I'm torn...
in CT's hands it doesn't seem matter. It's hard to compare, anyway since a lot of what he's doing now with the Punch Brothers and his Loar is hard to compare to some of the stuff he did on the Dude with Nickel Creek. Every time I see a video of him I try to see which he's playing and if I don't see the headstock, I can't tell the difference. Which, I guess, is a testament to Lynn Dudenbostel that he can make an instrument that sounds like it's 80+ years old when it's still relatively new.
I heard him play a solo Bach piece on the Loar acoustically from about 15 feet away a few nights ago, nothing to complain about there! I have also heard him play the many pieces from the Grow a Woman and Punch on both mandolins at least three times each, and there are still reasons to miss the Dude. The Loar sound is really growing on me though!
I have to say I definitely liked the sound of his Dude better. At least from what i've heard.
I prefer the Dude as well, but in his hands, a $40 Rogue sounds like a boutique instrument.
rmabe -- I know, right? It's just not fair. I think I've only heard him play the Dude live once, and that was before I started playing mandolin. I probably wouldn't have noticed much about tone. All I knew was that I wanted to learn how to play that thing he was playing as soon as possible. I love the Loar's sound, but again, I've never really had an opportunity to compare the two.
Folks! Lets get real. If he likes it, its good: either way! When I can keep up with him, I'll feel like I get to have an opinion. Bill. That said, I love my Ellis!
The Dude all the way. I've played a Loar before and its a good mandolin, but their are better mandolins out there now! I think the Dude is one of them.
The Dude showed up on the Leno show performance last week, that's the first time I've seen it since he started playing the Loar. Has anyone seen any other live shows yet on this tour to see what he is using?
