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Thread: Notes from the Condino vault

  1. #26
    My Florida is scooped pheffernan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Notes from the Condino vault

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Garber View Post
    I have one more question: which of these Loar owned/played instruments had Virzis? Also, did the snakehead H-2 mandola (Centaur) have a Virzi. Just curious... my A-4 has the coffee-colored knobs and a Virzi.
    A snakehead H2 mandola with a Virzi tone enhancer sounds even more intriguing, especially if Gibson never built one!
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  2. #27
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Notes from the Condino vault

    As much as I'd like to build a bench copy for both of you, if I'm going there, I guess it will be a trio because I've been thinking about building one for myself in an A5 configuration with F holes, tonebars, and a carved Brazilian rosewood back!
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  3. #28
    My Florida is scooped pheffernan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Notes from the Condino vault

    Quote Originally Posted by j. condino View Post
    As much as I'd like to build a bench copy for both of you, if I'm going there, I guess it will be a trio because I've been thinking about building one for myself in an A5 configuration with F holes, tonebars, and a carved Brazilian rosewood back!
    Like a tenor lute with a mandola neck?
    1924 Gibson A Snakehead
    2005 National RM-1
    2007 Hester A5
    2009 Passernig A5
    2015 Black A2-z
    2010 Black GBOM
    2017 Poe Scout
    2014 Smart F-Style Mandola
    2018 Vessel TM5
    2019 Hogan F5

  4. #29

    Default Re: Notes from the Condino vault

    Thanks again for looking over the snakehead H-2, James1. It's in the mix with other instruments, but you can hear the Centaur on the recently released ETSU Mandolin Orchestra recording - the Cafe featured it a while back, and it is available on bandcamp: https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/c...olin-Orchestra

  5. #30
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Notes from the Condino vault

    Thank you Lee. Maybe after the holidays I can come back for another visit. It has been a few years and I'd be interested to see if my impressions of it are the same.

    As my friend Adam likes to say: Mandolas are great; I can play fiddle tunes at half speed and people think they are Christmas songs!
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  6. #31
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Notes from the Condino vault

    James: I asked Lee this same question but he did not know the answer since the H-2 was not near him. Did it have a Virzi?
    Jim

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  7. #32
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Notes from the Condino vault

    I just looked at my blueprint notes and there is nothing to indicate that it has a Virzi. If it did I would have made some comments while taking the Hacklinger measurements....BUT....fear not, I can build one into it for the bench copy I build for you! I have a 1923 Gibson Harp guitar with a Virzi about the size of a football, so I'm very aware of them.
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  9. #33
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Notes from the Condino vault

    Installment II:

    The Griffith Loar.

    I first played this mandolin while it was on vacation in Idaho during the 1990s when I was living in McCall. It had everything I seemed to need and more, in a simple, compact form factor. I also had access to a Hacklinger and all the measuring tools I wanted, so we picked and nerded out on it all afternoon. A few years later I was in Portland where my neighbor John Sullivan made these drawings. They are floating around the 'cafe archives. My understanding is that Bruce Harvey got them from John and posted them here years ago. They are identical to my notes. There are a lot of variables that go into mandolin building; plates are just one part. With nice materials, these are a good starting point.

    If you make an approximate 13 7/8" scale F5 neck, use my 1925 A mandolin blueprint from the Guild of American Luthiers for the body rib garland, and use John's plate thicknesses lightly braced, you'll be on track for a nice A5 style mandolin that consistently hits where you want it; even better if you tune it further on my live plate testing rig. These are one of my 3 favorite Loar notes that I consistently refer to during most mandolin builds.

    The instrument photos seem to be floating all around the web, but I believe they were originally from Darryl at the F5 Journal.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

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Name:	40.1  loar A5 JOHN SULLIVAN  BRUCE HARVEY.jpg 
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    Last edited by j. condino; May-11-2023 at 10:50pm.
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  11. #34
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Notes from the Condino vault

    Thank you, this is wonderful. There are some other images that Bruce posted many years back on the Cafe but I see DanB has many of those other images showing some detail in the Mandolin Archive.

    http://www.mandolinarchive.com/gibson/serial/74003
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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