Thanks very much for the report Todd!
I'd love to see that mandola...acoustic or electric?
Thanks very much for the report Todd!
I'd love to see that mandola...acoustic or electric?
c.1965 Harmony Monterey H410 Mandolin
"What a long, strange trip it's been..." - Robert Hunter
"Life is too important to be taken seriously." - Oscar Wilde
Think Hippie Thoughts...
Gear: The Current Cast of Characters
WOW, that mandola sounds interesting. Thanks for the report Todd!
Ed, are you sitting by the front door waiting for the delivery????
I think he has a tent set up at his local post office
The mandola was a four-string solid-body electric. Everything was black except for the hardware, including an ebony finger board. The finish was impeccable. Bridge and fingerboard pickups could be switched from humbucking to single coil. I bet it sounded as good as it looked.
Just now received a text from home...The Ryder was just delivered!
It's been very cold between here & Maine, and Steve told me that the Nitro lacquer finish is still curing, so I'll likely allow the box to fully acclimate until either late tonight or early tomorrow morning.
Fortunately, I am off work tomorrow to begin a long weekend!
Hence, there will be much picture taking and high volume shenanigans over the next few days!
I'll be sure to report back.
c.1965 Harmony Monterey H410 Mandolin
"What a long, strange trip it's been..." - Robert Hunter
"Life is too important to be taken seriously." - Oscar Wilde
Think Hippie Thoughts...
Gear: The Current Cast of Characters
Congrats Ed! I'm sure you're like a kid at Christmas!
Chinn A-style
Chinn BluesBird Emando #1
Aria M-300BG 2 Point
Kay Model 68
Wait until tomorrow bro after work . you do not want that mandolin to change temp very quickly now .
I was somehow able to wait until this morning to open the box. Better safe than sorry.
Wow...What a great e-mando!
Workmanship, fit, and finish are excellent, but these Ryder custom stacked humbuckers are totally off the hook! They're full and rich at lower volume and hot and aggressive when the amp is overdriven. They eat the PUPs on my Tele for lunch! They really bring the Super Champ XD amp to life. The tonal profile of the Ryder is completely different (and more complex) than that of my Telecaster...I look forward to finding the new "just right" amp and effects settings for the Ryder.
Of course, the benefit of any custom build is that you can get the exact playability specs you want, but Steve has absolutely nailed it for me on the Ryder. Neck profile, nut width, string spacing, action, fretboard radius, fret size, and intonation are all pretty much spot on for me.
In terms of appearance, I think the Ryder is just striking! The quilted Maple body overlay, the premium Ebony fretboard (one of the nicest I've seen), the Ebony peghead overlay, and the vintage tortoise pickguard all work beautifully together visually.
If I can find our camera I'll take some pics today & post them here.
c.1965 Harmony Monterey H410 Mandolin
"What a long, strange trip it's been..." - Robert Hunter
"Life is too important to be taken seriously." - Oscar Wilde
Think Hippie Thoughts...
Gear: The Current Cast of Characters
Welcome aboard, Ed. Will enjoy your report after you get familiar with its tone possibilities.
Bandcamp -- https://tomwright1.bandcamp.com/
Videos--YouTube
Sound Clips--SoundCloud
The viola is proof that man is not rational
c.1965 Harmony Monterey H410 Mandolin
"What a long, strange trip it's been..." - Robert Hunter
"Life is too important to be taken seriously." - Oscar Wilde
Think Hippie Thoughts...
Gear: The Current Cast of Characters
Hi Ed,
Looks great!
I am sure your will love it!
I wish you lots of healthy picking in this new year!
Regards and best wishes for 2012
Wow!!!!!! Bee-You-Tea full!!!!! Remember to take your hands off of it and eat at least once a day!
Ed, do you know anyone that replaces laptop keyboards... I just drooled all over mine!
Wow, great wood selection, beautiful construction. Absolutely awesome!
Chinn A-style
Chinn BluesBird Emando #1
Aria M-300BG 2 Point
Kay Model 68
WOW!! That's beautiful........(numerous oooohs and aaaahs).
Here's a sound check on the Ryder after a few hours of noodling...
Some Yank inspired 12 Bar Blues in G, some Blues 7 Chords, and finally letting the wolf run some...
This is the first day with the Ryder & I've been without an e-mando for 4+ month, so please be gentle.
Man...This is going to be fun!
c.1965 Harmony Monterey H410 Mandolin
"What a long, strange trip it's been..." - Robert Hunter
"Life is too important to be taken seriously." - Oscar Wilde
Think Hippie Thoughts...
Gear: The Current Cast of Characters
Gorgeous looking and gorgeous sounding instrument Ed! Congrats.
