Brentrup Stealth V8...MINE!!!

[Ken Olmstead]

AHHHHHHH!!! I’M GETTING A STEALTH!!

I am so excited I can hardly contain myself! Some of you know me as a Weber fan and I still like their mandolins, but the time has come for a hand-made instrument more representative of what I desire presently. (I have two point envy!) I have written a blog about my decision to let go of my Fern. It was to long to include here and hey, thats what blogs are for anyway right!

Why Hans? His reputation as a builder, sound clips, Mr. Fisher’s youtubes, speaking with Hans and hearing his F5R over the phone. His Stealth has both lap points of an F5 that I have become very appreciative of and are ingeniously incorporated into a beautiful, functional design. Also, his finger rest, which I desire for some of my banjo techniques, is incorporated as part of the instrument rather than looking like an after thought! His willingness to take risks and continually push his designs forward have impressed me for quite some time! Oh and these photos have tickled my imagination over the last few years!

[Ken Olmstead]

So what am I after?
Basically, I want a different color Stealth with the V6 Eclipse headstock and new sound enhancements! Hans liked the idea of putting the V6 headstock on the Stealth. My Stealth will have tapered ribs, forward sound holes and a red burst finish. Han’s has agreed to help me realize this vision! Here are some photos that I have used to visualize my new baby!

[Ken Olmstead]

Details, details!

The first thing I had to decide on was nut width, width at the 12th fret, radius or flat, neck profile and top and back woods. Oh man, talk about overload! Of course me being the non-builder type, I wanted to discuss color and finishes! Hans said not to worry about that just yet and get to work on the other stuff!

Not think about color?…yeah that’ll happen!!

However, I have decided on some of the neck items. I want a little more room on the board. My banjo style and chord melody stuff will be better facilitated if my big hands had a little more room. I discovered this on the Kentucky, the string spacing at the bridge is a bit wider than the Weber and the upper position of the neck feels quite roomy. The down side is that I need a wider swing on my right hand to tremolo double stops. Hopefully my technique will adapt and I am confident it will. The added room for the left hand should be worth the adjustment. So I will have 1 1/8th inch at the nut (1/16” wider than most mandolins including my Weber and Kentucky) and 1 1/2” at the 12th fret which I think is pretty standard.

Neck profile…I have no idea! I think I would like something between the Weber and a Gibson neck. I think with a little wider board I might like a slimmer neck. Well, turns out that Hans “standard” neck meets these basic conditions so I am going with that. His come with a slight “V” which is perfect again! One possibility is that I may travel to Minneapolis to meet Hans and catch a live show of Prairie Home Companion! He said if I do, we might be able to coordinate me getting to sit there while he custom shaves my neck! Now that is off the charts cool for me!!!

Radius vs. Flat: I love the radius neck on my Weber at the nut but have found that the flat board of the Kentucky suits me very well in the higher registers. Also, I like the flat bridge for cross-picking and some of my other “banjo” strokes. So, I inquired about the possibility of a compound radius board. Good news! Hans “standard” radius is ten inches at the nut and flattens to 16” by the time you hit the upper registers and then the bridge is flat! It could not be any more perfect for me…I knew I liked this guy!!

Just a little side note, Hans uses stainless steel frets which, I understand last quite a bit longer than regular frets. I am looking forward to that feature as well!!


Oh, did I mention it will be Red Burst!!

[F5GRun]

Congrat Man! I too see a Brentrup in my future...very very very distant future. Keep us posted as it goes along!

[Mandolusional]

Nice, congratulations on the decision, Hans is great to work with.

[Andrew B. Carlson]

Wow, this is quite the undertaking Ken. You're starting to sound like Gholum. Maybe the opposite since you want to sell your "precious" fern. That Stealth is gonna look like a WMD. It'll probably sound like one too. I would opt for the twin turbo package with the 6 speed and the heated leather seats. Maybe even a flux capacitor for time travel. I'm excited to see how this works out for you. I've been brooding about a Brentrup as well. I actually lay awake at night thinking about all the options I'd want. Plus he lives about an hour from my house. How long is he expecting this project to take? Maybe if I get back from Canada before it's done, I'll stop by and check it out.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Thanks for the info.Kenneth - we're probably all as excited as you are.You've gone for an amalgam of 2 of my favourite designs by Hans ie.the V6 headstock design & the 'Stealth' body,
Saska

[Rob Powell]

Congrats Ken!

