I just watched the Rounder DVD of a Doc Watson/David Grisman/Jack Lawrence concert from the late 1990s, which I expect a number of us have. On this recording, the mandolins (he uses two) appear to have a warm sound which is almost towards an acoustic F hole jazz guitar, rather than the hard bright sounds that I'm more used to hearing on bluegrass recordings and from my budget mandolins. Is that recorded sound anything to do with the way those instruments are set up, is the combination of the player and the instruments, or can he make anything half decent sound like that?
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