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Thread: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

  1. #126

    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Quote Originally Posted by allenhopkins View Post
    One of the many dumb decisions by Gibson over the years, was not patenting/trademarking the "F" silhouette -- which they surely could have done. How many gazillion F-models have been churned out by Asian factories in the years since, not to mention the US makers who made, and still make, F-model-shaped mandolins.

    I play mandolins of all shapes, ones that resemble guitars, oval-hole and f-hole "A's," flat-top Army-Navy and bouzoukis, bowl-backs, mandolas of different constructions, two-points, and of course F-styles. The latter do have a special appeal to me, in a way, because of their long association with bluegrass in general and Monroe in particular. I think the over-ornate design, a relic of late-Victorian esthetics, has a distinctiveness that transcends its acoustic irrelevance.

    But individual tastes and preferences are just that, and some people dislike things I like and vice versa. More power to them! My Mom used to say, "There's no accounting for tastes, as the old lady said when she kissed the cow." Where she got that, I dunno...
    Agree. I love everything there is to love about all things about musical instruments and I've fetishized over them in ways sacred and profane

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  3. #127
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Quote Originally Posted by catmandu2 View Post
    I'm on a variety of other instrument fora, and I couldn't say that I've noticed such preoccupation with a particular phenomenon such as this. The cosmetic feature of an instrument just doesn't evoke such vehemence on any other instrument, it seems.
    No kidding. Try joining a fiddle forum and start a discussion about whether that scroll at the end of the peg head is ridiculous and non-functional.

    The only thing that matters is if an instrument sounds good and plays well. After that, it's just personal aesthetic choices. In most styles of music, no one else cares what your instrument looks like anyway. They care about whether you can play it or not. I have never been kicked out of an Irish/Scottish trad session because I play a mandolin with the swirly bits.

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  5. #128

    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Quote Originally Posted by foldedpath View Post
    No kidding. Try joining a fiddle forum and start a discussion about whether that scroll at the end of the peg head is ridiculous and non-functional.
    I have so little knowledge re violins that I can't tell if this is a serious question or a sarcastic one. A quick search shows that there is at least some discussion on the subject (not really a fiddle forum though):

    http://blog.feinviolins.com/2013/04/why-scrolls.html
    https://www.violinorum.com/us/scroll/

    I just happened to be in a music store recently with a huge selection of violins and violas. Never noticed until then that the hooks they hang on are entirely dependent on the scroll. They are purty!
    "I play BG so that's what I can talk intelligently about." A line I loved and pirated from Mandoplumb

  6. #129
    Registered User red7flag's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    They F style was was what attracted me to the mandolin. Was sort of the attraction of the1800s buxomy ladies you find in old paintings. I find the F style has tone that is a bit fuller than a similarly appointed A style. That is a controversial conclusion, but is what I hear. I find some head dive with the F that is annoying, but correctable using the left hand. The A is what I love to play when playing folk, Irish, and fiddle tunes in general. I prefer oval holes with the a non raised fret board. This creates a great contrast to the grassy F style. I want and have both.
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  7. #130
    Moderator JEStanek's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    I'm willing to bet that if we presented people with 10 instruments built from the same woods by the same builder, same neck/body join, same soundholes with 5 being A shaped and 5 F shaped, no one would guess the shape on all 10. You don't HAVE to play an F style with F holes to play bluegrass (see Andy Statman's great works with an old A2Z), you don't have to play a Stradolin to play folk music. You'll get the best sound from a well set up instrument that inspires you to play.

    Play happy!

    Jamie
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  9. #131
    Registered User mtucker's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    I’ve never liked 4-door cars no matter how far you go back..they’ve always looked odd to me unless they were wagons.

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  11. #132
    Barn Cat Mandolins Bob Clark's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Quote Originally Posted by JEStanek View Post
    You'll get the best sound from a well set up instrument that inspires you to play.

    Play happy!

    Jamie
    To my mind, that is the whole answer right there. Jamie has nailed it. Choose the instrument that inspires you, make sure it is well set-up, play it with great joy. If it ceases to inspire you, choose again. Full stop. Unless you are trying to make a living playing, nobody else's opinion really matters. That is it in a nutshell.
    Purr more, hiss less. Barn Cat Mandolins Photo Album

  12. #133
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Mine a Lebeda gets little playing even before Covid caused the places to shut town..
    writing about music
    is like dancing,
    about architecture

  13. #134
    Registered User Nick Gellie's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Spot on Jamie Stanek. There is so much talk of wanting instruments with good tone on this forum. Having just got a Breedlove FF I support what you saying entirely. It might not have the colourful overtones of instruments costing 3-20 times more but I can do things on it I could not do on other mandolins. So I play the cr_p out of it as a result because of its setup. Same goes with the KO mandolin I have. Still looking for that OF.
    Nic Gellie

  14. #135
    Registered User Gunnar's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Quote Originally Posted by mtucker View Post
    I’ve never liked 4-door cars no matter how far you go back..they’ve always looked odd to me unless they were wagons.
    Very astute observation, wagons are always better than 4 door sedans. But 2 door hatchbacks also look strange
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  16. #136

    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Quote Originally Posted by mtucker View Post
    I’ve never liked 4-door cars no matter how far you go back..they’ve always looked odd to me unless they were wagons.
    You can still find the best of both worlds.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    "I play BG so that's what I can talk intelligently about." A line I loved and pirated from Mandoplumb

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  18. #137

    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    mtucker - I remember the days when a young dude-about-town wouldn't be caught dead in a 4-door anything. Way too "family"!
    That Pontiac in the pic is a car from my youth...