As an FYI, Anthony Hannigan has a Gil and knows how to use it. I read somewhere Imaybe even here) that he met Hans recently and was blown away by his instruments. So, looks like you're in pretty good company. Besides, Hans is an all 'round pretty nice guy from what I can tell.

I'm currently struggling with Gibson envy...LOL.

[sgarrity]

Great choice of builder and mandolin. This is gonna be cool!

[JEStanek]

I'm not sure Ken is as enthused about this new project as he should be .

Congrats Ken. Also, as cool as Hans is for pushing the envelope on mandolin design and function, and he's way cool, without people willing to commision these innovative instruments he wouldn't be able to do as much. So thanks to both of you for pushing the evolution of the mandolin.

Jamie

[Timbofood]

I gotta find a new JOB! There are enough builders that really tweak my interest in owning more GOOD instruments that I could go broke over the course of several lifetimes!

[Chris Biorkman]

Wow, take deep breaths Ken. Sounds like a cool mandolin in the works.

[Michael Cameron]

The V6 headstock is a winner! Sort of reminds me of the Gibson Firebird's headstock (my VERY favorite electric guitar EVER!)

Ken,if you can get to the Twin City(?) Cities...while Hans shapes the neck that would be well worth the trip IMHO. I lived in Minnesota for a couple years and LOVED it. The fishing is GREAT wherever you go in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. That is awesome-beautiful country. (I hear Alaska is pretty nice too.)
Prairie Home Companion LIVE would be mighty tasty icing on your cake!
After about 15 years of playing mandolin,neck dimensions are my #1 concern in mandolin perfection.(set-ups/playability,tone,then finish,color etc.)
It's a bummer when you dial in all the things you want on an instrument only to find out the neck isn't right for you! I've done that(got the T-shirt...)
We are all envious of you! You will never regret your decision. I have admired Hans' instruments since I first saw one.
My only suggestion would be to keep the Fern if possible;but,I know how it is. You can't have everything...where would you keep it!?
That being said,I'd go for the Stealth and trip to Hans' if at all possible.
YES! I am excited for you! You deserve it!
Congrats!

[Michael Cameron]

Oh,don't forget to check out the O-45 while you're there.(?)

[THP]

Congrats. I am and still am blown away by Hans work. The tone he gets on a constant basis is just amazing to me. They are also just so effortless to play and the tone just comes out!
I met Hans last year and was lucky enough to try all the models, WOW is an under statement..I am hoping to have one in March and i wont let it out of my hands..ever..
Congrats once again!!
Anthony Hannigan
www.hickoryproject.com
www.musicmoose.org

[Michael Cameron]

Ken,I think stainless steel frets are better than regular fret-wire(lasts longer).
I've been reading about Jescar Gold (EVO) ? fret-wire;and,hear that it lasts even longer. I'd be happy with the stainless.

Looking forward to the pics of your Brentrup;sound clips too !

Carve on,Hans!

[Ivan Kelsall]

Re.the stainless steel frets - i recently visited a local luthier to try to get a problem with a Mandolin which i've since parted company with, & he showed me the SS fretwire that he uses on all his instrument (not the same gauge on all of course!). The stuff is as smooth as silk to the touch & he reckons that it can last up to 6 times longer than the normal 'german silver' fretwire - dependent on use. I know that when it comes to getting my Stelling Banjo and/or my Weber Fern re-fretted,that's the way i'm going to go. It is harder to use for the luthier,as it has a 'spring back' that takes more time to get it to fit & possibly pushes the cost of a re-fret job up,but that's off-set by lasting longer between re-frets. I mentioned this in an e-mail to Ken O. & he told me that Hans uses SS all the time - there ain't no flies on that guy !!,
Saska

[Ken Olmstead]

Thanks everyone! I am not sleeping well lately, not sure why!! So choosing wood was quite the chore! I had a full 45 min conversation with Hans on the phone about wood. The man is passionate about it and he takes it very seriously! I finally decided on Italian Spruce top and Red Maple back and sides. Here is the 10% that I retained:

If I was to chose Red Spruce and Sugar Maple, I would have the brightest sound with VERY strong trebles. I would also have that hollow sound from the loar camp that we all know and love.

