Also worth noting: the Sobells and similar are most popular in the north of the UK and in Scotland. They also made it quite big to the USA, though they are less commonly seen in Irish sessions in London/Ireland that I have experienced. "Celtic" as referenced in the original post refers mostly to Scottish & English players it seems!
Dagger & Kevin do wonderful work with their Sobells. Kevin's I have played myself and can quickly confirm it is a lovely instrument.
Some well-known players and what I know of their gear:
Andy Irvine has recorded many things on various Gibson a models, also on Sobell citterns & guitars
Gerald Trimble recorded his Green linnet CDs on 2 different Sobell Citterns (one long & one short scale), eventually played a monteleone 10-string, and later moved to playing primarily viola de gamba and other similar violin-family instruments.
Roger Landes recorded Dragon Reels with a variety of Stephen Owsley Smith Instruments
Zan McLeod has a Steve Owsley Smith octave mandolin
Seamus Egan of Solas has played a large variety of mandolins. One album cover shows a 3-point f4.
Phil Cunningham frequently plays a Sobell OM tuned like the top 4 strings of a guitar
Brian McDonagh of Dervish used Gibson H1 & H2 mandolas for years. Michael plays Phil Crump flat-top bouzoukis
Mick Maloney recorded several of his disks on an older Orville Label A model
Paul Kotapish had a very nice-sounding Flatiron f-hole model in "Open House", and later a very nice F5 on "Wake the Dead" recordings
Marla Fibish of the SF Bay Area has a Gibson A
Terry Woods of the Pogues plays a very early (the first?) Stephen Owsley Smith mandolin, used Sobell bouzoukis circa "If I Should Fall From Grace With God", and now has various electrics by a builder I am not familiar with
Alec Finn of DeDannan used mostly a greek 3-course bouzouki. A gibson mandocello appears on "Star Spangled Molly"
Tim O'Brien played a very early nugget f-holed A-model for years, recently has used a nugget/collings Tim O'Brien model
Also.. this is a good thread on similar subject from last year
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ndolin-Playing
And one last random bit of blather.. Vega Cylinderback mandolins are often great trad instruments. They have the systain and clarity, but are more on the bassy side than the brighter ringing Sobells.
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