Easier to scratch the top of a mandolin with a "flush" fingerboard, rather than the Lloyd Loar's raised fingerboard -- fer shur.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
From this tread, Paul Hostetter recounted:
Most advanced players I know have gone full circle on this, from getting rid of them for one reason or another, to going back. No one made the case better than David Grisman a couple of summers ago at the Symposium. Andy Statman was onstage taking some flak for the condition of his old A-2Z.
He said his old teacher David Grisman had persuaded him to get rid of the guard when he bought it (it was in pristine condition at the time), and this was the result. Grisman was sitting ten feet away, dying a thousand deaths, and partly by example (he always has a guard on his mandolin) and partly in self defense said if he'd only known then what he knows now, he'd never have gone that route nor would he have recommended it to anyone else.
Oh my! Never mind yer 20/20 hindsight. That's some 20/10 stuff right there.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
I just had a long talk with Andy and I now stand corrected on an earlier post of mine...
Andy's father did not buy him his original Loar F5... Andy bought it with his own money in the mid-1960's for around $600. He sold that mandolin in the late 1960's for around $1,200 and then used that money to buy a Selmer tenor saxophone, a stereo and travels in Turkey, Greece, Italy and Spain. He was completely detached from mandolin playing at that point and was totally immersed in playing "free music" on his saxophone. He bought himself a Harmony A model later on and it was the mandolin he was playing when he was first hired by David Bromberg to play mandolin and sax in his band. He purchased his A2- in absolutely MINT condition probably around 1973-1974 and played and recorded with that mandolin for over 40 years.
So there ya go... that's the story!
Thanks a lot. That makes perfect sense to me. Also note that he doubled his money on that original Loar.
I should think travels in Turkey, Greece, Italy and Spain probably had an influence on his musical thinking (maybe learning about modal music etc) and indeed would have been fairly unusual for a young American lad at the time.
Oh, and he did get a stereo, but a lot more besides.
I'm really pleased to hear this fuller account of what happened. Thank you for this - very much, actually.
David A. Gordon
I'll second that "thanks" and add, I've no idea how Dagger managed to keep his tongue so firmly planted in cheek that he did not punctuate his first sentence with an emoji like or or . That 's one fine bit of comedy writing right there.
The real hero of the story is that A-2- regardless of how it looks. The damage it's sustained is a side effect of producing so much good music it's hard to truly account for it all. That serves as a visual reminder of the auditory glory produced over that long period of time. It's a sort of musical collateral damage. The instrument's value is that much more increased than diminished as a result.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
99 out of 100 MandolinCafe members, and 100% of doctors, agree that Andy Statman is a mensch.
A few years ago I was at a low key dual Bluegrass/Klezmer workshop with Andy (in Virginia) and he needed some better coffee. Badly. I jogged a few blocks to get him a decent cup and when I gave it to him said "I just did that so I can tell people "oh yeah, I got Andy Statman's Coffee back in the day...". He was of course most gracious
So, now yah know, I'm telling...
Definitely a MacArthur Genius from before that was a thing.
Last edited by Gan Ainm; Jul-22-2021 at 9:49am.
Gan Ainm
AKA Colin, Athens GA and Nelson Co. VA when I can
Ha ha ha! How long ago was this, and have you been sitting on that all the while? I hope not! Or have you told it now and then? Well, at least around here, it's a good bet that more folks will "get it" here than in many other contexts.
Sometime anecdotes languish due to lack of appropriate audience or context. The story is still good, but the telling of it seems a waste of time if the listeners won't fully appreciate it. Like my Eric Weissberg story, which I really enjoy but rarely tell, because most people don't know who he was; that familiarity is crucial to the enjoyment of the story. I took the time to tell it in full when he passed and people were paying tribute. People can go to that thread and read it if they're interested.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
About 10 years ago. Yeah, just sitting on it. UVA had (has?) a chair of the music dept. who was an excellent BG fiddler and ran a little BG teaching circle fortuitously across the street where I worked and timed to let me get there. (Hammered me to get that bluegrass chop RIGHT-still workin' on it, Rich!) Simultaneously a Klezmer Clarinet virtuoso faculty was running a student/community teaching Klez band (which I also participated in) and they got together and hooked Andy for a concert and workshops for both. Great times indeed. But the morning workshop was in a drab isolated classroom, and when the call for good coffee came from Andy, what could a guy do but "man-dolin up" dig down deep, "come to play" and run for the coffee, and a piece of glorious mandolin history! That satisfied "Ahhh... " as he took the first sip sent shivers down my spine. I am sure he tells the same story as one of the great moments in his music career....
Gan Ainm
AKA Colin, Athens GA and Nelson Co. VA when I can
Don't know about Andy, but my tremelo is much better after some espresso!
I'm SO sure! He probably prefaces it by saying, "You'll never believe this. But one time I was running a workshop in ... somewhere down South, I don't know where, in the boondocks. And by some miracle there happened to be one kind soul who knew what good coffee was and could find it in that hinterland. And all was well after that." Something like that.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
I just got off a FaceTime call with Andy as he wanted me to check a few things out, visually, on his new acquisition. Will probably need some new frets and perhaps a new pearl nut later on this Fall. But in the meantime he's playing it like crazy and guess what? This is a great sounding mandolin! This one has definitely got "the sound"...
Purr more, hiss less. Barn Cat Mandolins Photo Album
Listen to that Andy's new beauty in action ;-)
https://www.facebook.com/larry.eagle...8622468557441/
Couldn't agree more. To me, one of the most powerful players that ever lived. Like Monroe, only different
Where did he get it from?
First post states from Larry Wexer. If you scroll back, Glassweb (Adam) goes through a bit of its history.
"your posts ... very VERY opinionated ...basing your opinion/recommendations ... pot calling ...kettle... black...sarcasm...comment ...unwarranted...unnecessary...."
Looking at his playing style, he'll have the top finish worn away in no time.
2021 The Loar LM700 VS
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