Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Yep, it says that it has been restored, including a new bridge and a fret dressing. If I had the money and the time right now, I'd travel there and get it. Not too far away from Austria...
Two Embergers 5bis on ebay (NFI)
https://www.ebay.de/itm/Mandoline-vo...6/202794102820
https://www.ebay.de/itm/Concert-Mand...1/264354699362
I've had my eye on this Rafaele Tieri for a long time on Lowell Levenger's site. I've always been reluctant to purchase it because it has some cracked ribs. However after playing it during an approval period I was convinced it was the bowl back for me. Beautiful tone, workmanship and the cracked ribs are very stable (they actually help me keep it upright on my lap when I play it). It did not come with a case, and it has been difficult finding anything that fits. It's 9" at its widest and all cases so far are 8". Any ideas? It deserves a good case.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
I've made a post about this in a different section of the forum, but I decided to take my chances here as well:
I bought a used Suzuki bowlback last week from a guy that claims he got it as a gift but doesn't play it. It looks quite new and hardly played and to my amateur ears sounds and plays quite well. All in all I'm very happy with my purchase, but I am wondering about the instruments background.
The model is Suzuki MR-300 and for the life of me, I can't find any information about it online. Do any of you know anything more (when it could have been built, which kind of wood, ...?).
Here are some pics:
I think Suzuki have been building fairly similar looking mandolins for a very long time. None of them are valuable, some of them do sound perfectly reasonable, but some of the older ones have rather bendy necks. Yours looks in rather minty condition, so I would just enjoy it for what it is and pick the heck out of it I would assume it to be a fairly new build (by which I mean the last 30 years or so), beyond that, who knows? !
Valbert: I had one of those "hole-in-the-head" Calaces a few years ago. A very nice mandolin. Congratulations on your new one.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Nice!
Valbert, where did you find such a beautiful instrument? I don’t see the crack, it must be a hairline.
Thanks! I found it in an online ad, and luckily it was just a two hour train ride away
The crack is right underneath the g string. It actually goes all the way from the tailpiece to the bridge.
Now I see it. The beveling of the fretboard extension is very attractive. Congratulations!
Quite lovely, Valbert.
Hello -
I posted some questions about an Embergher orchestra 2 on the Vintage Mandolins forum - if anyone on this thread has some familiarity with them, could you possibly help with my questions please? Thank you.
Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.--Samuel Beckett
______________________
'05 Cuisinart Toaster
'93 Chuck Taylor lowtops
'12 Stetson Open Road
'06 Bialetti expresso maker
'14 Irish Linen Ramon Puig
Got the crack fixed now on my 1923 Calace. Here's another pic Sound-wise, this one's quite different to my other Calace. Definitely brighter (maybe cause of the bridge material), more sustain, a little less bass. Still needs to be played in, it has been resting in its case for many decades and has never been played.
Valbert, what strings do you have on your Calaces?
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Right now I have the Thomastik medium strings on them. They've been on the first Calace I bought for many years as I was told, and they didn't seem to have harmed the instrument at all. Compared to my other Bowlbacks, the Calace mandolins seem to be built a lot sturdier. I'm still closely observing if they have any negative effect on the instruments. I did some research and I have also tried the Dogal Calace strings, but for my taste they were too bright, not that well-balanced and didn't stay in tune like the Thomastik strings. Plus, they corroded really quickly. The Thomastiks seem to last very long, so the higher price doesn't really bother me.
It is certainly a matter of taste but I prefer the bright sound of roundwound strings and prefer them on bowlbacks. I only use Thomastiks on my Lyon & Healy. Personally I would go for the lighter gauge for the Thomastiks even on Calaces. I don't recall the vintage ones being heavier built. The modern ones seem to be sturdier, at least the ones I have played.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
The corrosion issue is weird, not what I'd expect of carbon steel. I use Dogal's "Calace" brand steel pretty exclusively on Neapolitan-type mandolins. Mine can see heavy use for more than a year and not corrode. They start weird, twangy, perhaps a little imbalanced, but I think the play in pretty quickly and then maintain tuning and balance quite well. I do recognize that each player and instrument is to some degree different.
I do know that some people have corrosive sweat on their hands and there is little you can do about it except wipe your hands and the strings. I, too, have never had that problem with the Dogal Calace strings either.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Yeah, I do have very aggressive hand sweat. But perhaps I wasn't very specific before: it's mostly an issue with the plain a and e strings - even if I clean them thoroughly before and after playing, they just turn black and sound dead after just one or two weeks. It's the same with all my guitar strings (except the coated Elixirs). With the mandolin Thomastiks, what I also forgot to mention, is that I use Hannabach e strings instead of the Thomastiks from the set, as recommended by Caterina Lichtenberg. I don't know why, but even after a lot of playing, the Hannabach plain e strings stay clean and shiny (they've been on my Calace for about 5 months now). Maybe they have some anti-rust coating as well.
I'll probably experiment with other string sets again, and maybe also try the Dogal Calaces one more time.
Anyway, getting back to topic, there's a 1891 Vinaccia for sale in in Germany:
https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-...883955-74-3194
That Vinaccia is erroneously mentioned as Raffaele. I think seller misread Fratelli. Also it is pickup only on Germany.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Valbert: I wonder if stainless steel strings help with the corrosive sweat problem or if there is some sort of hand lotion that will counteract the effect. I am sure you have looked into it. Just curious.
I did find this medical article. Of note:
Sounds like phosphor bronze or brass strings would corrode less and the article also mentions frequent hand washing.Of the two types of metal studied. corrosion was much more severe on the type having the lowest concentration of copper, thus confirming that increasing copper concentrations have a positive effect in reducing corrosion rates.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
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