NMD - Weber Aspen #1

[Eric Platt]

First off, no I did not need another mandolin. A couple of days ago discovered my local Music Go Round had this mandolin in stock. Went and checked it out. After tuning it up, realized it would be a nice thing to own. Had a number of instruments I was thinking about moving along anyway, so a deal was made.

This one did not appear to have been played much. Restrung it at home and realized the action needed to be lowered. A lot. Had read darylcrisp's post on his adventures with an Aspen so this wasn't a surprise. The bridge design makes it easy to sand the saddle down. After that it was ready to go. Didn't even need to touch the truss rod.

So, how does it sound? Good. No, scratch that. Great. Definitely a different voice than the Flatiron or similar pancakes. Somewhat closer to the Coombe, but with maybe more treble energy from what I can tell. Will eventually do a video comparing the two. Am expecting this will cut through well in a jam or ensemble playing.

As the photos below show this has the stamped tailpiece and TKL case. Serial number indicates December 1998 construction, which would agree with the Belgrade, MT label.

[mandocello8]

looks like a mini-me for my bruce weber sage-1 octave mandolin. so check for a problem - the top should be perfectly flat - about 10 years ago my octave started to fold across the sound hole (action went high, would not hold tuning, etc). we caught this early, contacted bruce weber and were instructed to install additional braces around the sound hole. done and done, problem fixed, still plays good as new, could be ready for a 2nd re-fret in a few years.

[Chuck Leyda]

Nice! Look forward to hearing it. Did you trade off all your Strad-O-Lins?

[Eric Platt]

Nice! Look forward to hearing it. Did you trade off all your Strad-O-Lins?

No. Those are still around. But did move a uke I forgot about as well as a guitar, amp and a couple of other items.

[darylcrisp]

thanks for posting this find. these are very cool mandolins, especially once you get them dialed in to suit your playing style. i sold mine to a nice lady who really likes it.
i just about picked up another one a month or so back, saw it advertised here and just about pulled the trigger but i have too much going on and do not need another mandolin thru the door.

d

[soliver]

Congrats on the new one Eric... gotta love a good flattop!

[Eric Platt]

Couple of updates - have had it to a couple of jams and a practice/informal outdoor show. Seems to be a nice thing. Is cutting through in groups ranging from 6 to 10 folks. Will be using it while leading an outdoor jam tomorrow. That should be another good test. Am mainly using a Tortex .73 yellow pick. But have other picks like Ultex and Wegen 1.0 to good effect.

Also, the TKL Vectra case is a perfect fit for the instrument. Even better than the Coombe did. (And the Coombe fits quite well in the older case.) Did the swap as the Vectra has more storage and the mandolin fits without having to take the strap off. Okay, and it looks cool in a funky retro way.

Am contemplating adding a small clear pickguard. Have already started to rub the finish to a gloss on the treble side of the soundhole. Worried about rubbing finger grime into the finish.