Some weeks ago I happened to snag a 1929 Martin Style 20 which had been floating around GCs in the NYC area for some time. After the price had been greatly reduced, I decided to bite and take a chance on it. When I picked it, I was shocked at how clean and little used it seemed, but even more at how short and tiny the bar frets were. It was almost a "fretless" mandolin. Good for an old time banjo, but not for a mandolin. Reason enough it had been neglected for 90+ years. It had great tone, but it hurt my hand to play it.
Several weeks ago, I listened to a Norman Blake interview who mentioned that Bob Chuckrow of Chattanooga was the man who knew bar frets. It wasn't long until I was in contact with Bob, and he told me he a technique for replacing bar frets with T frets.
Long story short, my mandolin has new frets and it is a winner. Best sounding all around mandolin I have touched (except maybe for bluegrass). Just a magical, sweet, bright, projecting sound. As Bob Chuckrow says, it combines the qualities of a good A model Gibson with a Lyon and Healy.
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