My Jack Spira Flattop Mandolin is my forever mandolin. Short of economic catastrophe, I won't sell it.
Jamie
There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946
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My Gibson 2003 Gibson DMM. I will never own another mandolin. Hard to believe we have been mates for nearly 20 years.
It doesn't matter . . . I'm going to WINFIELD!!!!!
My 2014 Gibson Fern is as close as I have come to the holy grail of mandolins ,love it .It is my go to mandolin for sure
I have been fortunate to have a couple mandolins that were my holy grail. Unfortunately, they had to go because of medical issues. After 35 surgeries and disabilities that have made keeping my holy grail mandolin and guitar an impossibility. For some reasons, doctors and hospitals want to get paid. I am thankful I had the opportunity to have a couple of the finest mandolins I have played with the exception of a couple real Loars. I was without one for several years, but I have a mandolin and I love having it. Holy grail? No, but it is a mandolin and it sounds very good and plays very good. I enjoy it more every day, and I can play it in my wheelchair without them getting in the way of the other. I have learned to appreciate what I have and to be grateful to have it. It’s the best mandolin for me because it’s the one I have. I guess that is really as close to a holy grail as a man can expect.
Have a Great Day!
Joe Vest
My personal favorite is my first mandolin, a plain 1920 Model A. It was what I learned to play on and now, years later, it still gets played most days.
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
Just a bit hit and miss on my time these days. I have a 70's Halsey F5 that is hard to beat for my personal taste given the vintage tone and playability.
While I have a couple of mandos I love dearly, I'm not sure any of them are the 'Holy Grail', although I would be reluctant to part with them. But I am open to others on offer
Now my 00-21 is a different story. We've bonded over 48 years.
Not all the clams are at the beach
Arrow Manouche
Arrow Jazzbo
Arrow G
Clark 2 point
Gibson F5L
Gibson A-4
Ratliff CountryBoy A
This is just an addendum to my post #7 about my Heiden Heritage Model F-5.
Mando & Banjo Week at the Swannanoa Gathering ended a few days ago and once more I got to hear close-up the personal instruments of our instructors Mike Marshall, Matt Flinner, John Reischman, Emory Lester, Don Stiernberg, Casey Campbell, Joe Craven and Alan Bibey (Gilchrist, Gibson, Dudenbostel, Nugget, Flatiron, Rattlesnake) and I spent some time putting Reischman's Loar and Emory's Heiden through their paces again.
After a week sampling some of the finest mandolins on the planet... I'm still VERY happy with my Heiden Heritage F-5. Very happy indeed.
Jim Magill, Director
The Swannanoa Gathering
Warren Wilson College
PO Box 9000
Asheville, NC 28815-9000
828-298-3434
jmagill@warren-wilson.edu
www.swangathering.com
I’m can’t say definitively if my 2014 AL Smart F5 is my holy grail, but since purchasing it several years ago, I haven’t played another mandolin that fits me better. I do have a short list of builders I am curious about like Heiden, Gilchrist, Duff and Ellis, but it would take something extremely special for me to let go of my Smart.
2014 AL Smart F5
1988 Givens A
1921 Gibson A
2009 Peter Zwinakis Selmer Guitar
2002 Martin D-18V
1999 Huss and Dalton CM Custom
Several Old Fiddles
The title of this thread seems to suggest that a "Holy Grail" mandolin is one that you hold on to. The first post however suggests that finding that special mandolin results in "no more MAS". Two entirely different things.
I can't picture ever letting go of my own H.G. mandolin.
But I can't imagine not perusing the Classifieds wondering if there might not be a Holier Grail out there somewhere.
"I play BG so that's what I can talk intelligently about." A line I loved and pirated from Mandoplumb
its not the holy grail by any stretch but i got my 29 fern (by trad estimates ) in 2005 its a good one ...itll have to do i guess, i always have secondary mandolins .....i sold my 2012 f-5 gibson to fund a guitar and then stumbled onto a glenn f-5 ( sam bush copy ) that i really like and plan to keep...so i reckon im set for a while....
