Bluegrass Players Who Play an Oval ?

[DavidKOS]

Well, 'tain't bluegrass, but the late Kenny Hall could make a "tater bug" heard in a string band context, fer shur....



...and pickin' with his index fingernail.

This is a fact - I saw Kenny play from a few feet away, even backed him up on guitar at a few sessions at Lark Camp.

He held the mandolin on his thigh, and used this honking big thick fingernail as a pick. No Blue chip picks for him! No pick at all.

[mandopops]

I'd rather hear a Bluegrass player with an Oval, than a Jazz player with a Fender. (TIC)
Joe B

[DavidKOS]

I'd rather hear a Bluegrass player with an Oval, than a Jazz player with a Fender. (TIC)
Joe B

Depends on the jazz player. If it was a good one, fine...plug him in.

And, assuming you mean a Fender electric mandolin, a not-so-good player would just be louder, but no better. In which case you're right.

[brunello97]

I've posted this here a few times

"Dawg Bowl".

Bowlistas were ripping Chris Thile for playing Bach on his Loar.

It does grow wearisome.....

Mick

[DavidKOS]

I've posted this here a few times

"Dawg Bowl".

Bowlistas were ripping Chris Thile for playing Bach on his Loar.

It does grow wearisome.....

Mick

Jerry Byrd, master steel player, said, more or less:

" If you can play, no one cares what instrument you use.
- If you can't play, no one cares what instrument you use."

There are enough versions of the mandolin to go around.

Anyone ever tried a Kerman mandolin against a BG banjo? According to Radim, they are LOUD.

[Vernon Hughes]

Add Buzz Busby to the list.

[William Smith]

Add Buzz Busby to the list.

I thought Buzz, played an old F-hole A-50? Maybe oval in his early years? On a side note where is Buzz's old A-50, as I've never heard of it going anywhere, it pry remains with his family if he had any?

[mandopops]

I did mean Fender Guitar, just having fun, TIC=Tongue in Cheek. Just saying prefer Fat Gibson sound for Jazz. As many prefer the f-holes for Bluegrass. In the end, it’s the player that matters, of course.
Joe B

[Dawg]

I've posted this here a few times

"Dawg Bowl".

Bowlistas were ripping Chris Thile for playing Bach on his Loar.

It does grow wearisome.....

Mick

Actually for the record, it's not a bowl back in that photo but an inexpensive bent-top flat-back instrument that I borrowed at the time. I do love oval hole mandolins and have used them on quite a few projects such as Acoustic Christmas ("What Child Is This?", Not For Kids Only ("Jenny Jenkins) and various tracks Tone Poems 1 & 2, as well as others through the years. Not to mention my old H-4 and K-4.

Cheers y'all!

[rcc56]

What David didn't say was that in the old days, just about everybody except Monroe played oval hole mandolins. F-5's were few and far between, and many of the postwar instruments were not so good.

An awful lot of records were made on those old oval hole Gibsons.