David Grisman (& Tony Trishka), Giacomel 2-point (& conversation)

[grassrootphilosopher]

Here´s some fun video from Tony Trishka´s youtube chanel that features David Grisman on his (favorite) Giacomel twopoint mandolin with the custom dawg peghead addition.

Look how powerfull the dawg is pushing the instrument. There are also some chinese moments in the music. Looks like Trishka and Grisman like an organic sound for all that it´s worth.

[Rob Fowler]

Nice video, Olaf! It was great to hear them talk about the "early days." Cool to hear how they first met.

[AlanN]

Very great, thanks.

What is that thing on the mandolin headstock? Ain't a Snark, is it?

[dcoventry]

As an interesting aside, they mention a few live shows that were taped, and there was mutual interest. Being a taper myself, I appreciate the recognition of the relevance. Bluegrass has a long history of recording shows for immediate interest and posterity. It's essential to capture these moments of excellence.

Dave

[Glassweb]

Very great, thanks.

What is that thing on the mandolin headstock? Ain't a Snark, is it?

It's a carved Dawg... What else?!

[MONami]

I really like Triska's banjo playing. Of course Dawg is solid, but I don't care for his Giacomel's tone. Every one I have heard is especially bright sounding. When I've heard him switch in concert between the Gia and the traditional looking F-style there is a big difference in tone. But in concert that forwardness is sometimes more desirable I guess.

[tonyvt]

I'm a recovering taper myself and enjoyed the picking as well as the discussions about taping.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Many thanks for posting that Olaf.Being primarily a Banjo player (or was !) i enjoyed Tony Trishka's playing immensly. I always enjoy Dave Grisman's playing,but that Giacomel just doesn't have the power it needs to compete with the Banjo - few Mandolins do,unless they're amplified. I think DG would have been much better playing his Loar,he'd at least have been in with a chance. He's picking hard on the Giacomel & there's not much in terms of volume coming out. I'd pass on one of those even if it were offered for free (highly unlikely) - purely my opinion,
Ivan

[Scotti Adams]

That mando does nothing for me. He drives it to the point that it just sounds bad.

[dang]

It is definitely not the traditional bluegrass sound coming from Grisman's Giacomel, but I would still listen to him play that thing all day! I agree with his whole "It's not the car, it's the driver" point. Also, his Giaco might sound better with a small diaphragm condenser mic on it.

[woodwizard]

That was wonderful ! Thanks... Love those stories. Got to talk with Tony after one of his solo shows in Little Rock and I still remember all the cool stories of the past he told me. Especially the Bill Monroe stories that he experienced. He is such a friendly guy. Even if it's the first time you ever talked to him he gives you the feeling that you have known each other for a long time. Great banjo man and great person. The blond Giacomel I seen the Dawg playing live once seemed to have sounded much more Loar like than this one but that might have been because I was standing about 3 feet away from it during the show and was pretty excited...

[John Hill]

I've seen a couple of vids now of Dawg & that mando. Both times that Giacomel has been disappointing in tone & volume, it seems to fight him a bit.

[Caleb]

That was fun. Thanks for posting it.

[sgarrity]

I've seen a couple of vids now of Dawg & that mando. Both times that Giacomel has been disappointing in tone & volume, it seems to fight him a bit.

The Dawg was playing this one a lot at the Symposium last year and one thing that really stood out was its volume. Of course the Dawg's right hand has a lot to do with that volume but it sure isn't lacking. He was able to lead a 60 person mando orchestra with it and still be heard over all that noise and be heard very well. I think it has more to do with the recording technique and/or our different computer speakers.

Thanks for posting the video I loved it!

[Glassweb]

I played that mando last year and thought it was quite good... Certainly the best Giacomel I've played.

[AlanN]

I didn't think it sounded crummy, certainly sounded like a mandolin. Ain't no Loar, but what is?

[grassrootphilosopher]

Having read the ideas that Grisman had to pick hard because the Giacomel wouldn´t perform and that it does not cut... well I respectfully have to disagree.

If you look at David Grisman´s technique you will find that he´s a powerful picker. He can be very tasteful and lush but in general he is a driving musician with a lot of power. That takes to the instrument. He´s bending the strings (pulling them out of tune), using upstrokes over all strings (with so much power that the strings go out of tune etc.). Examples for this are in the following videos (that, like the video on the Triska chanell are quite well made and capture the sound well). I´d also like to point to the David Grisman/Doc Watson concert video where David Grisman explains that he wears out one set of strings per show. This points to a powerful player to my mind.

I´d like to stress my point by showing these additional videos:

David Grisman Bluegrass X-perience (nice vintage instruments, 40ies D-18, Epiphone bjo, unknown fiddle and a nice 5-string bass)


David Grisman Quintet (great rythm on "Arabia")


Both videos feature the Crusher Red Diamond if I´m not mistaken

Funky vido with out of sync pictures/music but decent sound quality on an 80ies Gilchrist if my eyesight serves me right


Grisman Quintet with a powerful Giacomel


Last but not least the soft spots of a Giacomel (Grisman and Frank Vignola on the Django Reinhard classic "September Song")


So, the Giacomel may or may not be your cup of tea soundwise, but I think it is a powerful melodious instrument.

[swinginmandolins]

Just ran across this today, Grisman on a Monteleone GA. Gets cut short though.
Grisman is a master for sure.

[Larry S Sherman]

I posted this on another thread, but thought it would be interesting to contrast the sound in this clip from Olaf's first clip. The Corrado Giacomel sounds pretty nice in this clip from Fretboard Journal.



Larry

[Chris Keth]

There are also some chinese moments in the music.

Huh? What's that mean?

[SternART]

Other cultures use different scales and intervals, so I think it means there were a few harmonically complex, outside of typical fiddle tune scales happening there in "Stony Point" which I believe is a Jesse McReynolds tune. That was a cool duet with Tony!

I remember Grisman had a tune that was titled 'Opus 23'...they did their first tour of Japan and David heard some music there, that he thought sounded similar in some way.......so he retitled the tune "Japan".