Indeed
Indeed
Ok so what I love most about this particular Gil, is its incredibly strong mid range... I brought it to a jam the other night with probably 15 musicians going at it at once. When I took a break, no matter how loud the others were playing the Gil cut through all of it with no effort. I didn't have to change my technique and hit it harder just to hear what I was doing. Its sooooooo responsive with a boat load of sustain. What is ironic, is how bright it is for an engelman topped mandolin. I know all wood can vary but most of the engelman topped mandolins Ive played had a bit of a darkness to them and didn't always cut through a mix well. Im just speaking from the ones Ive played, Im sure there are ones out there that can cut through a banjo, and thats exactly what this Gilchrist is doing. Id love to hear from others that may have experienced this delightful surprise with their engelman topped mandolins. Steve said this mandolin #173 is graduated very similar to McCourys "big red"... What a beast that one is, especially after all those years of the Ronnie hammering on it. I don't even know if his Loar could catch up at this point...
Dem
Dem,
Did you post a video? Haven't seen one yet, but want to hear this beast.
I've got an engelmann topped Daley that is similar. It's a quintessential bluegrass mandolin with a big chop and lots of cut. I was surprised but then again, the wood guys say it's less about the name and more about the grain and individual piece of wood itself. Who knows? Mandolins seem to defy my expectation all the time. I've come to the opinion that it's the mandolin and not all the other things. What I like and don't like seems to be less about maker, wood type, body style, nut width, radius vs straight, big frets vs thin frets and all the other things and more about how they all come together in a specific mandolin. Each is different. The rules get broken all the time.
Here is a little noodling on this quiet Sunday afternoon...
Nice, Dem. For us geeks, what strings and what pick are you using?
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
Pick noise on the Florida extension.
Send it back.
willi
I see where you're coming from, Demetrius. The Gil has a mature tone. The Wiens had more brilliance and tonal density, but was greener sounding overall. Instruments have to fit like a comfortable shoe.
Jim, thanks man... I'm using a white wegan tf-140. The strings are whatever came on the Gil. I'm assuming exp74's but I'll be making the switch to standard ej74's.
Will, ha ha... Real funny... What's your address? I'll just send it to you...
Barry, Yeh I mean the Wiens was already a monster, and to be honest I could see myself takin a crack at another Wiens someday. Heck I may even try to get that one back if the new owner ever wanted to part with it. The Gil is my number one and will stay that way. It is my hoss, my crusher... It's one of those mandos. You can buy others to add to the collection but that will always b the machine you take out to get the work done... I will say this Gil is about 30 years old and certainly sounds it but not from play. This thing wasn't played at all I don't think. The only sign of wear is from I swear natural curing and aging. There is finish crazing just about everywhere, but there is almost no play wear at all.
I love love love, the mid range... That's the chase for a lot of builders and Gilcrist really hit it hard on this Mando...
Best,
Dem
I really liked the tone the Weins delivered but I understand why it had to go.
The Gilchrist sounds great. My old headmaster used to say,
"Good things come to he who waits . . . long enough"
Refrets, I've had a few . . .
Dem, back on page 14 of this thread you state Gryphon wouldn't sell this to you again. You called and ask and they politely told you it evidently wasn't the mandolin for you. Then i remember seeing it leave the webpage listings at gryphon a couple days after and someone said it had sold. Then two weeks later you bought it. How did all that happen?
I based my comparison on the video of his brother playing the Wiens that comes up after Demetrius's most recent video ends. I realize there is a different player, different touch, and different music. I've just played enough of them to hear how they respond to what's being given to them.
"The paths of experimentation twist and turn through mountains of miscalculations, and often lose themselves in error and darkness!"
--Leslie Daniel, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die."
Some tunes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa1...SV2qtug/videos
There must be hundreds of thousands of people watching right now !
I have problems viewing the video.
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education - Mark Twain
Manfred how's your Brentrup? I love that Mando!!!
Love the one you're with.
Demetrius, I am getting ready to post something that makes you send me offers
Just need to change strings first. I have been trying out Thomastiks for the first time and only like the longevity but not so much the tone (on that mandolin)
This is how they sound:
https://youtu.be/hayGCSh656U
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education - Mark Twain
Manfred, have you shared this with my brother? He was thinking of trying a set of flat wound on his Brentrup.
[QUOTE=jaycat;1517127]Your schoolmaster didn't know when to use the objective case?[/QUOTE
The objective case ain't no part of nuthin'.
Refrets, I've had a few . . .
As far as the very specifics of the ending business transaction between Gryphon and I, that stays between Gryphon and I... If they would like to post the story on here then they are free too do so. I will not do so without thier permission..
What I will say is that in ended up being an overall very pleasant experience for both buyer and seller, and we both walked away saying we look forward to future transactions with one another. There was a minor email mis communication during the original return of the Gil that was quickly resolved... Gryphon truly is a world class company to deal with.
Ok, back to playing!
Dem
I still don't understand. I don't want to know price, etc, but I think you owe it to this thread and the people who've contributed by explaining the timeline. I'm not accusing you of deception, but there's a lot of questions unanswered as you kept this thread going on and on. There seems to be some things that just don't add up. You sent the Gilchrist back, said they wouldn't sell it back to you, it was then listed on their site for sale, then 2 days after that, about August 6 or 7 it was taken off and said it was sold. Now, fast foward to 8/26/16 and it arrived at your house again. But in the interim, you purchased the Wiens and then listed that for sale.
It's up to you to respond, but I really do think it's the least you could do for the thread followers.
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