Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Arches kit feedback

  1. #1

    Default Arches kit feedback

    Last night for the first time I got feedback from the best mandolin player I know, and it was off the charts good. His mandolin is a Pava, which has always been a favorite of mine. It has a lovely warm tonal pallet, but just disappears in the upper registers.

    It's owner picked up my Arches and was floored at how loud it was. Punchy and articulate were his words. As a gigging musician, traits he values. Not nearly as pretty sounding as a Pava, certainly not as well put together, but loud enough to go head to head with a banjo. He said he'd take it over most any mandolin he's played. Gratifying for sure. Valued the punch over all else for band play.

    I'm feeling pretty good right now, except he wanted me to build him another, and Chris Baird is out of the kit business or I'd be ordering another one.

    Want to make clear, he wants a mandolin like mine in addition to, not instead of his Pava. Much like I wanted an addition to my Silverangel.

    I also got to hear a good player play it out front of the mandolin, and it sounds way better facing it from six or eight feet. Loud and articulate, with prospects for the low end, which seems to be developing as it gets played. So one guy I respect likes it and that's good enough for me to go on for a long while.
    Silverangel A
    Arches F style kit
    1913 Gibson A-1

  2. #2
    Mandolin user MontanaMatt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Bozeman, MT
    Posts
    1,252

    Default Re: Arches kit feedback

    Is your kit still in the white?
    2007 Weber Custom Elite "old wood"
    2017 Ratliff R5 Custom #1148
    Several nice old Fiddles
    2007 Martin 000-15S 12 fret Auditorium-slot head
    Deering Classic Open Back
    Too many microphones

    BridgerCreekBoys.com

  3. #3

    Default Re: Arches kit feedback

    Yes. I've got some dyes and need to test out some color options. I'm also going to do some recording with high end gear for a before and after comparison.
    Silverangel A
    Arches F style kit
    1913 Gibson A-1

  4. #4
    Mandolin user MontanaMatt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Bozeman, MT
    Posts
    1,252

    Default Re: Arches kit feedback

    Fun, looking forward to your observations and experience.
    2007 Weber Custom Elite "old wood"
    2017 Ratliff R5 Custom #1148
    Several nice old Fiddles
    2007 Martin 000-15S 12 fret Auditorium-slot head
    Deering Classic Open Back
    Too many microphones

    BridgerCreekBoys.com

  5. #5

    Default Re: Arches kit feedback

    Quote Originally Posted by Br1ck View Post
    Last night for the first time I got feedback from the best mandolin player I know, and it was off the charts good. His mandolin is a Pava, which has always been a favorite of mine. It has a lovely warm tonal pallet, but just disappears in the upper registers.

    It's owner picked up my Arches and was floored at how loud it was. Punchy and articulate were his words. As a gigging musician, traits he values. Not nearly as pretty sounding as a Pava, certainly not as well put together, but loud enough to go head to head with a banjo. He said he'd take it over most any mandolin he's played. Gratifying for sure. Valued the punch over all else for band play.

    I'm feeling pretty good right now, except he wanted me to build him another, and Chris Baird is out of the kit business or I'd be ordering another one.

    Want to make clear, he wants a mandolin like mine in addition to, not instead of his Pava. Much like I wanted an addition to my Silverangel.

    I also got to hear a good player play it out front of the mandolin, and it sounds way better facing it from six or eight feet. Loud and articulate, with prospects for the low end, which seems to be developing as it gets played. So one guy I respect likes it and that's good enough for me to go on for a long while.
    So Arches stuff is no longer available?

  6. #6
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Conneaut Lake, PA
    Posts
    4,147

    Default Re: Arches kit feedback

    No, Larry, barring a miracle of some sort, Arches is gone. Chris Baird had health issues, had to stop building and get a “real” job for the health insurance. He planned to get back to it when he was feeling better but then his shop burned to the ground. He lost materials, tools, everything. It is difficult to see light at the end of that tunnel.

    I am not a friend of Chris’s or anything like that, I’m just reporting information I saw on other discussions here.
    Don

    2016 Weber Custom Bitterroot F
    2011 Weber Bitterroot A
    1974 Martin Style A

  7. #7

    Default Re: Arches kit feedback

    It would be hard for me to imagine someone with the talent to build such nice mandolins to just quit. Sure will be awhile, but a tinkerer is a tinkerer. Now it's true he had already announced no more kits.

    If anyone has a kit they have not started they want to sell, I'm buying. A friend would very much want me to build him one.

    In any case, day by day, my mandoline is getting better. The G string is loosing that boingyness and developing a real warmth, and the highs are developing body while still having a very forward brightness. It is either strings changing, wood vibrating differently, or my own delusion. Hard to tell.
    Silverangel A
    Arches F style kit
    1913 Gibson A-1

  8. #8
    Registered User David Houchens's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    North Garden,Va
    Posts
    1,610

    Default Re: Arches kit feedback

    boingyness
    Now if you don't mind I just might have to borrow that one.

  9. #9

    Default Re: Arches kit feedback

    Not at all. Hope it conveyed the message.
    Silverangel A
    Arches F style kit
    1913 Gibson A-1

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •