"Individuality" of Phoenix Neoclassical mandolins
As I mentioned recently in another thread, a few weeks ago I finally decided that I was too lazy (and getting perhaps a bit older lol) to continue down the rabbit hole of learning the octave mandolin. My beloved Burgin Shanghai needed to go to a better home! And, I acknowledged to myself that I truly regretted selling my Phoenix Neoclassical. Soooo.....I put a "for trade" ad on the Cafe - believing it was a zillion to one chance but within hours a marvelous trade was arranged and once again I have a Neoclassical.
But I had even more of a surprise. This is the third Neo I have owned so I'm able to make some observations that I find interesting. The first one was traded for a Neoclassical Europa III. I sold the Europa to help assuage the momentary financial freak out when I bought my Collings. Selling it was a big mistake. But I diverge. Here's what I want to say: this last Neo is most definitely, objectively, the best of the three in terms of sound, playability, and finish. I must say I was surprised that the current Phoenix is, to me, superior to the Europa. And that's saying something! This observation once again affirms to me that every mandolin is an individual instrument with distinct individual characteristics!
“There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.” ― Albert Schweitzer
1925 Lyon & Healy Model A, #1674
2015 Collings A (MT2-V)
Bookmarks