  19. #138
    two t's and one hyphen fatt-dad's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Quote Originally Posted by mtucker View Post
    I’ve never liked 4-door cars no matter how far you go back..they’ve always looked odd to me unless they were wagons.
    You'da loved my old Volvo! And, yes it drove to festivals back in the early '70s! I mean some mandolin content is needed!

    Click image for larger version. 

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    I also had an Opal wagon. Two doors!

    Then we started getting cars from in-law auto sales - the beginning of our 4-door sedan lives!

    The all got me to the jams; however!

    f-d
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  21. #139
    Registered User mtucker's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Quote Originally Posted by FLATROCK HILL View Post
    You can still find the best of both worlds.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Ah yes, my bud has a ‘56 Safari wagon, the rare cousin of the Chevy Nomad.

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  23. #140
    Registered User mtucker's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Nice Volvo F-D! Bet you’d like to have that little Swedish army knife today... My favorite Volvo’s of all time are the early 70’s P1800 sports car (remember The Saint?) and the 1800ES wagon, two of the most bitchin’ bespoke rides to ever export from Sweden.

    My ‘two-door’ 5 window! Long Beach harbor around the point to the left in the photo. Taken in June, better known around these here parts as, ‘June gloom’
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by mtucker; Oct-16-2020 at 5:27pm.

  24. #141
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    "All generalizations are false, including this one". - Mark Twain

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  26. #142
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Quote Originally Posted by fatt-dad View Post
    You'da loved my old Volvo! And, yes it drove to festivals back in the early '70s! I mean some mandolin content is needed!

    Click image for larger version. 

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    544! I really wanted a 122 but never had the cash for much. My dad finally gave me his huge 65 Olds Dynamic 88. Still, it got me to where I wanted to go.
    Jim

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  28. #143
    Registered User mtucker's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Garber View Post
    544! I really wanted a 122 but never had the cash for much. My dad finally gave me his huge 65 Olds Dynamic 88. Still, it got me to where I wanted to go.
    Yeah, but that Olds probably passed everything on the highway except the gas station! Lol’s. The earliest gas prices I can remember were 32 cents/ per gallon. Plus, the back seat in those babies was like your parents living room couch!

  29. #144

    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Three old Volvo guys on one thread! I started with a used 122S in 1965, my first car; drove it to the first "Story of Bluegrass" festival in Fincastle VA in 1966.
    Owned about 6 or 7 over the years, most of them wagons. Lived in Boston area 1969 - 1974.In Braintree, near Boston, was Goldie's junkyard, which for a Volvo guy was heaven - they had a huge number of them and you could go in with tools and pull parts off them yourself. Then you'd go to the yard guy, he'd look at what you had, and say "ah, gimme 25 bucks"! You could replace everything that wore out in one or two trips there and be all set for a couple of years. Heaven...
    My best friend there had a Volvo 210, arguably the coolest little wagon ever made.
    My first years in bluegrass were spent driving around in Volvos. (Not exactly mandolin content, but the contents of my Volvos usually included a mandolin!)
    I'll attempt to post a relevant photo, wish me luck.

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  31. #145

    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Click image for larger version. 

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  32. #146

    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Alas, it's sideways. But that's the back of my red '63 122S at the first bluegrass festival, Fincastle, VA, 1966

  33. #147
    Registered User mtucker's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Not to worry, when you open it it, it rights itself. Great pic and total BG content!

  34. #148
    Registered User mtucker's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Sorry for the double post.

  35. #149
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Count me in; I had a white 1965 Volvo 122 wagon when I was an undergrad! There was a fellow in Eugene who had a specialty "you pick" old Volvo junkyard. I'd put a dead brake drum in my backpack, get on my bike, and ride 30 miles from Corvallis, spend and hour or two picking parts, and then ride back home for another 30 miles all so I could save $25... That made a big difference to a broke student when pints were $2!
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  37. #150

    Default Re: I don't like F styles. Anyone else?

    Everything was simpler then. Not necessarily better!
    When you opened the hood of your Volvo, you knew what everything was, could usually see what was wrong (damn SU carbs, flimsy generator bracket).
    Bluegrass was surely simpler then as well - it hadn't turned into the hybrid that it is now. But that's a whole other thread...

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