I have always been fickle about my instruments...any however-long favorite of mine has usually been toppled from it's throne by something else eventually. A somewhat spontaneous desire to fully participate in the celebration of the centenary of the Loar-signed era inspired me to recently acquire an F5 that will be 100 years old on 2-24-2024. Izzit my grail? Will it be with me for the rest of my mandolin-stroking years? My plan is to definitely enjoy it at least through it's 100th, and beyond then...?? I suppose I will watch the market and if prices/demand rises again I may release it back into circulation...if not, my heirs can deal with it. In the meantime, I still am beyond giddy about the fact that it is currently mine (MINE!!) and that I get to play it every day and at every show I do that includes me playing mandolin! I have had a Chris Stanley V5 for the past 10 or so years that is fairly Loar-ish and has been my "bluegrass mandolin", but it could be my 1920 F4 that would be the closest to fitting into the one-I'll-always-keep category. But I have no crystal ball or other means of predicting the future, and should add that I am now 66 years old, so...who knows...??
too many strings
"Its sad to belong to someone else when the right one comes along." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwgYhy9XTTY
Is it possible to have found the holy grail mandolin but not own it?
I have great mandolins (Duff A5 2015 and an early 21st century small builder monroe F5 copy) but I have PLAYED several that still represent the 'best I've heard'. These include a Red Diamond terrified July 9 and a Dude with a viri. I've played a lot, including Loars, but these stick out as ones I can't forget. I doubt I will ever shell out the bucks for such an instrument, mostly because now I want a decent octave AND a mandola, but I tolerate addictions (MAS) well and am happy the carrot still beyond my reach. YMMV.
Well, since we are resurrecting this thread… in December I acquired one vintage Gibson I always wanted: 1924 A-4 Snakehead with coffee-colored buttons and, as a bonus, a Virzi. Add that to the arsenal of “grails” or whatever you want to call them.
To be honest the ones I would truly call grails would be the two A-4s.
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
I think I saw my Holy Grail on Ellis' Instagram page today.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CoVKjr5u..._web_copy_link
Eastman MD315 Mandolin
I may never have a mandolin about which I can say that. I'm very happy with both my plain A's from the late teens, and never felt a burning need for anything more. I did give in to MAS a couple of years ago, springing for some pretty good deals for an A-4, an F-4, and an A-3. The first isn't what I thought it was going to be, though it's nice enough. The F-4 is really nice, though it still doesn't have the meaty sound of the plain A's - it's more refined, which I am not nor are my tastes. It also doesn't sound like the one Ry Cooder plays/played in some old videos. (Other factors may be in play.) The A-3 was shipped directly to my luthier, and one thing and another, is still not restored, so for all I know, it might be the HGM I'd like it to be. But these plain A's are just fine, or as recent Grammy winner once said, good enough. And maybe good enough IS good enough, and is not settling.
This is from a long time ago, before she got into electric slide guitar. Still that wonderfully evocative voice.
On a related note, I suppose I could say my 1916 H-2 mandola IS a personal holy grail instrument. It is such a fine instrument, with a deep, rich, full sound, so resonant it is always still ringing when I put her in the case. I've never wanted another.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Yea. About three mandolins ago I bought the last mandolin I would ever want.
I'm truly in complete remission from MAS. The 2008-10 recession made me really appreciate what I have, and the "value versus price" tradeoff. There is a great saying, "If you choose what you chose, you always have your first choice." The meaning is that you can decide that what you already have is the best thing, for you, and then you shall not want. It is easy for me because I have four great mandolin family instruments and they are all my "holy grails" in their categories:
- Old time and country acoustic: Old Wave Oval A
- Church music, plugged in: Rigel A+ Deluxe
- Beater: Parsons Flat-top
- OM: Mendel Octave Mandolin
Those probably wouldn't be "holy grails" for anyone else, and that's OK.
Funny thing about Grails, they can be had, but they aren't necessarily the one a person reaches for the most. Still love the Brentrup and it's the mainstay of the larger band practice and performances.
But sitting around at home, jams and other groups, am more likely to reach for one of the Strad-O-Lins first. Go figure.
Brentrup Model 23, Boeh A5 #37, Gibson A Jr., Flatiron 1N, Coombe Classical flattop, Strad-O-Lin
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As an outsider newbie, I'm surprised that I'm not seeing Collings mentioned more. I wonder -- Too ubiquitous to be special and make the list? Or just not special compared to the boutique makers from a tonal perspective?
Collings are my favorite sounding mandolins. If I came into a lot of money, a couple of them might be my new holy grails. I A/B compared a new Collings F-5 to a well-broken in Gilchrist that was much more expensive and "better" is subjective, but if I had been offered the choice of the two, I would have taken the Collings. I think Colling has a strong, but narrow, niche in the market. They are expensive for a new factory-built mandolin and you could get a good solo builder to make you a mandolin for what a Collings costs, or you could get a used big name mandolin for as much. I would go with the Collings, but that's just me.
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