what is the loudest + weirdest sounding oddball mandolin?

[mandotool]

could this be it ?
I have no idea whatsoever if this is it ...but it is very bizzare and suspicious looking..yes?
any other nominations ?

[mandotool]

I dont mean this as a negative...I mean loud and different ..original sounding..
weird in a good way..
oddball = rare,hard to find etc..

[Charles E.]

My vote would go to a 1930's National Triolian mandolin. Loud and unique. Cool looking too.


https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/123176#123176

NFI

[JeffD]

The loudest would be any of several resonator mandolins, and the most surprising is the National RM-1 because of its surprisingly pleasing distinctive tone, despite being a rez.

[HonketyHank]

Not sure exactly what this is but it is in the Mandolin Cafe classifieds, so it must be at least mandolin related. If not, it is still qualified based on "loudest" and "weirdest".

https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/124248#124248

[Bertram Henze]

Not sure exactly what this is but it is in the Mandolin Cafe classifieds, so it must be at least mandolin related. If not, it is still qualified based on "loudest" and "weirdest".

https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/124248#124248

It's a Stroh violin. There's mandolin versions of it, too.

[MikeZito]

It's a Stroh violin. There's mandolin versions of it, too.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner . . . especially in the 'weird' department . . .

[jesserules]

Not sure exactly what this is but it is in the Mandolin Cafe classifieds, so it must be at least mandolin related. If not, it is still qualified based on "loudest" and "weirdest".

https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/124248#124248

That's a Stroh violin, made for recording with in the very early days. When recording technology improved, the violinists who had bought those dumped them for next to nothing, because outside the studio they sounded like **** and their brief heyday as their only fiddle that could record clearly was gone forever.

Whereupon they were picked up at flea markets etc. by itinerant busker/folk musicians who couldn't afford anything better. And when enough time had passed, lo & behold they became Authentic Folk Instruments and the only kind a Real Authentic Folk Music Preservationist could play & get real authentic street cred for.

[Ray(T)]

I've always know those as a "Phonofiddle". I believe they're still being made but can't confirm.

EDIT - Apparently the "Phonofiddle" is the one string version and, apart from the Stroh fiddle and guitar versions they also made a guitar.

https://youtu.be/axzLEzasYUA

[JEStanek]

Commodium. The Bepandolin. Built by Kieth Cary. Still on my bucket list.



Jamie

[Jim Garber]

That's a Stroh violin, made for recording with in the very early days. When recording technology improved, the violinists who had bought those dumped them for next to nothing, because outside the studio they sounded like **** and their brief heyday as their only fiddle that could record clearly was gone forever.

Whereupon they were picked up at flea markets etc. by itinerant busker/folk musicians who couldn't afford anything better. And when enough time had passed, lo & behold they became Authentic Folk Instruments and the only kind a Real Authentic Folk Music Preservationist could play & get real authentic street cred for.

Well, they certainly don't sound like standard wooden violins but in the hands of the right musician they can have a unique sound. Dawn Harms, a violinist that appears on a few Tom Waits albums, notably Alice, plays one on a few tracks. In her hands it sounds like a cross between a violin and a trumpet and is quite haunting. Listen to the intro here from "Poor Edward."



Yes, they were used for early acoustic recording which required loud and focused projection and the horn certainly provided that.

As far as the second paragraph of your history, there were always affordable violins made by factories in France, Germany and the US and since there were not all that many Strohviols around, I highly doubt that buskers were beating down doors to buy them on the cheap.

BTW I own one but play it rarely. The sound, I agree, is funky but it is always a very unwieldy instrument. I prefer a wooden instrument but it is fun to take it out to scare the kiddies.

They are quite popular in Romania and there are phono-fiddles (not exact copies of Strohs) still made there and also, IIRC, in Thailand.

Lark in the Morning sells new ones and there is another video on this page of their web site.

[jesserules]

they can have a unique sound.
.

No argument here!

[dhergert]

It's a Stroh violin. There's mandolin versions of it, too.

Interesting, it has a pickguard so you won't scratch the ????????????????????

And look, an armrest!!!!!

I wonder if there is a ToneGard available for this instrument.

[mrmando]

Eric Gorfain of L.A.'s Section Quartet is married to singer/songwriter Sam Phillips and has accompanied her on a Stroh violin.

[Bertram Henze]

Interesting, it has a pickguard so you won't scratch the ????????????????????

And look, an armrest!!!!!

I wonder if there is a ToneGard available for this instrument.

I guess the pickguard is more of a finger rest, and without the armrest there would be nothing to hold the instrument in place. Like a broomstick with a bike saddle. Wonder where you fix a strap.

[Mark Wilson]

It's a Stroh violin. There's mandolin versions of it, too.

winner winner chicken dinner

[Beanzy]

Loudest, maybe. Weirdest, not in a good way.


(Looks like they just used the whole toilet seat for this one)

[Ray(T)]

Wonder where you fix a strap.

Don't start or we'll have a whole list of headstock/heel-button posts.

[Jim Bevan]

https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...phonic-Mandola

[Jess L.]

Loudest, maybe. Weirdest, not in a good way.


(Looks like they just used the whole toilet seat for this one)

Looks like a genuine hide head... I think in my old age I would not be up to the challenge of trying to keep all those extra strings in tune for any length of time.

If for some strange reason I ever ended up owning such an instrument, that hide head would come off of there right away and be replaced by something synthetic that's more stable.

(For those of y'all who aren't into banjos, a hide head will quickly absorb moisture from the air and the player's hands, and it also responds quickly to temperature changes. That causes the head's tension to be in a constant state of change, which makes the bridge height change by small amounts, enough to throw the strings out of tune. A regular 5-string banjo with a genuine hide head is marginally tolerable because there are only 5 strings and also you can somewhat reduce the effect of temp/humidity-caused variations by keeping the head adjusted super-tight, although that's not advised with old hide heads, they might break.)

[allenhopkins]

My vote would go to a 1930's National Triolian mandolin. Loud and unique. Cool looking too.

As I Triolian owner, I concur. Also, quite probably, the heaviest.

[mandotool]

Some very exotic candidates here so far...great stuff.
especially in the resonator category..

How about acoustic mandolins made of wood...not including F-5's
Forgetting weird/oddball for a minute..
The loudest in volume you have ever heard ?

[Jim Garber]

Not exotic but my Brentrup A4C is loud for a quality Gibson copy and I just took out my '83 Flatiron A5-2 last night and have been playing that quite a bit. I always loved that one for a more bluegrass-sounding mandolin. I bought it new in 1983 and when I did i could hear myself in a band or jam situation better than the oval hole Gibson. I have never felt much of a need for an F-5 tho I have played quite a few others.

[Magnus Geijer]

I still haven't finished this thing, but I feel it should be a winner on loudness whenever I finally do. Currently tweaked to be a four-string electric octave, using a walnut body/receiver core and a slimmed down Strat neck.

[Bertram Henze]

I feel it should be a winner on loudness...

A winner at airport security, too, I'll say.