Weber bighorn mandolin (2 point)

[Barb Friedland]

Just noticed this one on Ebay. Can't tell the year but there is a nice looking Weber Bighorn Mandolin and it's up for a couple of more days...
Look here: <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Weber-Sound-to-Earth-Bighorn-2-Point-Mandolin_W0QQitemZ140248882958QQihZ004QQcategoryZ1 017
9QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">Weber Bighorn Mandolin</a>

[Sean Greer]

The serial number is 4154906, so I think that corresponds to June, 2004.

It's a nice looking mando to be sure, but if I had that coin laying around I'd be tempted to get a Clark 2-point.

[Barb Friedland]

Hey ChicoBluegrassFan,
I see you are courting a Weber Vintage A. Nice idea!

[Sean Greer]

Hey ChicoBluegrassFan,
I see you are courting a Weber Vintage A. Nice idea!

I have an oval hole Weber F that I enjoy quite a bit, but it's on loan to a friend and therefore there's room for an oval in my stable. I'm seriously considering an oval from Clark, but I want to play one first. Anybody know of a NorCal music shop that would have a Clark?

[Barb Friedland]

I'm seriously considering an oval from Clark

I have been seriously thinking about either a Clark or BRW oval for a long time...

[Kevin Briggs]

Shoot, you can't go wrong with a Weber OR a BRW. I'm on my second Weber, and the 2007 BRW F style I played recently is fantastic.

Back when I was shopping for a two-point, I was inches away from pulling the trigger on a Bighorn when I decided to go with an independent builder because the price was less. It was a only a few hundred dollars, but I was eager and I had been saving for a long time, so it was a big deal to me.

I'll tell you that the two-point I ended up with was fine, but it was not in the class of the Webers I've played. I know there have been varying opinions about Webers, not so much in the past year, but the experience I had with my maple/gold Bitteroot and am now having with my custom Fern tell me that Webers are top of the line. Critics are usually people who go play one that's been in a store for a while, never had a string change, gets played once a month, etc. Owners usually have praise for their Webers.

That said... the Bighorn is created to be in the same class as their Fern models. Even naysayers give the Fern it's proper respect as a cadillac mandolin. So, if the Bighorn is anything like a Fern, it's typically going to be a doozy.