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Thanks guys! I found this link, which shows a clip of active brain function while listening to music:

https://best-alzheimers-products.com/music-and-the-brain.html

Not exactly and apples-to-apples comparison but... my sister has an MF-0 and we have both played vintage F4s. The difference comes down to a haunted-old-guy tone vs, to newer, crisper modern tone....

It's x-braced, and I asked Joe to make the top finish blond. Hard to tell in this photo, but the top is lighter than his usual finish. The pick-guard is completely cantilevered from the based of...

Stevedenver's experience is exactly the same as mine. I once did an A:B comparison on two of Joe Campanella's two-point beauties and the only difference was X- vs tone-bar bracing. The instruments...

On my grandparents gravestone is the family motto: Love each other and be brave. I always interpreted "love each other" as to respect everyone, not matter how crazy they are, and apply the golden...

A few years ago I made the rounds in Nashville and got to play a whole bunch of highly respected instruments, among then a Kimble, Heiden, Red Diamond and a Mowery. They were all great and were...

Depends on how long you stay. If past the November elections, there is a good chance the Canadians will be building a wall to repel the uncivilized marauders to their south.

When I inherited my dad’s 1914 (?) Gibson H3 mandola, it was a wreck -- literally coming apart at the seams and with a top so sunken it was unplayable above the 4th fret. My friend Vince had studied...

When my dad was dying from complications related to dementia, I would always bring his mandolin to the nursing home when I visited. Some days he could play but many he could not. It was disturbing...

If you get out west to Perth, see Paul Duff. Here is some background reading: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?116086-Paul-Duff-Profile

Round. Funny you ask, because with most mandos, I eyeball the neck before grabbing it to calculate if it will be comfortable. With Joe's, I just grabbed it and started playing and never once...

For the past five years, I have done a century bike ride to help raise research support for diagnosis and treatment of Type 1 diabetes. The ride starts in the dawnserly light in Burlington, Vermont,...

Minnesota Bluegrass and Old Time Music Association magazine has published my profile of Paul Duff. Starts on page 15 at this link: https://lnkd.in/eJTjaYE

Many thanks to Paul for his help with the...

Speaking of Zep, catch this clip of John Paul Jones on mando, "Going to California," in a kind of Celtic-jazz-blues fusion piece. I show to friends to say, "See? See what the lowly mandolin can...

I remember reading an interview once with, I think, John Renbourn, who said he'd rather hear BB King play one note than most other musicians play 50 notes.

Jim--My favorite, from Riders in the Sky: "If the world were a logical place, men would ride side-saddle." And from I don't know who, while tuning a mandolin: "playing a mandolin consists of 10...

Here's a link to my profile of Don, which elaborates on some of the pointed raised here:
...

When I was in college, there was a fire in my dorm. One person died and several had permanent nerve damage from inhaling toxic smoke. The smoke was thick and black and acid. I made it out a...

A few years ago I inherited by dad's 1914 Gibson H3 mandola. Even after extensive repairs to make it playable, and an excellent refinish, it still smells like ... grandfather's attic on a hot summer...

Thanks Fredfrank--yes, it's a question that asks about your imagination or aspiration, since, as you say, no one alive knows what a new Loar sounded like. Most luthiers I've talk to have interpreted...

Minnesota Bluegrass and Old Time Music Association recently published my interview with Don. it addresses several of the questions raised in some recent threads about Red Diamond. Many thanks to...

I talked with Don about this in August and yes, he is experimenting with terrified wood. His interview, which covers this topic, will be posted in the Feb or March issue of the MBOTMA newsletter. ...

Saturday I had a trip to Carter Vintage and Cotton music to try out some mandos I had heard about but not played—Duff F5, Heiden F5, some Gibsons F4s (1918, 1923), a Kimble F5, a Kemnitzer/Collins A...

I interviewed Don MacRostie (maker of Red Diamond) about this a while ago (his profile will be published this winter). He said this about roasted wood:

"Now I’m looking at a way of aging wood....

Jim-
One point not covered here is balance. I had a Cedar Creek case made for my mandola. it is heavier than my mandolin case but it balances perfectly in my hand and I think because of that, it...