Requesting info about a 1999 Ratliff R-5

[Jacksml]

Hi,
I have a 1999 Ratliff R-5. I bought it mail order from a shop in Germany STREICHHOLZ-SCHACHTEL, but I went to their website and seems like they are no longer there. I emailed Audey and he said he custom made this mandolin and others like it the “heartbreaker” specifically for this shop.

I am wondering
1. Does anyone else have a Ratliff R-5 Heartbreaker?
2. And does anyone know about the shop in Germany or what happened to the shop?


I sure love reading about all these mandolins!

[mandrian]

Hi,

Don’t know anything about that specific mandolin, but I do remember the shop which always had some nice stock.

I bought a 2004 Lebeda Jazz 5 from them probably around 2007. It was a nice mandolin, but what I remember most about it was that both the instrument and its case smelled really strongly of cigarette smoke. I fought a running battle for about 2 weeks before the smell was manageable.

Regards,