New 'used' Ellis "A" style has arrived.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I've mentioned in a couple of posts on here re.a 'used' Ellis DeLuxe "A" style that i've just bought from TAMCO UK. Well,it arrived safely this morning. I stripped the strings off which were quite tarnished anyway,gave the frets a polish,lightly oiled the fingerboard & after wiping some light marks off the back & sides,polished the body with beeswax cream polish. Now it looks very good but 'used',which i like - as long as it's not me that's made it look that way. My Weber & Lebeda still look like new.
I strung it up with DR MD11 strings & i have to agree (in part),with the advocates of the James tailpiece,that it does make stringing very easy,at least for the G,D & A strings,but no way would it hold the E strings on the string hooks. I had to resort to good ole Blue-Tack once more. Having got it re-strung,bridge position checked & strings tuned up,my first impression was - WOW !. Even with the action set as it arrived,a bit too low for me,the clarity & power was pretty impressive to say the least.
Right now i'm waiting for the strings to stretch a bit,then i'll give it a good playing in. I'll be able to get a far better impression of it's tonal qualities,but as a few folks have told me to expect,it's quite different than the tones of my Weber 'Fern' & Lebeda,so i think it might be staying awhile,
Ivan

[Paul Cowham]

Hi Ivan,
I'm definitely due a visit to yours (I think we said early September), never played an Ellis before
cheers,
Paul

[UsuallyPickin]

Excellent !

[doc holiday]

Congratulations on your new Ellis, Ivan. I'm sure it will bring you years of playing pleasure. I've sent you a private message with info on strap attachment.

[edandjudy3946]

congrats on a great addition to your stable - must sound awesome. Note - I use a guitar Shub capo to hold strings at about the 8th fret when changing - works wonderfully.

[Astro]

Congratulations and looking forward to another review of your second impressions.

[Randi Gormley]

Congrats!

[John Soper]

I love mine, you'll love yours! May you have many hours of enjoyment playing in your new Ellis.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Many thanks for your remarks guys. I did play it in for an hour or so yesterday,but the strings were still a tad stretchy,but i'm sure it will be fine today. I always used to leave new strings for 24 hours,but the 'newbie' demanded some attention.
Here's some pics. i took this morning,not the best quality,especially the one showing the b****y hole where the strap pin had been screwed into the neck. The varnish must still have been soft at that time as the felt washer has left it's own imprint in it. I can easily drill & plug the hole,i've done that 100's of times on very old banjos back in the late 1960's,but re-finishing the area to a good standard using Oil varnish,i'll leave to my friendly luthier.
I'll give it a good playing today & check for any rattles,buzzes etc.,but i think its fine. I might raise the action slightly as there's almost no 'feel' under my fingers.
Hi Paul - Yes,you are overdue for a visit,so i'll e-mail you when my wife is away on hol.,we can set the house on fire then !.
I made a simple leather bootlace strap for the Ellis which worked very well,unfortunately it's too short to go around my back & it feels uncomfortable over just my right shoulder. So,i'm going to buy a 'saddle string' from Tandy leather UK & make my own version of the 'Latigo leather' strap i bought years back from Janet Davis. I'll use round leather thonging to hold the strap loop together,so it'll be easy to fasten & unfasten,
Ivan

[mandrian]

Hi Ivan,

Congratulations on your new purchase. In terms of the button hole I had the same problem on a used Black mandolin that I bought last year. I had my local luthier Rory Dowling fill and repair the hole and I can honestly say that I would not know where it had been. The finish in the area was pretty dark like yours and I think that helped.

I was wondering how you're finding playing an A type after playing F styles for so long. It must feel a bit strange at first.

Regards

[trevor]

Just a note to say I normally change old strings before sending mandolins out but I knew Ivan would change to DRs which I don't have. Ivan said he was OK with this.

[Ray(T)]

Hi Ivan, my Kimble came with a strap button in that position from new so why bother about it? If it were mine, I'd simply screw another one on. Whilst some may argue that a strap fixed in that position gets in the way, in practice, I've never found it to be the case (possibly as I, like you, are used to swapping between instruments of different sizes). In fact, that's the very place I added one to my National which they provided for free, gratis and for now't.

My main concern would be the scraped off finish, i.e. the so-called "speed neck". Several years ago, I bought a Santa Cruz Tony Rice guitar where a previous owner had done that and it cost me £75 to get it re-finished.

[Ron McMillan]

Hi Ivan. Congratulations on your new purchase. When I visited Trevor's shop in June, I played at least twenty mandolins from maybe a dozen different top makers, and the name that screamed loudest to me by far was 'Ellis'. I didn't play your A5, but I did play another Ellis A5 and an Ellis F5. They were both magnificent, and confirmed the Ellis A5's place at the top of my dream mandolin list, the one that I'll probably never fulfill

ron

[Ivan Kelsall]

