Any recent sightings of a Schmergel?

[Jess L.]

Congratulations! You lead an interesting, fulfilling life, and avoid cable news.

Hmm. Well, I don't watch TV anymore, haven't for years, so there's that. We do have a TV here in the house but it's for my man who wouldn't watch news if you paid him to - his primary interests are car racing, car fixing & customization, boxing and karate matches, old westerns, alien conspiracy shows, historical documentaries about various things such as wars & technology & disease research & CIA conspiracy theories etc, and so forth. Not current news though. And certainly no theatre movies or films, neither of us are into those.

In the 1970s and 1980s I was a total AM radio news junkie, listened to news broadcasts constantly, then later got hooked on C-SPAN, but got burnt out on it after realizing that nothing ever changes, only the names change but the stories stay about the same.

These days I scan through news headlines on the phone if I wake up with insomnia, but I generally don't bother reading the "same ol', same ol'" stuff. Nothing I can do about most of that stuff anyway.

The only news articles that are of any real interest to me are topics about computer security. That's been my area of interest for many years now, although it's not something that non-smart non-experts such as myself ever truly 'master' because it's a moving target, the game is always changing. Quite fascinating trying to keep up with it though.

Anyway, if no one's going to tell me what that phrase means, fine, it must not be anything important then.

[Jess L.]

... if no one's going to tell me what that phrase means, ...

Oops, nevermind...

Someone was kind enough to send me a PM explaining things (thank you!) and so now I understand the context and reasoning.

So, it's all good, and now back to Schmergels!

[Russ Donahue]

You guys...

First, it's Shmergel. No "c," as pointed out above.

Second, you don't get Shmergel "sightings." You get "adorations."

Third, none of the tiny, close-knit fraternity/sorority of Shmergel Devastator owners, would be foolish enough to admit ownership publicly, much less bring the ultimate mandolin out into general view, where it might be exposed to the elements, jostling from hoi polloi, and other risks. When you have the real Holy Grail of plectral music, you guard it jealously, protecting it from the vicissitudes of actual musical performance. The guy busking in the subway doesn't bring his Stradivarius, now does he?

Keep hoping, fellas, but don't expect to see or hear one in your lifetime. There are an impossibly small number of real Shmergels anyway; Gibson Lloyd Loar F-5's are commonplace by comparison. Closest I've come is meeting a guy who knew a guy whose cousin thought he'd heard that some other guy had seen part of one once. Frustrating, but it's hard to approach dazzling pure mandolin perfection, without a stepladder and sunglasses. Keep hoping.

Aaaah, damn! Busted!
Gotta get up early to pull one over on Allen.

[CES]

Shmergels, like the ninja, are trained to remain invisible to the naked eye at all times. Training begins in the white, iirc...

[CarlM]

Has anyone ever heard any rumors of Shmergel making other instruments? Supposedly there may be a couple of Mandocellos and rumors of a prototype Harp Guitar out there.

[HonketyHank]

Here you go: https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...ery-Instrument

[pheffernan]

We know these are rare, but are they so rare as to go almost a year between sightings?

Sightings? As if one could look directly at a Shmergel Devastator . . .

[Russ Donahue]

This has been jolly good fun, and clearly nobody has seen either a Schmergel or a Shmergel, though the lead on Thile's instrument is intriguing. For years this site has chased after the ever elusive instrument, with special attention lavished on the Devastator model:

https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...83380-Shmergel

https://memegenerator.net/instance/6...gel-devastator

Where has our sense of the adventure in a hunt gone?[ATTACH=CONFIG]164397

[/ATTACH]

[Russ Donahue]

To my horror I have discovered:

http://shmergelinstruments.webs.com/

[Marty Jacobson]

I was able to talk to someone in the know, and I found it interesting that the air chamber of these is tuned to E + 17.5 cents (666hz).

[Dave Sheets]

What about the rumors of Shmergel home products? Dare we whisper rumors of the Shmergel Carbonator Toast-master?

[T.D.Nydn]

Also rumors of a single A type model,dubbed the "Dominator"..

[HonketyHank]

Also rumors of a single A type model,dubbed the "Dominator"..

No. The Dominator is a no-frills F model. The no-frills A model is the "Dominatrix".

[Beanzy]

Pah!
As if there could be anything other than the one and only Shmergel Dominator.
This isn’t some fly by night churn em out or have a whole range to fulfil a market need thing here.
This is the pinnacle of inaccessibility in mandolins, they’re never going to dilute the brand with those fakes.

[pheffernan]

This isn’t some fly by night churn em out or have a whole range to fulfil a market need thing here. This is the pinnacle of inaccessibility in mandolins, they’re never going to dilute the brand with those fakes.

What have we here?



https://bernunzio.com/product/dictator-24242/

[Br1ck]

Considering that the possession of one is illegal in thirteen countries, it is no wonder their owners are skittish about owning one. And since the only way you'll ever come into possession of one is by the death of an owner and then being vetted by no less than three possessors, one can only wait to be a chosen one.

[Bertram Henze]

Well, there is a builder who doesn't need to send cease-and-desist letters to copycats. Copying is just not possible.

[MikeEdgerton]

Somebody ought to post that picture in the Strad-O-Lin social group.

[rcc56]

A fellow at the local jam session said he had recently spotted a Shmergel at a pawn shop in Bucksnort, TN, but the Shmergel sighter had imbibed a large quantity of Smirnoff, so we have questions about the reliability of his Shmergel sighting.

It has also been reported that a Bjorcek Bayoneteer was seen at the last Philly guitar show, but those reports have not been confirmed.

[EvanElk]

Just picked up this Shmergel mandobass (pronouced Shmoy-gul) on Craigslist. Came with a letter of authenticity from Gruhn.

[zookster]

I believe that is a copy of the Jerry Garcia model. It has a tuner built into the left gill.