I see that the two Dudenbostel mandolins that Sylvan music has for sale in their shop just showed up in the classifieds. I don't think they have been posted there before, but I could be wrong. In any case, I was in SC in November and stopped into the shop for the first time and was VERY impressed with the mandolin selection. The flatiron they have (also just posted to the classifieds) is a hoss.
The dudes were displayed in the vintage room in a locked cabinet. I had been picking various mandos for 20 minutes as was picking up some picks and a magazine before leaving and commented to the sales clerk about the Dudenbostels and how cool they were. He immediately asked if I wanted to play them!!
I am sure that there is a confirmation bias knowing you are playing a $16,000 instrument, but genuinely, these two sounded a degree of separation better than anything else I have played. Not 4x the sound of the $4000 Flatiron of course, but I can attest to Lynn doing some things really perfectly.
I liked the brown model with the Virzi better than the burst. I was really grateful to have 15 minutes each with these amazing instruments. And I am grateful to high end shops like Sylvan, Gryphon, Retrofret, Music Emporium, etc that let folks come in off the street and pick away at everything. It is my favorite part of travel to seek out the local music shop and see what they have.
So, if you are anywhere near Santa Cruz, head over and be nice and maybe for the cost of a Wegen pick and a Fretboard Journal (that's what I bought as the price of admission) you too can have the VERY rare opportunity to A-B Dudenbostel mandolins again each other and 30 other great instruments. Just don't buy that Flatiron, I'm saving me money! ; )
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