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Thread: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

  1. #1

    Default Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Byron Berline's Double Stop Fiddle shop is burning to the ground as I write this. An Oklahoma landmark in the historic town of Guthrie, it would have had Webers, Collings, Gibsons (in mandolins, not to mention fiddles and other musical instruments) on the walls. A great loss to the music community, to Guthrie, and to Byron.

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  3. #2
    Registered User William Smith's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    OH man that sucks BAD!

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    Purveyor of Sunshine sgarrity's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    My parents live in Guthrie and just texted me the news. So incredibly sad. Byron gave me my first mandolin lesson there. Watched countless shows upstairs. The amount of bluegrass history lost is hard to think about. Thinking of Byron and his family. Hopefully everyone is safe.

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    Registered User Bob Buckingham's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    This is so sad! no other words.

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    ************** Caleb's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Unbelievably sad. I follow him on Instagram and it looks like such a neat place.
    ...

  8. #6
    Registered User Eric Hanson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    So sad. all that is lost is just terrible.
    Eric Hanson
    Click #016/ Born on 2/29/08 - Sold to the next Conservator of this great mandolin!
    The search has ceased! (At least for now)
    Collings A-Style
    White #29R : Oh my!! This one is so AWESOME!!

  9. #7
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    This is such sad news. I watched some great shows by amazing musicians there. It was there that I played my first Loar which Byron so graciously allowed me to play.
    It doesn't matter . . . I'm going to WINFIELD!!!!!

  10. #8
    Registered User John Soper's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Sad, Sad news indeed. I never visited his shop, but photos and film online looked like it was one of those special places. And Byron is a national treasure.

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  12. #9
    NY Naturalist BradKlein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Terrible news. Beyond the possibilities of personal injury and financial harm, there is the very real chance that numbers of historically important instruments may have been lost. So sorry for Byron, who I had the pleasure of meeting while doing photography for Andy Statman.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by BradKlein; Feb-24-2019 at 10:44am.
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    Registered User Jim Roberts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire


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    Registered User Steve Sorensen's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Heart breaking.
    Steve
    Steve Sorensen
    Sorensen Mandolin & Guitar Co.
    www.sorensenstrings.com

  17. #12
    Administrator Mandolin Cafe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Uninsured is what we were told by a close friend.

  18. #13
    Registered User Timbofood's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Oh no, how sad for the entire mandolin community!
    Timothy F. Lewis
    "If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett

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    Ursus Mandolinus Fretbear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Quote Originally Posted by Mandolin Cafe View Post
    Uninsured is what we were told by a close friend.
    I seem to remember Byron being a Loar owner;
    Wonder if the fire got it.
    But Amsterdam was always good for grieving
    And London never fails to leave me blue
    And Paris never was my kinda town
    So I walked around with the Ft. Worth Blues

  20. #15
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Quote Originally Posted by Mandolin Cafe View Post
    Uninsured is what we were told by a close friend.
    That's a shame.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
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  21. #16
    Registered User JAK's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Just read and got info from "Bluegrass Today" that one person was in the shop at the time of the fire, he grabbed Bryon's playing fiddle and mandolin, "and that's it." I've read Byron had 200-300 fiddles, in addition to mandolins and guitars. It's hard to believe he wouldn't have had musical instrument insurance.
    John A. Karsemeyer

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    Full Grown and Cussin' brunello97's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Quote Originally Posted by JAK View Post
    ....It's hard to believe he wouldn't have had musical instrument insurance.
    Agreed. Something very strange--or tragic--about this....

    Mick
    Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.--Samuel Beckett
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    Lurkist dhergert's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    I'm sure the store itself had some form of insurance, but insuring every instrument in the house is a pretty technically and financially daunting task, especially for a brick-and-mortar store in today's retail environment.

    I often wonder how many casual musicians (like myself) who have more than 10 instruments in the house have each of them insured for their value...

    My youngest son used to refer to our instruments as "future firewood". While a joke, it sort of helps put things into perspective. The most valuable items at Double Stop were saved -- those being the people who played and worked on the instruments.
    Last edited by dhergert; Feb-25-2019 at 10:29am.
    -- Don

    "Music: A minor auditory irritation occasionally characterized as pleasant."
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  26. #19

    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Sad news indeed. A quick look at his web site looks like he had some terrific instruments.

  27. #20
    Registered User Mark Seale's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    This is truly a major loss in the music world. The place was a treasure trove of instruments and memories. I'm incredibly saddened to hear this news, and I cannot imagine the impact to Byron and his family.

  28. #21
    Registered User Mark Seale's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Quote Originally Posted by Mandolin Cafe View Post
    Uninsured is what we were told by a close friend.
    That leaves me speechless. I know some who don't insure because "once an instrument is lost, its lost and money won't replace it," but he had his own and others' instruments in care (consignments, etc.) I hope that isn't the case.

  29. #22

    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Just saw video on FB. The Loar survived.

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    Administrator Mandolin Cafe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Hang on to your hats for this bit of news. What I'm told is Byron and his crew are going to post and confirm this on the web as well, where I don't know but I'd guess on Facebook:

    Byron's Loar was in a safe on the second floor of the building. By the time the fire was out the safe was in the basement with most of the rest of the building, under several feet of water totally submerged. They talked the fire department into pumping the basement dry from the water used to put out the fire. The safe was opened, everything in the safe was totally wet and ruined, but the Loar was in a --removed, but does it really matter? No one reads anyway--, always said to be waterproof. They opened the case, the mandolin was dry and still in tune.

    That's the story as it was told to me just on the phone with Jim Triggs a few minutes. Jim is a close friend of Byron's, said Byron was crying when he pulled it out of the case and saw it was undamaged. This information literally came to me just now in this fashion. I'd say that's pretty damn good news as part of an otherwise tragic story.

    EDIT: the video, click the image to start:

    [fbv]639243019842336[/fbv]
    Last edited by Mandolin Cafe; Feb-27-2019 at 11:59am.

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  33. #24
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    That....is....amazing!?

    Wow.
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

  34. #25
    Registered User seankeegan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Double Stop Fiddle Shop Lost to Fire

    Wow.

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