Have a Weber Vintage oval hole. It is bright.
Would like something with a darker tone.
What mandolins do you suggest?
Have a Weber Vintage oval hole. It is bright.
Would like something with a darker tone.
What mandolins do you suggest?
Use Thomastik strings or Silk and Steel.
Isabel Mandolins
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arche...50923841658006
I had a Vintage A and I put Thomastiks on it and it toned the brightness down.
Silverangels have dark tone, I hear.
Strings can make a big difference, try GHS silk and steel or silk and bronze. Might as well try some Elixir Nanos. The Thomastiks are nice too. Picks and where you pick can make a big difference. If it's a new mandolin, playing the heck out it will help. Also, if the action is quite low, might try raising it a bit. Good luck. Weber Oval holes usually are not overly bright, although it has been decades since I've played one. I do have a 2002 Bridger Manola D hole that is deep and thunderous. Good luck.
I use Pyramid Gold series flatwounds on my oval. Strings make a big difference in tone.
Waterloo WL-M
Blues Mando Social Group - member
I, too, had a Weber Vintage A oval-hole. It sounded great with flat-wounds such as Thomastics. I really liked it with JazzMandos when they were available. A thicker, less pointed pick also darkened the tone. That was a really nice sounding mandolin.
Purr more, hiss less. Barn Cat Mandolins Photo Album
You may be looking for a Silverangel. They have their own unique tone.
Silverangel A
Arches F style kit
1913 Gibson A-1
Monteleone Grand Artist.
1920s Gibson A styles
I put some Elixer Nanos on a Weber oval hole and the tone actually got brighter. At first, much brighter; then it mellowed out a bit. I like it now, but it is not a dark tone. I agree that the choice of picks can make a big difference on bright vs dark. I went from a Primetone to a V-Pick after I put on the Elixers. That also helped mellow it out some.
Of all my mandolins the Gibson F9 has the darkest tone, I love it.
Dave H
Eastman 615 mandola
2011 Weber Bitteroot A5
2012 Weber Bitteroot F5
Eastman MD 915V
Gibson F9
2016 Capek ' Bob ' standard scale tenor banjo
Ibanez Artist 5 string
2001 Paul Shippey oval hole
I have a Girouard Mandola Studio A. Has some of the darkest tones of any instrument I have played. Darker and deeper than the Mowry GOM. From what I have heard, the Girouard mandolins also have dark tones, but no direct knowledge as the Mandola I got was the only Girouard I have played. When I picked it up at Carter's, I was stunned. Bought it the next day.
Tony Huber
1930 Martin Style C #14783
2011 Mowry GOM
2013 Hester F4 #31
2014 Ellis F5 #322
2017 Nyberg Mandola #172
Red bear or other caseine picks (Papas, Herve, john pearse) give darker tone with less volume. GSH silk/bronze are a little darker than phosphor/bronze, they also have silk/steel sets. Mangan Monel strings are supposed to be darker, and Thomastik flatwounds also (of those stringsets, i've only tried silk and bronze)
Kentucky km900
Yamaha piano, clarinet, violin; generic cello;
a pedal steel (highly recommended); banjo, dobro don't get played much cause i'm considerate ;}
Shopping/monitoring prices: vibraphone/marimbas, rhodes, synths, Yamaha brass and double reeds
The 1917 A has a very sweet woody tone, I wouldn't describe it as dark at all.
Dave H
Eastman 615 mandola
2011 Weber Bitteroot A5
2012 Weber Bitteroot F5
Eastman MD 915V
Gibson F9
2016 Capek ' Bob ' standard scale tenor banjo
Ibanez Artist 5 string
2001 Paul Shippey oval hole
Flat wound strings.
Jim Richmond
Did Santa get your Northfield to you? It should be dark.
2010 Heiden A5, 2020 Pomeroy oval A, 2013 Kentucky KM1000 F5, 2012 Girouard A Mandola w ff holes, 2001 Old Wave A oval octave
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My Eastman 505 has really strong bass tones, if thats what you mean. I dont know about other Eastman models particularly, this one just has a lot of lower end bite. I use daddario flatwounds but that doesnt make the tone any darker, just more comfy to play.
Much wisdom here in trying different strings and picks before you give up on this mando.
(Much cheaper too - BTDT)
I find that Dawg picks and Golden Gate picks are very dark...
Kirk
If possible, you could try to get one of the german "Wolle" picks. They are made from some very soft and thick plastic and produce nearly no "pick-click" and a quite warm tone. They are used by most german classical players...
Mandolins: 1920s (?) Meinel & Herold Bowlback, 2006 Furch "Redwood MA-1" A5
Octaves: 2004 Fender FMO-66 Flat-Top, 2015 A. Karperien 5 String Electric
Banjos: 2007 Gold Tone IT-250F Irish Tenor, 1963 Vega Vox No. 1 Plectrum, 2016 Recording King RK-OT25 Clawhammer
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 variations on a theme. Then I picked up a used Nugget A, which had been damaged and Mike had replaced the top and refinished it a few years before. It was still kind of beat up. And it was a Mandolin From Another Planet, with a dark, throaty, rich tone. How to describe? It was like Belgian dark chocolate and everything else was Hershey's Real Dark; it woofed like a 60-pound Burmese Mountain Dog to everything else yipping like a 15-pound Scotty. It became my baseline when someone says "dark tone, anyone?"
Mandola?
writing about music
is like dancing,
about architecture
This is a bit tongue in cheek, but buy a Dawg pick and you'll need a flashlight when you play your Weber!
I understand that the oval hole Weber mandolins are the only ones now x-braced. I have used the original Brekke bridge on three mandolins to reduce brightness. I assume it is the additional mass of ebony that seems to help.
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