http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/83710
Interesting story. Tommy Comeaux is mentioned, I sold a monte to him at some point.
http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/83710
Interesting story. Tommy Comeaux is mentioned, I sold a monte to him at some point.
When I saw that ad this morning my first thought was that if I were in THAT market ($25K keeper mandolin), I'd be on the phone to Carters immediately. Those don't come up often.
Clark Beavans
I've never played one of those but have wanted to. Anyone have any experience with them that can speak about their impressions of his mandolins?
The one and only Carrera I ever saw and played was in a small upscale guitar store in Jenkintown, Pa circa 1996 or so. I think it was going for 11K back then which was A LOT of money. I was probably too inexperienced (and nervous!) at the time to appreciate such a fine instrument, but I don't remember it having the modern, bass heavy sound but rather being more a bluegrass leaning, midrange heavy tone machine. It certainly was a beautiful instrument and I wish I knew then what I know now! Having lived in Philly all my life, I had the good fortune to meet John once or twice at various guitar shows and he was a gentleman who was more than happy to hand over and let you pick anything he had available. He was rightfully well respected by his fellow luthiers and is sorely missed.
Sean
I wonder how many members of the cafe have ever played a Zeidler mandolin. Living in the Philadelphia area, I had the privilege of visiting John's shop (in a house that used to belong to my great uncle) in the mid-1990s. John showed me an archtop guitar he was in the process of building, as well as a modernistic D'Aquisto archtop guitar that he was crafting a new bridge for (looked like the large D'Aquisto original bridge, but the base was hollowed out to decrease mass). John was a very fine craftsman and artist and was also an experienced machinist, who fabricated his own tailpieces.
A former member of the Munier Mandolin Orchestra owned and played a Zeidler Carrera mandolin. The volume and projection of the instrument were strong, but the tone was not Loar-like. The sound reminded me more of that of an archtop guitar, with a strong midrange and a fair amount of sustain.
I don't know how many mandolins Ziedler made in his career, but would imagine that it was under 100.
When 'good enough' is more than adequate.
Gruhn's has this Zeidler on their website:
http://guitars.com/inventory/mf8421-...eidler-carrara
It's listed at 10K.... and looks to be in pristine shape. Not sure why the one at Carter's is 25K?
I'd love to hear one...his craftsmanship is amazing- I especially like the binding on the back of the headstock, very cool...
A good friend of mine has one. I would agree with Sean about the sound. It is a mid-range heavy tone machine. It's great for Irish and Jazz stuff.
Here is his.
We believe that is the mandolin in the picture from the Zeidler catalog. The finish as faded a lot. You can see the original color under the tailpiece. Plus, the flames on the back match.
Last edited by Mike Black; Feb-10-2015 at 11:58am.
Wow...That one at Gruhn's has a ton of bling. That's a cool looking mandolin for sure!!!! Little ostentatious but really cool.
The Parlor has one for $15.5K: http://www.theparlorknoxville.com/ma...eidler-carrara. That's quite a range of prices within the state of Tennessee.
1924 Gibson A Snakehead
2005 National RM-1
2007 Hester A5
2009 Passernig A5
2015 Black A2-z
2010 Black GBOM
2017 Poe Scout
2014 Smart F-Style Mandola
2018 Vessel TM5
2019 Hogan F5
John refretted a mandolin for me and told me it would the last work he would take on as his building was his main focus. He added that he would maintain it for me though. He handed me a mandolin he had just finished, it was beautiful. I'm glad I got to meet him and see his work.
Old Hometown, Cabin Fever String Band
I love his fret work, with the little triangles on the ends. I now do all my fret ends the way that John Zeidler did.
From Michael D. Smith - "That one at Gruhn's has a ton of bling....". You'll never be more right Michael. I think it's glorious. I remember seeing a photo of John McGann's 'Zeidler' on here a few years back & was blown away by it's styling. Anyone with the cash to afford it is going to own a unique instrument - i wish it was going to be me !. It's very rare for MAS to hit me unless it's something with Ellis on it,but i'd make an exception with this one & the one at Gruhn's,
Ivan
Weber F-5 'Fern'.
Lebeda F-5 "Special".
Stelling Bellflower BANJO
Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.
So I guess it's fairly obvious from my post that I'm not in the market for a $25K keeper mandolin.
Boy, the Doyle Pag in the classifieds looks like it would be a fun one, though!
Clark Beavans
You got that right, tree. Listen to the first DLandQS record, that mandolin cuts the mustard!
I stumbled upon this video of a Zeidler being played in concert recently.
https://youtu.be/uzgbAzkaeNM
Ah yes, that's Yoshihiro (Hiro) Arita, long-time friend and musical partner of John McGann. John's Zeidler's mandolin was passed on to Hiro, as I recall, and this looks like it, so I'll assume that's John McGann's last Zeidler mandolin you're hearing. John actually had three Zeidler mandolins, I believe. John Mc once told me how he'd recorded a new album with his Zeidler mandolin, but John Z wasn't satisfied with the sound of one high note on the instrument -- and insisted on making John Mc a whole new mandolin!
Hiro is primarily a banjo player (and he's a National Banjo Championship winner), as well as a brilliant multi-instrumentalist. Here's a full concert he did in the 90s with John McGann (playing his Zeidler guitar), Jimmy Ryan (mandolin) and Jim Whitney (bass). Hiro is playing his Zeidler banjo. Some pretty incredible music from the Boston scene, performed in Japan.
Exploring Classical Mandolin (Berklee Press, 2015)
Progressive Melodies for Mandocello (KDP, 2019) (2nd ed. 2022)
New Solos for Classical Mandolin (Hal Leonard Press, 2020)
2021 guest artist, mandocello: Classical Mandolin Society of America
"Hiro is primarily a banjo player (and he's a National Banjo Championship winner), as well as a brilliant multi-instrumentalist. Here's a full concert he did in the 90s with John McGann (playing his Zeidler guitar), Jimmy Ryan (mandolin) and Jim Whitney (bass). Hiro is playing his Zeidler banjo. Some pretty incredible music from the Boston scene, performed in Japan".
That's pretty cool! A friend and former bandmate owns a Zeidler banjo and dreadnought guitar. Both are early instruments of John's and are played frequently. I understand that John Zeidler was a banjo player.
Old Hometown, Cabin Fever String Band
Well, not in the ads but I figured it should go in this thread with the other Zeidlers. At Vintage Instruments in Philadelphia. A 1995 left-handed A model Carrara. I love some of the details, like on the back of the headstock.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
certainly not many of those out there... as in one!
I love his take on instruments, and the peg head treatment/detail really is the cherry on top.
I am curious, and wondering if this may already be a thread - about the saddle compensation. This is not one I have seen before, 'though 'reversed' is not that uncommon. Collings have been using a reverse-mounted saddle on their mandolins for a couple of years, now. The claim is that it results in better intonation in the upper register.
Is there any interest in this, or should I post this elsewhere. It was only seeing this one that raised the question. Sorry if I'm out of line.
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