1998 Lebeda provenance?

[loess]

I'm looking at a 1998 Lebeda A5 and trying to decide whether it's worth rolling the dice on (it's not local so I can't play it first, but the price is right). Would a Lebeda from this era have been an instrument that Jiri personally built from start to finish? From what I've gathered there have been various periods where he was building for Stelling as well as under his own name, but was outsourcing some of the work to other craftsmen and then putting the finishing touches on them. There seems to be a wealth of information on the Cafe forums about Lebedas from the early and mid-2000s but I can't find much commentary on earlier ones.

Pictures below, not the greatest but there they are. Seller does not give a particular model name, simply "A5".

[mandroid]

you could Email him in the Czech Republic and ask

I own an F- Jazzica # 089/01 Idk its 'provenance' I still like it

[Ivan Kelsall]

I don't know how soon Jiri Lebeda began having other luthiers working for him. Going back 16 years it may well have still been a one man operation. I've owned 2 Lebeda instruments,i still have one.Both have been totally first class re.build standard & workmanship, indeed,it's only my 'new to me' pre-owned Ellis "A" style that comes up to his standard of fit & finish. Regarding it's sound, only playing it can tell you if it sounds good to you - you have a PM from me as well,
Ivan
2001 Lebeda F5 "Special"

[loess]

Got your PM, thanks Ivan! And man oh man, the flame and burst and on that F5 is just beautiful.

[loess]

Long overdue update: I bought this

I was able to get in touch with Jiri Lebeda before making the purchase. He said that this one would have been made entirely his own two hands. Apparently 1998 was when he began building Stelling mandolins with a small crew, but up until the end of 1999, he was still building the Lebeda instruments by himself, piece by piece in his home workshop.

It's a fine instrument if I do say so myself. Fretboard was rather gunked up when it arrived, but it cleaned up very nicely, and the frets have plenty of life left in them. My previous mandolin was a 1985 Flatiron A5 that had Leo Posch do a refret and radius on, and that really was the bees knees. So to me, the flat board on this Lebeda rather feels like a step backward, but to another player it might not be a big deal at all, just depends on what you prefer.

It's moderately loud, not a barker but the wood certainly sings its own unique spectrum of sound, and I'm really impressed by the sustain on this thing, especially on the bass side. The trebles, on the other hand, are rather thin for my taste, and they get squashed even more as you move on up the neck. You won't hear a very powerful chop coming out of this mandolin, but it still packs a lot of volume and sweetness. I have a set of J74s on there right now. I did try out a set of heavy gauge DR MD-12 strings when I first got it, but I found that the heavier gauge impeded my ability to play up to speed.

Fit and finish on this is terrific. The colors in the burst almost start to lean toward a reddish-purple when viewed it in the right light, it's really cool. There are some fantastically subtle flames running down the sides. Tuners are fine and the neck is quite comfortable. It looks like a couple of hairline cracks have started to form on either side of the neck block, but they appear to be stable. For whatever reason, the bridge has developed a severe tilt as you can see in one of the photos. I didn't discover that until a friend pointed it out last night. I am thinking about swapping it out for CA or Brekke.

I have been playing out with this mando quite a bit lately and becoming a little better adjusted to it. Have to admit that it's difficult for me to judge an instrument fairly on its own merits; I have a tendency to make comparisons to others that I've connected with more intimately. But overall I'm very pleased with it. It's not an endgame instrument for me, but it definitely holds its own and I'd absolutely put it up against anything in the sub-$1000 range and a lot of mandolins that fetch higher prices than that. It's been serving me very well as an interim while I wait for the piggy bank to fill up again and climb back up the rungs on the mando-ladder.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Try a set of DR MD11's,the same gauge as J74's & they might just do the trick for you. I had MD11's on my Lebeda & thought that they didn't do much for it re.volume,so i put a set of MD12's on it. Initial impressions were that the heavier strings did help,but after a few months i'm not so sure. I think that the sustain has suffered & that a return to MD11's will work,so i have a set waiting to go on. You could also try a set of GHS A270 strings,again the same gauges as J74's except for a .016 gauge "A" string. In my opinion,they're a nicer sounding string than J74's ( well they were on my Ellis) & they feel great under the fingers.
The 'crack' i feel is simply where the finish has seeped into the 'riser' joint & it's nothing to worry about. I have a similar but less noticeable line on my Ellis "A" style in exactly the same place.
I have to admit that your is the first Lebeda i've seen with a flat fingerboard. All the others i've seen have had a radiused f/board. It certainly wouldn't bother me at all. My first "A" style mandolin,a Weber "Beartooth",had a flat fingerboard & i could swap over to it from my "Fern" with no problem at all.
The 'tilt' - looking at your pic.,it seems that as well as the bridge as a whole leaning forward towards the neck,that the saddle is leaning even more. I'd loosen the strings & remove the bridge. I'd then check to see if the saddle adjuster screws are slightly bent - it does happen,or if the holes in the saddle are too wide & not allowing the saddle to sit snugly on the screws. If that is the case,then the bridge 'foot' can be clamped tightly in a vice which will support the sides of the foot,& the screws bent straight again using a pair of pliers very carefully. It sounds a bit brutal,but i had to do it once on a very high quality Jazz guitar bridge & it worked fine.
When re-fitting the bridge,make sure that you hold the bridge foot flat to the top while putting tension on one pair of strings.That should hold it flat while you tighten the other strings up to tension - but keep an eye on it & pull it back upright if it does start to lean forwards again,
Ivan

[loess]

A weekend of lots of picking killed the J74's pretty quickly so I gave the MD11's a try and the mandolin has responded quite favorably to them. Seems like there is a little more punch and definitely more volume all around. Got a couple of gigs coming up in Denver this weekend so it will be fun to see how they do.

I am relieved to see that the neck issue is probably merely a finish crack; after searching the forum archives it appears that is not an uncommon occurrence in that area. Also, I looked more closely at the bridge and you are correct, not only is the saddle tilting forward but the base is as well. Will play around with it and see if I can get anywhere.

Thanks Ivan, you have been super helpful all around with this Lebeda, I appreciate it!

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Loess - Any time !. I'm pleased that the DR's added a bit of power to your Lebeda.
If you examine the bridge saddle screws & they are a bit bent forward,make sure that you clamp the sides of the bridge foot in a vice to support the sides before you try to bend them straight or it might just splinter ( doubtful - but 'just in case'),
Ivan

[Bernie Daniel]

Looks like you picked up a heck of a great mandolin! Great find.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I have to say that IMHO,Jiri Lebeda is a pretty well undiscovered builder in the USA in some respects. I know that he built for Geoff Stelling at one time,so there are some Lebeda's by ''another name'' floating about,but the Lebeda's 'proper' are possibly better know in the UK & Europe. Jiri had a few violin builders making mandolins for him at one time,so they're not all built by him.
I've had many e-mails via.the Cafe from Lebeda owners, & without a single exception,they all love their Lebedas. I've seen & played several over here & the quality of fit & finish is second to none. I think it's only the fact that the Czech.Republic is so far away from the US, & import duty & tax come into play as well,that more folk in the US aren't playing Lebeda's. Plus,there are so many US builders to choose from as well. I couldn't be happier with the soud of my 'Special',built as a showpiece mandolin when Jeff Cowherd (J.Bovier) was Jiri's main man in the US,
Ivan