Virzi today...
I am always interested to see a contemporary instrument with the Starship Enterprise docked on the underside of its soundboard:
https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/194081#194081
AFAIK, he is not the only currently active builder offering a Virzi in his mandolins. Has public perception (or one of my favorite terms, "conventional" "wisdom") turned around on the Virzi Tone REDUCER, as it was always referred to with a sneer? The arguments both for 'em and against 'em have been fully hashed and rehashed. Has anyone played this particular example, or other recently produced instruments carrying a Virzi? Does anyone know about any re-thinking/re-engineering of the device by any builder/proponents?
I play a vintage F5 issued with a Virzi and I might have been inclined to disdain or at least overlook mandolins issued with one, just from the bad rap the Virzi had received for so long, had not a trusted councilor sagely advised me to shop with my ears, not my inspection mirror. Whilst not possessing the most amplitude of some other mandolins I am familiar with, its sound does carry...I have turned heads 20-30 feet away with a simple whump-whump of a stacato closed chord. Speaking of the whump, it produces such a pleasing sound when "chopping", with enough midrange velocity to set off my somewhat hair-trigger tinnitus if I hang an ear right over the f-hole. A moderate pickstroke will produce a respectable report without hearing a full consonant pick attack at the front. Single notes leap nicely from the instrument, with bold low notes, whilst full and clear on the thin strings...not zingingly bright like Bush's Hoss, but a more dignified bell tone, and even response throughout its range. The aforementioned moderate pick attack will generally produce all that needed in most applications, with the assurance that there is still some power in reserve between half and full throttle. Are these properties all due to the Virzi? Given my disinclination to fish a bent coathanger through the endpin hole and yank the thing out, I won't ever have a direct comparison.
So, yes...seeing the linked mandolin does cause me to wonder if the tonal-taste-makers or mando-social influencers have now given the Virzi their endorsement. Does anyone else have Virzi experience to share, especially with a contemporary instrument? Knowledge of any resurgence in its popularity? I hope to hear more on the topic...!
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Originally Posted by MikeEdgerton
) but they really like the tone of my Kelley. My red maple/Adirondack red spruce Daley F5 cuts a bit more and is somewhat louder, with a less refined tone than the Kelley. Both are in the traditional sound camp. I prefer the Kelley for vocal accompaniment and prettier tunes and the Daley for hardcore grass and when I need to be heard in a loud jam.
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