Ray - I play well above the 12th fret a lot of the time & the strap button was really in the way - big time. Plus, it looked abominable IMHO. I really don't mind the 'speed neck' look. I don't know if it's original or the previous owner did it,it 'feels' fine so no problems with that. In truth,there are a number of tiny dents & marks on it,which don't bother me at all. The overall finish is very good,but it does look a tad 'distressed' which is fine by me. I'm waiting for a reply to an e-mail i sent to Ged Green,my local luthier regarding getting the hole plugged & the finish re-done.So,hopefully i'll get it done quite soon.
As Trevor remarked above,he had the courtesy to mention not changing the strings in an e-mail to me - i wouldn't have expected him to anyway.
Ron - An Ellis F5 is my own 'dream' mandolin & if i was a heck of a lot younger,i'd be stacking the shekels up to buy one. But,at age 69,it's simply not worth it - mortality comes into the equation these days ( although i'm 'working on it' ). Trevor made me a good offer on the "A" style,which i took him up on. At least i've got an F(s) & A style again,something i always wanted, & believe me,it will get a lot of playing,as do both my others.
Mandrian - It does feel 'different'. In spite of the fact that the nut width of 1 1/8" is the same as the nut width on my Weber,the Ellis neck seems to have the string spacing closer together - i'll measure it right now ( just a mo.) - OK, Ellis from outer G string to outer E string = 15mm. Weber (same dim.) = 13mm - i'm really surprised at that !!. The Ellis spacing is actually wider.The other thing that's affecting the 'feel' under my fingers, is that the Ellis's action is 2/3 that of my others. Maybe not having to exert as much pressure to fret the strings, is giving me a false impression regarding the string spacing. Also the Ellis neck,fingerboard to back of the neck thickness is a tad thinner. It really is a beautiful mandolin to play,& i can only imagine that it will get beautifuller as time goes on.
A question if i may - serial number 215-10 - is that the 215th "A" style or the 215th 'any' style that Tom Ellis made,& was it made in 2010 ?. A piece ''saddle string'' leather is on it's way to me even as i type. £6.11 ($10.24 US) for a strip of leather 1/2" wide x 72" long isn't bad,& i'll soon have a decent strap for it.
Trevor's at TAMCO's been paid for it,all i have to do now is to pay the credit card company,something the soon to be carried out ''bank heist'' will put right ( not really - although.......),
Ivan

[Nick Gellie]

Hi Mandrian,

I think you must have bought Black #17 which was mine. I did not put a button on it. I have since Black #20 to replace it. I was mad to sell her in the first place.

Sorry to hijack the thread.

[lorrainehornig]

That's a beautiful mandolin and really cool photos. Thanks for sharing!

[sgrexa]

Why did I think this Ellis was an oval hole? Maybe I have my threads mixed up? At any rate, congrats Ivan, I have never played one but I think Tom Ellis is one of the most talented craftsman in the world and I do hope you enjoy it in good health.

Sean

[JeffD]

Yee haaa.

I have only had opportunity to taste one Ellis, and it was impressive. Extreme fun awaits.

[Ray(T)]

If you're taking it to Ged Green, Ivan, give me a shout. There's a job I need done and perhaps we could meet up.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Ray - I'm still waiting to hear from Ged. If & when i do,i'll e-mail you at home & we can certainly arrange to meet up. I do know that Ged goes on holiday around this time of year,so it's a matter of waiting,unless i decide to phone him - but i'll contact you.
Mucho.fun this afternoon with the Ellis. I got around 4 hours in on it & my 'fangers was a glowin' afterwards - a really terrific mandolin in every way,but i was hitching the strap back onto my shoulder every 2 minutes or so. How those guys & gals do the Bill Monroe one shoulder thing is beyond me !,
Ivan
PS - One of our other Northern UK Cafe members,Paul Cowham,is getting spliced on Aug.28 - another good man down ! . Send him a PM,he'll appreciate it.

[Caleb]

Great looking mando. I'd like to know what he puts on the back of the neck where the finish is gone? Some sort of stain? I love the look of that and would like it on my mandolin.

[almeriastrings]

The Ellis necks have a very 'satin' feel. Not completely unfinished wood, but stained and lightly sealed. They are very smooth and non-sticky, and do indeed look great:



With that existing strap button hole, given it is an A-model, if it was mine, I would just reinstall a button and use that as Ray suggested - I have one on my Silverangel A, and it never caused me any issues, even when right up the neck. If you don''t like 'em, though, that's not much use.

[Ivan Kelsall]

The neck on my new 'used' Ellis has very definitely had the 'speed neck' treatment applied to it by (presumably) the previous owner.I've no problem with it at all other than the fact that the job could have been neater. I'd have 'feathered out' the finish instead of cutting it off sharply. I don't know what treatment the previous owner then applied to the bare wood,but as it's a yellowish colour,it could be Teak oil,although Tru Oil is available in the UK as it's used by the 'shooting fraternity' to oil gun stocks. However,as i dont' know what colour Tru Oil is,i can't comment. Most oils tend to oxidise,so my prefered finish would have been a simple beeswax 'rubbed' finish which i've applied to bare wood in the past. It produces a silky smooth finish & imparts no colour at all,
Ivan

[Ray(T)]

Strap button on/strap button off/strap button on!

Its all a matter of personal choice. What would happen if you were to sell the mandolin and the next owner were to want one fitted or, heaven forbid, you were to change your mind. The Ellis is new to you and the unwanted hole will annoy you; but for how long? Why don't you polish up the mark left by the button, insert a truncated screw in the hole and see how you feel about it in a few months time.

(If we're going to see Ged, it'll have to be next week otherwise I'll be away.)

[Susan H.]

Hi Ivan, that is beautiful! Very well maintained for a "used" mandolin. Congratulations.