custom mandolin luthiers?

[PhilT]

Might want to check out a fine young builder named Will Kimble (kimblemandolins.com) In talking to a guy who was a multiple high end mandolin owner and in the know re: the custom mando world, he had nothing but superlatives for the work being done by this luthier.

[Maryc-k]

you can contact will through his website. i just read over on the mandolin cafe board that he has opened his list.

[sceimhlitheoir]

+1 to all of the makers and advice previously mentioned. Try out a bunch of styles: F and A bodies, flat top/ carved top, fholes and oval/ D holes, different wood combinations (cedar/maple, sitka/ maple, sitka/other, etc).

I'm a player of Irish trad, so if you're looking for a more bluegrass tone YMMV. If you're in the market for an oval-hole mando from a small maker, Old Waves have been getting high praise.

However, don't turn up your nose at bigger makers either. I have a custom Weber Bridger (EI rosewood b/s, sitka top, 1 1/4" nut) that I never will part with, and I've played some fine Weber Yellowstones with cedar top/ maple back & sides. Webers sometimes don't get love from certain bluegrass quarters, but I love 'em.

It also would be worth exploring vintage mandos. One of the sweetest mandos I've ever heard was a teens-early 20s Gibson A3 owned by a guy with whom I used to play seisiuns. 80-100 years of mojo is nothing to sneeze at. I'm much less impressed with the newer, more expensive Gibsons.

[billgennaro]

Originally Posted by sceimhlitheoir

+1 to all of the makers and advice previously mentioned. Try out a bunch of styles: F and A bodies, flat top/ carved top, fholes and oval/ D holes, different wood combinations (cedar/maple, sitka/ maple, sitka/other, etc).

I'm a player of Irish trad, so if you're looking for a more bluegrass tone YMMV. If you're in the market for an oval-hole mando from a small maker, Old Waves have been getting high praise.

However, don't turn up your nose at bigger makers either. I have a custom Weber Bridger (EI rosewood b/s, sitka top, 1 1/4" nut) that I never will part with, and I've played some fine Weber Yellowstones with cedar top/ maple back & sides. Webers sometimes don't get love from certain bluegrass quarters, but I love 'em.

It also would be worth exploring vintage mandos. One of the sweetest mandos I've ever heard was a teens-early 20s Gibson A3 owned by a guy with whom I used to play seisiuns. 80-100 years of mojo is nothing to sneeze at. I'm much less impressed with the newer, more expensive Gibsons.

thanks for that. i've got a weber bridger octave mandolin and a weber hyalite mando. i like both of them but i want to improve on the hyalite and get something really special. whatever i get will be way too good for me, but what the heck, it'll make me play the mando alot more (which is very important to me now that old age is creeping ever so nearer).

i appreciate all the input from everyone who responded to this thread. i've been doing alot of research and am quickly becoming as "obsessed" with mandolins as i am with guitars. its entirely too much fun.

peace,
bill

[Fliss]

Originally Posted by sceimhlitheoir

+... One of the sweetest mandos I've ever heard was a teens-early 20s Gibson A3 ....

Funnily enough, I've had the same experience with one of those - beautiful mandolins!

I'm surprised no-one has yet mentioned Andy Poe. I've no personal experience of his work, but from the photos I've seen on Mandolin Cafe his mandolins look stunning, and people seem to have nothing but good things to say about him.

Good luck with the search

Fliss