Hampton Roads VA. 2009 Mandotasting II

[jim_n_virginia]

I've contacted Jim, but I'll mention that I'm planning to show up, too. Newby that I am and all. With my two mandolins. Bought a low-$ but very workable 3-legged stand just for the occasion. Well, it's really for me and my family at home, but it should work in Norfoik, too.

And there will be a few extra empty stands there too if anyone doesn't have one. No need to go buy one if you don't have or use one!

[gonzograss]

Will be there w/ the new Bryce 2-point, the old Givens A, and the Hutto. The Hamlett's on loan to my son in WV. Would like to have brought it too. Think I can scare up an extra stand or 2. Thanks, Jim, for hosting this event.
Jeers!
~~Joe Hannabach~~

[jim_n_virginia]

Will be there w/ the new Bryce 2-point, the old Givens A, and the Hutto. Jim, for hosting this event.
Jeers! ~~Joe Hannabach~~

Oh man I've have been wanting to check out your Hutto for a long time Joe! COOL!

[fatt-dad]

Message to all: Can't make it. Driving to Gary, Indiana via Charleston, West Virginia tomorrow to attend the funeral of my aunt. One of those spontaneous family reunions and my father (her brother) would really love to see all the kids. He's saying goodby to his last sibling - eight have gone before him (he's 90).

Next time. . .

f-d

[jim_n_virginia]

Message to all: Can't make it. Driving to Gary, Indiana via Charleston, West Virginia tomorrow to attend the funeral of my aunt. One of those spontaneous family reunions and my father (her brother) would really love to see all the kids. He's saying goodby to his last sibling - eight have gone before him (he's 90).

Next time. . .

f-d

OK sorry you can't make! Drive safe! We'll have another one one day!
Family comes first!

[DerTiefster]

I will be first to say, at least for this get-together, what a good host Jim is, and that I had a great time meeting and learning from folks I've never seen before and probably wouldn't have known from Adam on the street. (well, I could tell the bass player apart from Adam... and she could sing, too.) Marvelous time.

For me (n00b that I be) the most distinctive audio lessons I got were from a Bryce mandolin (notably clear, crisp, and -loud-) and from a Gibson H1 mandola (sustain that just won't quit. wait, maybe that's what sustain is supposed to mean.)

Public and well-deserved thanks to Jim.

[Gerry Cassidy]

What an awesome day!

Got to meet new, and many people I had only met through here, and emails.

Got to actually play many mandolins I had only read about.

What a day! (I think I already said that... )

There's no way for me to pick a fave. There were just too many I would gladly have put in the back of the station wagon for the trip home!

Thanks to Jim for the gracious hosting. Perfect venue for such a great gathering.

[monkeytroy]

Hey Jim!

Had a great time at the Mandotasting. Thanks again for hosting.. next year I think you are going to have to rent a hotel conference room!

There were over 39 mandolins (mandola and mandocello too) there.. here a pic of the mando feast!



Sick! haha

-Fred

[acruzn]

It was a great time! i almost overdosed on the sight of all those lovely mandolins. the jamming was also great. Jim, naturally, was a great and gracious host. door prizes were provided.<thx to the cafe>

i set up a photo album under my profile as Hampton Roads Mando-Tasting II. should anyone want a better photo, let me know. i had to resize from 2592 x 1944 pixels to 600 x 450.

Here are a couple photos of the jamming.

[sgarrity]

Definitely a great time. I had to go outta town but I'll post a full report when I get back. Thanks Jim!!!

[jim_n_virginia]

Good LORD that was a LOT of mandolins!

Thanks to all that came! We'll do it again next year!

[hank]

Jim from the landscape painting behind you in Angel's photo you had a blast.

[acruzn]

you could tell that Jim was the happiest when jamming.

though, he was checking everything and there was plenty to eat and drink.

[Chris "Bucket" Thomas]

Thanks again Jim! It was a great time.

Everyone just put thier mando in stand and we just took turns playing tunes/songs and swap mandos when you felt like it. I played three mandolins on OJC!

