Both these Red Diamonds got my attention.....

[sgrexa]

I listen to a lot of music on youtube while at work, and every so often, I hear a mandolin that makes me stop and say- What was that? I love how effortless the power seems to roll out of this one:



I believe Wendy Miller plays a Red Diamond Vintage 22 and it is killer. Here is another one that caught my attention last week and it also happened to be a Red Diamond! This A5 mandolin has it all IMO, great highs and lows up and down the fretboard:



While I save my pennies, maybe I can get someone to build me a replica of one of those replicas ?

Sean

[Misty Stanley-Jones]

I love the singer's voice in that first clip.

[mandobassman]

Thanks for that video with Wendy Miller, Sean. One of my all-time favorite mandolin players. His stuff with Lilly when they were with Larry Sparks is classic playing.

[Josh Levine]

I was looking hard at that Red Diamond A in the classifieds, even though I have no business buying another mando. However, I wonder what the tone would be like with the models that are not vintage voiced. I feel like the vintage voicing is what I would be after and I think that one just has the regular voicing.

[CES]

I had the absolute pleasure of playing Josh Pinkham's RD last year. It was one of the top two mandolins I've played in my life. My favorite so far was a Giacomel, followed very closely by the RD, and third is one of the Loars at Carter's. The Loar was spectacular, and I'd be thrilled to own it, but the other two had the tone and a more modern Fretboard feel. I was also really impressed with a Kimble I heard at a Town Mountain concert a couple years ago, but I didn't ask to play that one...so many awesome mandolins out there!

[Timbofood]

Wendy Miller was the first player who really encouraged me to play, what a great guy! One of my absolute favorites. Nicest people play mandolins!! I met him in 1975 at the "Stringbean" festival in Charlotte, MI. He was with Larry Sparks with Art Wydner on bass and Mike Lilly on banjo. Talk about a band with power! I asked Wendy about the "Windy Chimes" tuning and he took me on the bus and showed me all about it. A memory I will cherish forever.
Thanks for bringing his name around again, I don't hear /see it enough.
Where was that recorded?

[sgrexa]

Not sure where it was recorded, but I too really like the singer and just about everything about that group. The singer is Wendy's son Chris Miller and I will be looking into CDs featuring his voice. He is also a great mandolin player and tenor singer and can also be seen picking a Red Diamond. Here is a great Monroe song I never heard before, again that voice is great and this Red Diamond (wonder if it his dad's?) sounds nice and dry, wonderful stuff:



I must confess that I just inquired about that A5 in the classifieds and it is surprisingly still available. I would snatch it up in a heartbeat if I didn't have my crusher Nugget. It is lacquer and even though it isn't a "vintage" model my understanding is that these are simply built with an "average" of all the Loar specs he measured. Works for me. I think that one is priced very fairly.

Sean

[guitarpath]

Nothing beats a Red Diamond.

[jromano23]

Reluctantly, I just listed my Red Diamond Vintage A as I have a deposit on something else and need to move something to make it happen. It's as good as it gets and is one I will surely miss. Hopefully, someone will bite at the J45 I have listed so I can hang on to it!

[pheffernan]

I feel like the vintage voicing is what I would be after and I think that one just has the regular voicing.

Ask and ye shall receive http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/76902. Note: vintage voicing ain't cheap.

[Josh Levine]

Ya... That's out of my price range. I am sure it is a great time though.

[Timbofood]

Yep Sean, I'd guess that's Wendy's. Chris sounds quite a bit like his father back in the late 70's, I agree, sometimes it runs clearly from parent to child.
You have brought back some really fond memories with this! Thanks man.

[mandobassman]

Really enjoyed that video of Chris Miller. He's a great player but I noticed how different his technique is from his father's. He plants his thumb on the back of the neck, which is very difficult to do, if you haven't tried it. He didn't get that from his father. I have seen very few players, especially in Bluegrass, play this way.

[Misty Stanley-Jones]

Gosh what a good voice. And I was watching his fretting hand too. What's remarkable about the thumb behind the neck is that it's clear he's not using his left hand to hold any weight at all. It's almost like the thumb is lifted off the neck. Speaking of that, check out the banjo player. He's not using his thumb for anything either.

[mandobassman]

Eva Holbrook, from the band SHEL, also plays that way. she is amazing to watch.

[sgrexa]

Interesting about the thumb thing, I never noticed anyone playing like that before? If anyone has any recordings featuring Chris on vocals that they would recommend, please share. Thanks!

Sean

[FLATROCK HILL]

Interesting about the thumb thing, I never noticed anyone playing like that before?
Sean

Having had exactly zero formal mandolin lessons, I can't comment on what is right or wrong about that technique.
I was under the impression though, that the 'thumb-behind-the-neck' technique is something that those transitioning from (classical?) guitar to mandolin tend to use. I have heard that mandolin teachers try to break their students of that habit.
Wondering what others think.?.
In any case, it certainly works well for Chris Miller.

Excellent voice and fine picking on sweet sounding R.D. on a great Monroe song!

[sgrexa]

County Sales has Melvin Goins' "Dancin' in the Dirt" but that looks like it features John Rigsby:

http://www.countysales.com/products....In-The-Dirt%27

Not a lot of readily available info on recordings by Mr. Miller.

Sean

[John Gardinsky]

I am the current owner of the Vintage 22 in the 2nd video. I bought it after Larry passed (playing it in this video) He was a creative picker and it is a heckuva mandolin.

[mandobassman]

Having had exactly zero formal mandolin lessons, I can't comment on what is right or wrong about that technique.
I was under the impression though, that the 'thumb-behind-the-neck' technique is something that those transitioning from (classical?) guitar to mandolin tend to use. I have heard that mandolin teachers try to break their students of that habit.
Wondering what others think.?
In any case, it certainly works well for Chris Miller.

I don't think there is anything necessarily right or wrong about it. It comes down to whatever works for the individual. I've seen plenty of Classical guitarists play this way, but seldom mandolinists. The only other player I have seen play that way is Eva Holbrook, as seen in this video. What's interesting to me is that one would think that Chris Miller learned much from his Dad, but where did he learn that left hand technique?

As far as the RD's are concerned, Those in the videos sound great, although the first RD I ever heard was not that impressive to me. It is the one that Don Rigsby played with Longview. To me it sounded rather average. However, when Rigsby played with Rock County, he played a white oval-hole Red Diamond that sounded far better than his Red Diamond F-model, IMO. Here is a photo of it.

[Josh Levine]

Well... Looks like I am about to be the proud owner of Red Diamond #159. Hopefully I can hold off the beast that is MAS for a while after this purchase...

[sgarrity]

You snagged a good one!

[sgrexa]

Nice JW, I knew that one wouldn't last long. Please give us a full report when it arrives!

Sean

[pheffernan]

Congratulations! There's nothing like the cost of vintage to bring you back to the base model. I might well have inquired about it had I not been moving on a different A5. I've even been looking at the Red Diamond A4 at Cotten: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...6684778&type=1. But my next oval is more likely to be something from Black or Bussman, like the beautiful Old Wave that just hit the classifieds: http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/76949.

[Josh Levine]

Thanks ya'll. Arrives tomorrow. Then we will really see what its worth. That Old Wave is gorgeous was checking that out last night.