# General Mandolin Topics > eBay, Craig's List, etc. >  Heron Creek on Baltimore Craigs

## tremolo jones

My brother spotted this.  I am not familiar with the builder Irv Smoot, but the figure in the wood sure is eye catching. https://baltimore.craigslist.org/msg...228010796.html

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## Zach Wilson

Looks like a lot of mando (and extras) for the money!

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## allenhopkins

*Facebook page* for the luthier.

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## DocBernie

I have a Heron Creek mandolin and Irv Smoot was great to deal with during the purchase process.  My mandolin is a quality handmade instrument.

Doc

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## Bill Kammerzell

Here's another Craigslist listing on a Heron Creek from only a few days ago I believe. Another from Baltimore.

https://baltimore.craigslist.org/msg...279810999.html

It prompted me to look up the builder, call him up and then make arrangements to drive down and see him on yesterday, February 24th. Irv Smoot has an absolutely beautiful location down there in Saint Mary's County Maryland, back in the woods on a creek.  Just a really nice guy too. About two hours from where I live in Annapolis.
And he builds some fine mandolins also. We sat on his porch and I played each of the three builds he had for sale. He had two new builds which can be seen at his Facebook page. Addy Spruce, "Natural" finish, with Maple back sides, and neck. Full Tortoiseshell  Binding, Grover Tuners and Compound Radius Board. 
The two new builds sounded great even with older strings on, and being outside. Great tone and volume. Good price point also, $1600.00.
I wasn't looking to spend that much at this time, but he did have a really good sounding and great looking used model from 2011 that was his personal mandolin. I took that home for $1000.00. I call it "Red" for obvious reasons. Strung it up with EJ 74s and it sounds just great. Has an Engleman top. I'll show a picture here. It was Irv's 5th build from 2011. Great tone and volume, though the new builds did sound much better. The "Natural" finish New Builds looked to have an almost Caramel tone to them. Could have been the bright sunlight?

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fatt-dad, 

Southern Man

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## Bill Kammerzell

Father's Day came early. I brought my Heron Creek Mandolin, #5 (Bought used) to the B-Chord Brewery March 27th. About five different people played it and really enjoyed it. Recently I ended up selling it to one of those five people, the mandolin player in Wicked Sycamore. I decided to use the money I got from that sale, put it together with a portion of a recent windfall and visit Irv Smoot, the owner and luthier of Heron Creek, down in Saint Inigoes, Maryland. He had three new builds for me to try out. One was a traditional Sunburst. The other two were "Natural" finish. One of those was a sort of Caramel Color. The other was lighter. A sort of light brown eggshell shade. All three had Addy Spruce tops and "Tiger" maple back, sides and neck. Tiger maple sure looks like Curly maple. The binding on the two natural finish mandolins was Tortoiseshell. Irv Smoot gets his wood from a place in Fulton, MO called "Old Standard Wood." 
His builds are really consistently good in fit and finish as well as sound and playability. They are set-up very well. So when I played the three I really couldn't find anything that would separate one from another in tone as well balance across the strings. I went thru my repertoire of Fiddle tunes playing single notes, double-stops, slides, playing up the neck etc, and really couldn't hear a true difference between the three. None really stood out from the other. They all sounded great. 
I finally did a lot of chording, especially chops and the Percussive chop on one stood out. Turned out to be the Light-Brown Eggshell colored one. So I took it home for $1500.00 plus a couple of brand new Crossrock ABS cases I had purchased at a sizeable discount. I'll post some pictures here.

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allenhopkins, 

Gene Lewis, 

Mark Gunter

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## Bill Kammerzell

Some sad news on Heron Creek Mandolins. I see Heron Creek was recently added to the Builder Data Base here in November of 2021. A few days ago  I contacted Irv Smoot, the owner and builder, by sending a text message. It concerned something I read at his Facebook page. His wife Anne, who I have met, texted me back to tell me Irv had passed away from a heart attack in January of this year, 2022. I believe he was 72. Irv was a retired science teacher from Southern Maryland that began building Mandolins in retirement. I have number 13 which is a beauty, with a great sound and chop. Not as good as my Skip Kelley, but it will hold it's own against a lot of mandolins. I believe Irv had just finished and sold #16 prior to his passing. RIP Irv. A fine man and builder.

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jim simpson

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