Tiny Moore's mandolin

[pglasse]

First off, Tiny tuned his mandolin CGDAE. He used Black Diamond brand mandolin strings and a Black Diamond brand guitar low E string for his mandolin low C. These, as I recall, claimed to be silver plated. I tried them on my Roberts 5-string. They did indeed help get Tiny's distinctive tone but I hated the strings and they seemed to pretty much fall apart with very little playing.

Don, you brought back some great memories. Yes, we followed such similar paths.

A few Tiny related memories...

The first time I met Buck White (in the early 1970's) I asked him advice for picking up swing on the mandolin. He said "Listen to Tiny Moore" and proceeded to play several of Tiny's Texas Playboys solos from memory.

Yes, Don, the Glen Campbell story is true. Tiny told me that one of the finest compliments he ever received came when he taped the NBC special "Fifty Years of Country Music" with Merle Haggardhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbTJ8gDAvn8. Campbell was on the same show (doing, as I recall, a duet with Ray Charles of Bye Bye Love) and specifically hunted down Tiny on the set. Campbell brought Tiny to his dressing room and proceeded to play Tiny some of Tiny's mandolin solos from the Wills days. He told Tiny that those things had driven him nuts trying to learn -- amazing that he could still remember them. Years later I saw Campbell do a very slick medley-filled show at an Austin Texas rodeo. In the middle of a brief medley-tribute to Wills he fleetingly quoted some Tiny licks.

In perhaps 1978 or '79, as part of a very rickety tour, I ended up with an off-week in the Bay area. I phoned Tiny in Sacramento and asked if we could get together for a lesson. He had a break from his current gig with Merle Haggard and the Strangers and agreed to meet -- said he'd pick me up at the bus station in Sacramento. Tiny showed up to meet me wearing his blue monogrammed Strangers band windbreaker. We strapped my Roberts 5-string and my Gibson A-50 to the luggage rack of his motorcycle. He told me to hold on and I rode through Sacramento holding onto Tiny's waist, hoping I didn't fall off, while reading "The Strangers" on his upper back in front of me. I wish I had a photo of that one.

All the best,

Paul Glasse
Austin Texs

[Steve G]

Ouote: "Is it true that Tiny passed away at a gig.....on stage......soloing?"

Came down the stage steps and collapsed is the way I heard it. I was at a fiddle contest where he was the featured entertainer one time in California. What a show he and his band played. Really nice guy too.

[Spruce]

Tiny showed up to meet me wearing his blue monogrammed Strangers band windbreaker. We strapped my Roberts 5-string and my Gibson A-50 to the luggage rack of his motorcycle. He told me to hold on and I rode through Sacramento holding onto Tiny's waist, hoping I didn't fall off, while reading "The Strangers" on his upper back in front of me. I wish I had a photo of that one.

Me too...

[Ken Feil]

I learned to play from Tiny at his Sacramento music store on El Camino Avenue and got to see and play the Bigsby on several occasions. I live several miles from Skip's Music and I am reasonably certain that Skip has Tiny's mandolin.

Ken

[Ken Feil]

Also it is interesting to note that Tiny was an excellent violinist and played in some legitimate orchestras such as the California State Fair Orchestra. He also won the California State Fiddle Championship. He was one terrific musician who did pass away as I recall while performing in Jackpot, Nevada.

[djweiss]

This thread backs up what Ken states:

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=26810

[robboat]

That was my first Weiser, and it was indeed a memorable week...

I also met Jay Roberts at Weiser one year, and he was lugging some electrics that he made as I remember...

Really nice guy, and as I understand it, has also disappeared a bit into the mists of time??
Anybody know whatever happened to Jay...?

Did he also go by "JC"?

Jay C. Roberts is alive and well - I just spent a few days at his winter home in Yuma, Az. He still plays a bit (he has an incredibly sweet-sounding D-28 that puts mine to shame) and brought out a few of his older custom guitars, basses, lap steel, dobro, etc.
He's one of the nicest guys you could ever meet - and my mother (his long-time companion) agrees...

[Spruce]

Jay C. Roberts is alive and well - I just spent a few days at his winter home in Yuma, Az. He still plays a bit (he has an incredibly sweet-sounding D-28 that puts mine to shame) and brought out a few of his older custom guitars, basses, lap steel, dobro, etc.
He's one of the nicest guys you could ever meet - and my mother (his long-time companion) agrees...

Yes!!

Please say "hi" from Bruce at Orcas Island Tonewoods when you see him again...

Thanks for that.....

[mrmando]

Deke's article about Tiny is out in the Feb. 2010 Vintage Guitar. Very cool piece and worth reading. Among the surprising revelations: Tiny's (1952) wasn't the first Bigsby mandolin; Buskirk's 10-string (1950) was. Eschol Cosby and Al Giddings also had electric mandolins built by Bigsby before Tiny got his. Also, Bigsby guitars and mandolins post-1949 are semi-hollow, not solid.

Don't know if that issue of the magazine is still on the racks, but often VG will put features like this on its Web site.

Cool to hear that Jay Roberts is still around, although I gather he must be retired from luthiery.

[Bigtuna]

I've always loved Tiny's playing, but I have never cared for his mandolin. I was at Barnes and Noble over the weekend and they still had several copies of the Vintage Guitar Magazine with the article about Tiny's mandolin.

[Dale Ludewig]

I just looked and as I suspected I do have a xerox copy of the MWN with the interview of Tiny. He's on the cover. Spring of 1978. Dix did the interview. What a TOC: in addition to the Tiny article is one by Dave McCarty profiling Jimmy Gadreau and another, an interview with John Monteleone by the Dawg. Ah, what days.

[mrmando]

I've always loved Tiny's playing, but I have never cared for his mandolin.

The looks, the tone, or ... ?

It is an odd-looking beast, one must admit.

[Bigtuna]

The looks, the tone, or ... ?

It is an odd-looking beast, one must admit.

Just the looks. Are there any recording of him playing acoustic?

[Jim Garber]

All I can re all of his playing was that he got some nice jazzy tone out of whatever he was playing -- prob his Roberts. After hearing him play the first year i met him at Ashokan, I ordered a black Roberts from him which i srtill have. It does have that old electric sound, very similar to my EM150 with the mini-Charlie Christian pickup, but cleaner.

I had a Vega 10 string acoustic I was selling and he fooled around with it some, saying that he was thinking of recording an all-acoustic album and maybe he could use something like that.

[Jerry Turberville]

I also learned to play at Tiny Moore music, but not from Tiny. Olen Dillingham was teaching then. Olen was a great mentor and good friend. Tiny would poke his head in now and again and say something like, "sounding real good in here." I do miss those days, our old friends and especially playing music. I had a Roberts Tiny Moore mandolin and dearly loved the sound. I believe the serial number was 1151, but can't remember exactly.
I ended up selling the Roberts to Skip, and have regretted it since. I'd like to get it back, but doubt I could afford it now.