My New A-Style Pomeroy...

[Tobey57Tobias]

Hello,
I'm new to Mandolin Cafe and just received an A-Style Oval Hole Mandolin (#258) from Don Paine, the best little kept mandolin maker secret in the mountains of Colorado. I have seen threads here of folks talking up Pomeroy Mandolins, but overall, they aren't known well enough as they should be.
Mine is made of red maple figured back and sides, and I believe it has an Engelmann top and a three-piece laminate neck for stability. I love the Chocolatey brown in oil varnish finish, which is a very time-consuming proposition, but well worth the effort.

I have been playing mandolin a very long time but wouldn't consider myself to be a great player, or even in possession of expert knowledge of mandolins.
I can say that the Pomeroy I received is something to sing Hosannas about from the top of the Rockies.
While I lived in Nashville in 2004 for one year, I frequented stores like Gruhn Guitars and Cotton Music. The staff grudgingly allowed me to play a lot of the instruments there so I got to play mandolins like Gilchrist, Ellis, and very old Gibsons. Of course, the staff was right next to me the whole time...
There was a certain feeling of excitement I got playing those mandolins. It wasn't just the status, but it was the way it felt to play them and the sound that came out of them that was extraordinary.
While my new Pomeroy cannot exactly be likened to those others, I can say that when I first played my #258, that excited feeling and butterflies in the belly hit me just like the others mentioned.
The bonus is that, with such a fabulous mandolin in all ways, the price is unbelievably affordable.
There's no which-a-way about it, Don Paine has been creating some wonderful instruments in the mountains of Colorado but without much fanfare.
If anyone is interested in a quality, lifetime mandolin, it would be a good idea to check his mandolins out.

[Billy Packard]

Great letter, Toby! Your enthusiasm is contagious while so many here loose track of what you have your finger on - love and excitement for your mandolin. That is going to inspire you more than anything else.

Billy

billypackardmandolin.com

[John Rosett]

I've only had the opportunity to play one Pomeroy mandolin, and it was an A style oval hole. I've been playing teens Gibsons for many years, and that Pomeroy really blew me away. If I was in the market for a new mandolin, Pomeroy would be the first builder that I'd contact.

[Tobey57Tobias]

Thanks fellas for the comments.
Hope you took no offense using the Gilchrist name so casually, Billy.
Onward

[lflngpicker]

Pomeroy is a great mandolin! May it perform well for you for many years to come!

[John Soper]

Pictures and sound clip would be appreciated. Can't believe it if we can't see it!

[V70416]

Tobey,thanks for posting to the Cafe. Certainly inspirational. Don't we all,highly,value that precious commodity. Inspiration!

Seems pretty clear that you have connected with a Mando that speaks to you; and,you have conversed with
a goodly variety of the species.

Enjoyed reading a leg of your Mando-journey. Long may you run.

I detected no blasphemy in your comments of other makers. If you've ever had the pleasure to meet Steve Gilchrist then
you know that he would certainly take no offense either.