Just back from a concert of trad Irish music where one of the groups who played was Girsa, an all-girl band from Rockland County, NY, where I work. The girls are young -- I think the youngest is 14 and the oldest is 17 -- and when they first came they piled their cases back behind where I was sitting selling CDs for my band (we sponsored the concert) and one of the girls had what looked like an old Gibson mando case. Perked my eyes up somewhat ... so when they went on I kept my eyes out for when the mando would crop up. Generally, the girls play fiddle, but one had a mando that from where I was sitting at the back of the room looked suspiciously like my Strad-o-lin. Same color, same fingerboard, same shape, same separated f-holes. The only thing missing was the pick guard. After their set (I wish I had a camera so I could post a picture under the 'women with mandolins' thread), I asked the fiddle/mando player what type of instrument she had since I couldn't see the headstock from the back. "It looked a lot like a strad," I told her. Turns out it was. Her own mando was in the shop and it was a loaner. I thought it was pretty cool to see a strad on stage, though. Thought I'd share with those of us who tend toward strads anyway!
