Fungus mandolins?

[Rob Fowler]

Hi all,
In reading this thread post #87 mentioned a novel fungus-treated violin actually being chosen over a stradivarius in a blind test. That story is here

Have any mandolin builders of the day thought or tried to make a "fungus mandolin?"

[Chris Oliver]

Rob,

I treated my omelet with fungus this morning and I have to say... I preferred the with-fungus compared to the plain old omelet. Of course my plain old omelet eggs weren't submerged in the Mediterranean for a hundred years.

Seriously though... I think the article spells it out a bit in the "Skepticism before the blind test" section.

To answer your question, I have not and have not heard of anyone purposely treating their mandolins with fungus. That doesn't mean it hasn't been done, only that I have never heard of it being done. Of course, many have built with spalted woods (fungus in wood before building).

chris

[Rob Fowler]

Funny, Chris. I still have some fungus in the fridge that I could have used on my eggs this morning! Darn!

Of course there is always some skepticism associated with a blind test with things like and there's really no solid scientific method that can really judge quality of tone in an instrument, as the article states.

But, the last lines of the article are: The fungal attack changes the cell structure of the wood, reducing its density and simultaneously increasing its homogeneity. “Compared to a conventional instrument, a violin made of wood treated with the fungus has a warmer, more rounded sound,” explains Francis Schwarze.

I just found this really interesting and wondered if some the mandolin luthiers of today have considered trying this or just have thought this to be an interesting possibility but haven't gone any farther than that? It might be kind of gimmicky but maybe it actually does make a difference to the wood like they say it does. I wonder what kind of fungus was used? Surely not morels, or Chantrelles....

If the overwhelming majority picked the fungus violin over the strad as being their favorite it seems to say something about the tone of that violin, though, right?

[MikeEdgerton]

The fungus thing comes up every few years. I like to think of it as the fungus among us.

One previous discussion can be found here.

[JEStanek]

But doe having a mando treated with fungus make one a fungi?

jamie

[Rob Fowler]

The fungus thing comes up every few years. I like to think of it as the fungus among us.

One previous discussion can be found here.

Thanks, Mike. Glad I can be the one to bring this topic back for it's every-couple-of-year round!

Moving on I guess......

[MikeEdgerton]

No need to move on, it's always a fun topic. I wish it was this easy. We get a few threads a year on people that have determined what the Stradivarius secret was. This one at least makes sense.

[Charlieshafer]

But doe having a mando treated with fungus make one a fungi?

jamie

which brings us to my daughter's favorite joke of the moment. Why wqs the mushroom invited to the party? Because he was a... do I need to say it?

Anyway, the blind listening thing with various violins has been done for years, with pros and amateurs attempting to pick out Stardivari from Amatis from new makers, and the result is always the same: they always get it varying degrees of wrong, artists, critics and makers alike. The fungus thing is kind of interesting, in that it supposedly helps the wood mimic tone wood from the little ice age, when the early Italian makers were getting their wood. It's all good fun. It sort of makes this discussion similar to another going on about ultimate mandolins.

Personally, I think you've got to give an instrument 20 years of playing if you want to ask the "how does it stack up" question, not so much to break it in, but simply to give it a little historical perspective.

[strings777]

"Why was the mushroom invited to the party? Because he was a... do I need to say it?"
Fun guy...there, I said it for you.