Let's see those mandolins!

[warfrat73]

Can't imagine where I got the idea for this thread... let's see those mandos.

This is my 91 Flatiron A5 Signature Series. One of the earliest known to be signed by Bruce Weber. I've had it for a little over a year. It had practically no signs of use, just a bit of tarnish on the hardware when I bought it last April, seemed to be kind of a closet queen for the first 32 years. Liked the tone ok when I got it, but wasn't blown away. Played it a lot since then, and now I think it sounds absolutely killer. Been playing for a couple of years and taking lessons since November.

Pictured in the shrubbery.

[PineMarten]

I have an old Italian bowlback tucked away too, but the one that gets the playing currently is this Fylde from 1999. It's made in the North of England, cedar/mahogany, and has a conventional mandolin scale length rather than the longer scale of their current Touchstone models. I play mostly Scottish, Irish and English tunes and not really any bluegrass, so the sound of a good flat top mandolin suits me well.

[Dave Hicks]

Flatiron A5 Jr ('85), Ryder EM44 ('10 or so), Big Muddy M1X ('21), Gibson A0 ('16) with some friends.

[Silly Moustache]

I moved out of London in 1975 into the central area, and found myself in a place where there was a lot of bluegrass activity. (I later realised that this was often due to having WW2 USAF bomber bases).

After politely crashing a jam one night, I found myself recruited to two gigging bands.

This was fine, as a guitarist with a Martin dreadnought, but it became clear that there was a shortage of both Dobro players and mandolinists.

My girlfriend of the time (bless her) contacted my luthier pal back in London and between them they ordered an Ibanez 524 F5 "deluxe" which was a perfectly good instrument.
However, in the late '90s one man known as "Sir Arthur" started visiting the Czech Republic and buying up hand made Gibson style mandolins by various makes now, sadly forgotten, and I tended to buy sell them every time he turned up at a festival.

Then we had one of the finest guitar and mandolin stores ever, open up in Brighton - called "The Acoustic Music Company" and amongst quite a few other instruments, that is where I bought my best, and last mandolin.

It was made by the fabled Czech builder Jiri Lebeda in 2005, and despite seeing/playing many other fine US makes, Collings, Pava, Weber, and even one Gilchrist, My Lebeda it is "the one".

It doesn't see daylight often nowadays, but since you asked and it is a lovely sunny day, I got it out for a few snaps.

Jiri became greatly admired, and even spent some time in the USA working with/for one or two well known US brands.
He returned to the CR, and started up a business making Dobros as well as mandos.
Sadly info on Jiri has dried up. There is talk that if you could find him, he would build a mandolin on the kitchen table like he used to do!

[Charlie Bernstein]

Still haven't mastered posting photos, so here are a thousand words:

It's a rehabbed Gibson Junior A snakehead:

- carved spruce top
- carved birch back and sides
- oval
- tenth-fret join
- black logo-free headstock

It was a basket case when I bought it. What's new:

- the five lower frets
- side fret dots
- milk-chocolate-brown satin nitro top
- Cumberland Acoustics bridge
- black-button Rubner tuners
- clamshell tailpiece
- bone nut
- ebony neck-heel strap button
- K&K internal pickup
- Tapastring 1/8" pickup socket
- Tone Gard
- TKL Tolex case
- glue between the back and side near the endpin

Picture that!

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by Dave Hicks

Flatiron A5 Jr ('85), Ryder EM44 ('10 or so), Big Muddy M1X ('21), Gibson A0 ('16) with some friends.

Hey, Dave —

Is that Ryder by Steve Ryder of Portland, Maine?

A good luthier and helluva nice guy. Used to run into him a lot when I lived there.

[mr. beaumont]

I don't play the mandolin, and I'm not sure I ever will...but man, mandolins are just beautiful instruments, whether they are simple or ornate.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by warfrat73

Can't imagine where I got the idea for this thread... let's see those mandos.

This is my 91 Flatiron A5 Signature Series. One of the earliest known to be signed by Bruce Weber. I've had it for a little over a year. It had practically no signs of use, just a bit of tarnish on the hardware when I bought it last April, seemed to be kind of a closet queen for the first 32 years. Liked the tone ok when I got it, but wasn't blown away. Played it a lot since then, and now I think it sounds absolutely killer. Been playing for a couple of years and taking lessons since November.

Pictured in the shrubbery.

I love the chinrest!

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

I don't play the mandolin, and I'm not sure I ever will...but man, mandolins are just beautiful instruments, whether they are simple or ornate.

Don't be shy about trying one. They're pretty entertaining to play.

Unlike guitar, the scales and chords are gobsmackingly logical. I'd been playing guitar for about forty-five years when I picked up my first mando, and it's the first I realized that the octave scale is just a 2-2-1/2-2-1 pattern.

And chord shapes can be duplicated anywhere on the neck. They're exactly the same everywhere.

The only problem with mando is that no one has ever been satisfied with just one. Budgets beware!

[Dave Hicks]

Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein

Hey, Dave —

Is that Ryder by Steve Ryder of Portland, Maine?

A good luthier and helluva nice guy. Used to run into him a lot when I lived there.

Yup, that's him. He seems to have retired from making instruments, but still makes pickups and does repairs. Never met him myself.

D.H.

[guitarman68]

Not able to post pics here, so here is some info:

After trying out an Ellis A5 I was blown away and decided to order a F5 Engelmann top from Tom Ellis. Got it in fall 2021 and love it. Had to sell all my mandolins to make that purchase possible: Collings MF5 (miss that one), Weber Absaroka, 1917 Gibson F2.
Also own a violin style F5 by Anton Krutz - fine sounding mandolin but needed some work (warped fretboard) by my luthier.

[Melt in the Sun]

Not the best photo, but shows the family! Breedlove American 00, Northfield Archtop Octave, and the non-mandolin big brother...then a photo of the Northfield along with the KR Strings Octolindo it has replaced.

[catt]

My 10-string bandolim

https://bernunzio.com/media/product_...03_4eVJl77.jpg

I have a few 8-str mndlns that I haven't played in years - I don't play American folk styles any more: my mndln playing now is all Brazilian style or jazz.

[warfrat73]

Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein

I love the chinrest!

I may be doing it wrong... not really sure.

[Pickcity]

OK I’ll play. My humble contribution. Eastman 305 I bought new around 5 years ago.