|
Post by duggyk on Jan 15, 2009 14:44:40 GMT
Does anyone know if there's any suppliers of F-Model Octave Mandolas in the UK ?
I can only seem to find A-Model UK suppliers....
Any recommened manufacturers / luthiers ?
Thanks!
|
|
|
Post by Danny on Jan 15, 2009 15:01:32 GMT
I dunno, have you tried Eagle?
|
|
|
Post by duggyk on Jan 15, 2009 15:46:46 GMT
Both Eagle and Hobgoblin do the classic 'tear-drop' A-models but I have a weird(?) desire to try out an F-model shaped instrument....
.....I know its probably an aesthetic whimsy and i'm not clear on the difference in sound between A and F models!
.....also need to work on the wife to approve the space for a new instrument (or maybe i'll flog something to make room).
|
|
|
Post by Danny on Jan 15, 2009 15:50:14 GMT
Eagle have an F style bazouki, which is basically the same thing, just a bit longer
|
|
|
Post by jonfreeman on Jan 15, 2009 21:44:51 GMT
I've tried a google search. The first one I found is ont his page
|
|
|
Post by duggyk on Jan 15, 2009 22:03:56 GMT
Nice find - thanks! They seem a bit rare in the UK... trying to find one under £400 might be tricky...
|
|
|
Post by jonfreeman on Jan 16, 2009 1:52:44 GMT
I don't know but I'd guess you would be asking an awful lot there!
--- My own choice of this (though not f style) octave instrument was an Ozark (who I think are Stentor). I think that one has also gone under the name of or is similar to a Trinity College and that there is something similar in the Vintage (JHS) line up. It is (at least in my non expert opinion) a very well constructed instrument and good value at the sort of £250 mark. I got mine from Eagle music who wee mentioned earlier in this thread.
|
|
|
Post by jonfreeman on Jan 16, 2009 2:02:30 GMT
btw, do we know that regardless of badge, a lot of stuff (at least Asian built, my (ordinarly not the octave one) mandolin was built in Romania) comes from the Samick factories. www.smcmusic.com/
|
|
|
Post by duggyk on Jan 16, 2009 11:57:22 GMT
I don't know but I'd guess you would be asking an awful lot there! think you right on this one! 'might have to get over 'aesthetic whimsy' and go and try an A-model cheers!
|
|
|
Post by jonfreeman on Jan 16, 2009 12:47:54 GMT
Good luck to you and hope you enjoy what you come up with.
btw. I think to me the most rewarding of the bigger mandolin type things I ever got the chance to try was an old Gibson A style mandocello. It was (at least with the CGDA strings - the owner lightened it up with a GDAD bouzouki tuning and strings - the other strings were really think). I felt you had to "thump it" but it could respond with such depth is you did so.
Possibly while on this sort of drift, not that I've touch much and am certainly no great player, I'd suggest the sweetest sounding flatback mandolin I ever got to try was an an early Gibson A. I think the biggest pig to me (and perhaps insrtuments do respond differently to how we are) was a modern F style model. I know I'm wrong in saying Pagani but the make sounded something like that. It was a powerful beast and would respond well if "hit" but somehow I'd found the sweet old Gibson A type thing more pleasantly voiced. Loads of "horses for courses, I guess" in a lot of this.
|
|
|
Post by Marilyn on Jan 16, 2009 13:05:57 GMT
Does anyone know - does the F-model really sound a *lot* different? I mean, does the shape affect the sound as much as the different woods etc.?
I have recently bought a second-hand Fylde Octavius octave mandolin. Not cheap (ouch!) but a real beauty, the sound is just fantastic and, as a massive bonus, it looks so good too, especially for the early music group I play with.
There seem to be an awful lot of really nasty cheapo mandolin family instruments around so I think it's essential to try before you buy. A good friend had a bargain with a cheap mandolin she bought for £80. I wouldn't have believed that anything at that price could be any good but it is - so they are out there and good luck with your hunting!
|
|
|
Post by jonfreeman on Jan 16, 2009 13:19:31 GMT
I wish I could claim to know. Thing is that though it sounds maybe stupid but some people (count me in as I owned one tenor version once) do have an affection for a 60s bakelite Harmony banjo, the built like an armoured tank, Framus banjo has some affection in Irish music, etc. Debates on the use of tonewoods and laminated vs solid wood can rage on Internet forums, etc. Ultimately, I think you have to reach a point of either hearing someone else to what they do on an instrument and think "wow that's great" or alternatively try something yourself and reach the same sort of conclusion. I don't dobut that theory regarding building a quality instrument is not valid but there has to be a "YOU" factor in it somewhere too.
|
|
|
Post by Marilyn on Jan 16, 2009 16:17:54 GMT
... there has to be a "YOU" factor in it somewhere too. I know what you mean about the YOU factor and I agree absolutely. I bought a very beautiful Hopf tenor recorder some years ago; wonderful thing with the most gorgeous creamy tone and it looked really beautiful too. Thing is, I just didn't gel with it and it didn't like me (sounds stupid to think an inanimate thing can have likes and dislikes but I still swear that instrument just didn't take to me!). A friend of mine asked to play it and immediately bonded with it and asked if she could buy it. End of story really. There's no substitute for taking your time to find exactly the right instrument for you is there? And a high price isn't always a guarantee that the instrument will suit
|
|
|
Post by Danny on Jan 16, 2009 20:33:11 GMT
... there has to be a "YOU" factor in it somewhere too. I know what you mean about the YOU factor and I agree absolutely. I bought a very beautiful Hopf tenor recorder some years ago; wonderful thing with the most gorgeous creamy tone and it looked really beautiful too. Thing is, I just didn't gel with it and it didn't like me (sounds stupid to think an inanimate thing can have likes and dislikes but I still swear that instrument just didn't take to me!). A friend of mine asked to play it and immediately bonded with it and asked if she could buy it. End of story really. There's no substitute for taking your time to find exactly the right instrument for you is there? And a high price isn't always a guarantee that the instrument will suit You're so right, their REALLY does have to be a spark of some kind. I got lucky with my last guitar, friends for life their. I HATED the last guitar I had, I virtually stopped playing. It was a perfectly good guitar, we just didn't suit each other. I didn't really want the guitar I ended up with, I wanted a Martin D18V, unforunately I was about £2000 short. Now I got my Max (my guitar has a name) for £400 I probably wouldn't give the Martin houseroom. I just hope that her baby sister (a palour guitar made by the same people) is coming I'll like her just as much Different strokes for different folkes really Danny P.S. That 'other' guitar was a s**t, it hated me just as much as I hated it!
|
|
|
Post by jonfreeman on Jan 16, 2009 21:30:19 GMT
A good friend had a bargain with a cheap mandolin she bought for £80. Just to comment (again) on this to. I'm largely a fan of one of those priced instruments. I don't like the classical guitar type tuners but I feel that for me, I can get a lot of sound out of my cheap Romanian import. I could have paid more money for less in that direction and the instrument liked me from day one. The nicest example (mine is a Vintage) I did meet in person as it were was one of David Kilpatricks. I'm not sure he still does the mandolin but he does some larger versions. www.troubadour.uk.com/
|
|