If I choose Englemann Spruce with Big Leaf Maple, that would give me the fullest/darkest sound from the spruce/maple combo that is.

After Hans described each combination, it sounds as if the Italian Spuce will give me the full sound associated with Englemann but with stong bright trebles. In addition, Hans is very comfortable with Italian spuce and knows how to get what he wants out of it. To keep the trebles stong but round, the red maple back and sides was selected. Also he mentioned that he had some pretty red maple and I could have a one piece back! Done deal!!

Maybe he will chime in if I am wrong here but the man loves wood and the different sounds it makes!

Some starter pictures soon, I promise!

[Ivan Kelsall]

You'd better get some shuteye Ken or you'll be too tatered to play it when you get it !. Then you'll have to send it over to me to take care of it for you until you recover (LOL !) We share your delight Ken.You're a lucky guy to be able to own such a wonderful instrument as i'm sure it will be.
You've most definitely done the right thing. If you can afford it,buy it,play it & enjoy it. We only get one chance at this life & it's too short to be indecisive about - go for it !!,
Saska

[Hans]

Excited much Ken?
From all that Ken explained to me over the phone, sounded like we needed to do Italian/red maple. He wanted a fuller, richer tone than red spruce, and still wanted solid clear trebles.
Jamie has it right, if it wasn't for folks like Ken, some of us builders wouldn't be able to step out of the box. So, I really appreciate the chance to explore the design a bit more. It will be an interesting experiment to meld the two designs, and I believe we are going to use the V6 ss holes on the V8 box in addition to all the other mods Ken mentioned.
The only Stainless wire I have is the .040". The .056" and .068" wire I use is the regular stuff.
Anthony, your F5C is all ready to go! See ya in March.

[Ken Olmstead]

The sound holes were an interesting challange for me!

I really like the "dolphin" sound holes and I have to admit I resisted any change in this area but in order to move the holes forward the aesthetics will have to be adjusted.

Warning! Hendrix analogy! Hendrix was loved for his "hits" but he really wanted to move in a different direction in his last years. His public loved him for “Purple Haze,” "Hey Joe" and countless others. However, while Hendrix loved these songs, they were his past and he was ready to move in a different direction which the public resisted. This is very common in the artist/fan relationship. Not trying to cast Hans as Hendrix but my point is that I don’t want to be the fan that holds Hans back. I want a 2009 Brentrup!! I found myself clinging too hard to past designs, but I really want the lastest that Hans has to offer as an artist and a craftsman. It took a day to come around and realize that I was trying to hold Hans back and that is not what I want to do!!

After I came to me senses, I told Hans that it was totally builder's discretion. He may go with the “ss” holes from the Eclipse or he may develop something aesthetically unique to the Stealth. We will just have to wait and see! I know he is leaning toward the ss holes and that is fine with me as my mind now pictures that mandolin with that configuration!!

This "breaking the rules" is a blast but it does take some adjusting of my normal thinking patterns!

[Ken Olmstead]

We have lift off!!

[Ken Olmstead]

a few more...oooooo baby!!!

[Mark Walker]

Ken - been following this thread since you started it and haven't chimed in. I know what you're going through; I had the same feelings and discussions and so on when I had my custom mandolin crafted by Ken Ratcliff. Pictures sent to me during the crafting just made it harder and the anticipation greater!!

Sounds like you and Hans have a good rapport and excellent discussions going with regard to your Stealth V8! I've traded a few PM's with Hans (and keep threatening to visit him as he's only a couple states west of me - though there is that big lake in between us!) and he's first-class in communicating all the details on your custom-crafted instrument! Keep us posted with more info and pictures!

Congratulations!

[Shawn Gambrel]

Man thats a nice mandolin im looking forward to seeing some videos on youtube with it.