Chinn A-style
Chinn BluesBird Emando #1
Aria M-300BG 2 Point
Kay Model 68
Ed, beautiful mandolin and a good, clean, electric sound from it.
Bill Snyder
Gorgeous instrument.
We would enjoy hearing a pickup- and tone-setting demo, i.e. bridge, both, neck, and tone control up, partial, and down.
Bandcamp -- https://tomwright1.bandcamp.com/
Videos--YouTube
Sound Clips--SoundCloud
The viola is proof that man is not rational
Thanks so much Barry, Rodney, Chinn, Jerry, Bill, & Tom!
Tom, ask and ye shall receive! Here are a couple of demo videos for the pick-ups & the tone control.
Again, both pick-ups are Ryder custom stacked humbuckers, and the amp is a Fender Super Champ XD on the clean channel with both the bass & treble set at 5 with no effects.
I do wish I had better recording equipment (my videos are recorded through my laptop's internal mic using the Dell webcam), as these videos really do not do this fine instrument justice.
c.1965 Harmony Monterey H410 Mandolin
"What a long, strange trip it's been..." - Robert Hunter
"Life is too important to be taken seriously." - Oscar Wilde
Think Hippie Thoughts...
Gear: The Current Cast of Characters
Oh yes!! very nice tone! Of course I'm chomping at the bit over here waiting for mine......
It sounded to me that the pickups were very well balanced, volume wise. Am I hearing this correctly? Most of the emandos I've owned seem to be quieter on the bridge pickup. This would be a welcome development for me.
Oh yeah, are you having fun yet?????
Hi Jerry; every time I open this thread I look forward to seeing the magnificent sunburst and quilted maple of your 'in progress' Ryder EM-55. So stunning! Is it still scheduled for delivery this month?
Yes - I would say the pick-ups on my Ryder are very balanced. The neck PUP has as much punch as the bridge, no doubt. Also, I'm pretty amazed by the tonal range of this e-mando when one uses the tone control on the PUPs. I have rarely done this on my electrics, and I'm very glad Tom suggested dialing the tone knob during the PUP demo video. That was very revealing (thanks Tom!).
The tone sweep on both pick-ups when dialing the tone knob is substantial. With that, and the three-way PUP selection switch, I'm confident I have all of the tonal possibilities I could ever need. These Ryder PUPs are as good as any I've heard on any instrument.
Jerry, it looks like yours will have two standard-sized humbuckers (?). Will you be going with the standard switch, or are you going for some coil splitting?
c.1965 Harmony Monterey H410 Mandolin
"What a long, strange trip it's been..." - Robert Hunter
"Life is too important to be taken seriously." - Oscar Wilde
Think Hippie Thoughts...
Gear: The Current Cast of Characters
Steve said he hoped to be done sometime after the 10th. I'll be checking with him in a few days. Yes, It will be wired for splitting coils on the neck pup. Almost had the midi installed, but it just wasn't in the budget.
I meant to ask did you get the nice custom case he recommends? I'm curious to see if it's as nice as what I'd read about them. Of course, I can't remember the case name at the moment.....
Very cool Jerry! With those split coils on the neck PUP you will have an incredible amount of tonal options! Very nice.
Since the Ryder was already stretching my budget for this project, I passed on the extra $270 for the custom Cedar Creek Case Co. case. Since I'm not a gigging musician, that case seemed like overkill.
I've been casually looking for a good gig bag/hybrid case for the Ryder. I think I'll be going with the Mandolin Rockbag by Warwick. The dimensions look like a great match for the EM-44, and the specs make this bag looks like a good hybrid bag/case that provides decent protection.
All I'll need from the bag is protection for the instrument when I go to jams or mandolin camps.
Anyone have any other suggestions for a decent aftermarket bag/case for a Ryder?
c.1965 Harmony Monterey H410 Mandolin
"What a long, strange trip it's been..." - Robert Hunter
"Life is too important to be taken seriously." - Oscar Wilde
Think Hippie Thoughts...
Gear: The Current Cast of Characters
Bridge pickups are always less output than equivalent neck pickups, given the smaller string movement. Thus you see Strats with humbucker/single coil combos, and the Tele setup has a larger pickup at the bridge position. Ed's bridge pickup is some distance from the bridge, which means more string movement than on emandos with pickups close to the bridge, and it is set a bit closer to the strings (compared to neck pup) to compensate for the remaining output difference.
For mine I set the neck pickup flush with pickguard, and bridge pickup up a bit, approx half the distance to strings. Both are tilted some to emphasize the E.
Bandcamp -- https://tomwright1.bandcamp.com/
Videos--YouTube
Sound Clips--SoundCloud
The viola is proof that man is not rational
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