From what I can remember:
2 Gibson Ferns, 2 Gibson A50s, an A1, mando bass, mando cello, a few octaive mandolin, Givens, Hutto, Heiden, Smart, Brentrup, A9, a stack of assorted Webers (oval and F), Kimble, Flatirons, F4, Gibson MM, Arches.....more I can't remember. 39+ in all!

Notables in my mind:
1. Hutto----about the 4th I have played, all great.
2. Shaun's Heiden. Everyone liked it.
3. A9.....what a cannon. The set-up was great and it was loud.
4. Brentrup owned by Chuck.
5. The Arches Flattop w/ oval hole has very cool.

[jim_n_virginia]

Joe's Hutto was awesome I think my favorite.

I would like to point out also that the Hutto had "The Gibson" on the headstock!

[Gerry Cassidy]

Definitely too hard for me to pick a favorite, but I do gotta say Shaun's Kimble got real comfortable in my hands in right quick fashion.

[gonzograss]

One of the most fun musical events ever!
Hard to believe how many excellent mandos are out there.
Played a large handful that I wouldn't be disappointed if they were my only instrument.
Most outstanding for me was Jim's Gibson (& I'm not just saying that because he liked my Hutto - what a monster!). But also noteworthy were a Brentrup A-model, Shaun's Heiden, a really neat old no-name (whose owner thought it might be a 30's or 40's Regent), John Kasley's Gibson, and a Bulldog that I liked.
But loads of other really fine instruments.
Chuck & his daughter Sara (have I got that right?) contributed one of the funniest, bawdiest little ditties I've heard in a while. Hilarious.
It took me a couple of hours before I even realized there was food in the kitchen. Alice in wonderland.
What a neat opportunity to play some interesting mandos. Thanks to everybody, and especially Jim for hosting this special treat.
I even won a little gig bag (& I never win anything).
Thanks to Scott and whoever else provided door prizes (a bunch of them).
~~Joe Hannabach

[DerTiefster]

Joe is kind in his description of my father's mandolin, which he received from one of his uncles. It is pictured here:

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=49069

It is at the very, very back left in the group photo above, against the wall. I put it way back there so more photogenic mandolins of wider interest could have front seating. In case it might be of interest to anyone. I look forward to next year's repeat

[jim_n_virginia]

Joe is kind in his description of my father's mandolin, which he received from one of his uncles. It is pictured here:
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=49069

I was wondering who's mandolin that was it was definitely cool!

[sgarrity]

Looks like we have a couple of threads going on this event. I posted some notes in the thread in the main section that Jim started. Thanks again Jim, it wa s great time!!

[jim_n_virginia]

Thanks for coming Shaun it was fun watching you and Joe with all those mandolins! Yall looked like two kids in a candy store! LOL!

[DerTiefster]

Ok. I'm experimenting. Lots of folks are subscribed to this thread. Did any of you (like fatt-dad) miss the repeat of the Hampton Roads mandotasting held on Saturday, 10/16? Seems like a possibility. I only knew about it because in late September I pinged Jim directly about whether he was planning a repeat. If "lotsa folks" missed it from lack of notice, maybe it would be good to use this very thread to announce any repeat in 2011.

The 2010 version thread is at http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...n-Tasting-2010 . And guess what I discovered... The thread name and apparently all posts inside as of this writing do not even contain "mandotasting," so when I searched for that keyword, the 2010 thread -did- -not- -surface-. Bad ju-ju. Sorry for anyone who missed out due to lack of notice.

[DerTiefster]

I hope this thread's getting dusted off doesn't confuse anyone. I was looking through it for a picture of the 2009 Hampton Roads mandotasting feast table and couldn't find the picture. However, there was a link to an off-cafe copy buried in the 2010 mandotasting thread. I thought I'd enhance the archive (arguably) by stuffing a copy into this thread. I think maybe that it used to exist in post #33 above from Fred, but somehow evaporated.

If there's a 2011 mandotasting, I'm hoping to bring along this 2-point Strad. Here's to being hopeful.