very well, my friend

[DataNick]

...About four notes into "Soldier's Joy" I thought, "This is the mandolin tone that I have been searching for." But the thing was, I wasn't looking for a mandolin...This was truly one of those, "The wand chooses the wizard... It's not always clear why." moments...

Dude! (no pun intended) that is classic!

[dwc]

Awesome story, awesome wife; but it sounds like your caption should read Carter's can be serendiptous, rather than dangerous.

And let me be the first to say, you married very well, my friend

I tend to agree.

[Br1ck]

Geez, when I raved about a 1965 D 18 I played, my wife also said to go buy it......after she asked me what guitar I'd be selling. Details, details....

[Don Grieser]

Great story, dwc. When you find one that speaks to you, listen. It doesn't happen that often in my experience. So cool that your wife understood that, but then women know a lot more than we do.