Mandolin Brothers

[goose 2]

Yesterday, I took a little time off from tennis watching and went to Mandolin Brothers. Right now they have an unbelievable selection. I had not seen any of the Collings varnish mandolins before and must say they were nice looking. I played both models and definitely thought the deluxe sounded best and in fact it sounded amazingly good brand new. Very traditional sound on this one which I havd not heard on the Collings I have played in the past. I played a couple Apitius, Bluet (never seen or played one before but boy was that one extra nice}, all the Gibson production models, and played a Rigel. I had never played a Rigel before but was impreseed with the open ringing sound of those. It was kinda like playing the guitar in an open tuning. Definitely one of the easiest to play mandolins I have ever played.

Without a doubt, however, playing the Gibson Distressed Master Model was the highlihgt. That thing really does look like a seasoned Loar and the tone of that instrument is to die for. I played all those instruments myself and had another picker in there play them while I was listening and I just cannot say enough about that DMM mandolin.. . It would just completely fill up the room with perfect warm balanced tone. We had a small audience of people that concurred that one had something no others had. In my view, anyone who wants to put down Gibson mandolins needs to play one of those and I'll bet it will be an eye/ear opening experience in the least.

Well, back to tennis watching. . .Go Andre !!!

[Le7beda]

In my view, anyone who wants to put down Gibson mandolins needs to play one of those and I'll bet it will be an eye/ear opening experience in the least.

And in my view, anyone who wants to put down $25,787.00 for the DMM is welcome to it. At that price it had better open some eyes/ears, do loop-de-loops, shoot sparks out your backside and wash your windows.

[BigJoe]

Not only can they do that, they might be able to wash dishes and feed the dog. Actually, when you get one you are more likely to forget all the rest and just want to play it all day .

[Ray Neuman]

And it will still be a Gibson.

professir

[Le7beda]

Not only can they do that, they might be able to wash dishes and feed the dog. #

I think you might be onto a new marketing angle, Big Joe... ! Whatever helps sells 'em helps sells 'em. If I were to buy one I'd definitely need sparks flying out my backside to rationalize the purchase. Not only would that be cool, but I could fight off my creditors at the same time. Best of luck!

[goose 2]

It definitely is quite a price tag but it will cost you another 125K to find anything that looks or sounds as good (unless you can get a standard MM and distress it yourself). To be honest, I was not expecting to be blown away by the DMM but is just outstanding right out of the box. No break in needed at all. If anyone is considering putting that kind of money down for a mandolin, then you must check one of these out.

[Frank Russell]

Le7beda - I take it you haven't played one. I was very skeptical about them as well, but I played two last month, and they are everything we've been told. Just blew everything else I tried that day out of the water, including nearly every Gibson signature model, every level of Collings, Weber, etc... It's easy to have a "sour grapes" view when the cost prevents me from ever, ever having one, but I have to be honest. Far and away the best sounding mandolin I've heard to date. Frank.

[Le7beda]

Le7beda - I take it you haven't played one. #

No, I haven't. #Nor have I ever driven a Ferrari. #I never questioned the quality. #I was commenting (perhaps too sarcastically) on goose 2's post comparing a $25K instrument's performance #to others priced at a fraction of that amount. #Goose said it possessed a quality no others there had. #Based on its price, it bloody well should! #No sour grapes. #It was an obvious observation. #

But I think using the DMM's performance against lower priced instruments as a sort of defense against some of the business related criticism Gibson has received on this board and others is an odd spin. #

And if anyone out there has a Ferrari they'd let me drive the kids to school in, I'd be happy to report back on its handling characteristics compared to my VW Bug!

[mandoJeremy]

I have taken quite a few trips down to OAI myself and I have played six or seven Distressed Master Models and they always just sound amazing! I have played BigJoe's, Dave Harvey's, and Skaggs' DMM's and they are some of the best mandolins I have ever heard. I compared Ricky's side by side with the Loar he plays most of the time and the DMM sounded better to me. I am not knocking the Loar at all because it is a great mandolin but the DMM just won to my ears.