These look kinda interesting

My aversion to Pacific Rim mandos is no secret. These sure look interesting though. He's calling these arch tops but I'll be hanged if I can see any arch in that top. Has anyone bought one of these & can give us the skinny on them?Arch Top or Flat Top?

[John Ely]

Looks flat to me. Strangely shaped headstock.

[Jim M.]

There is a discussion of Antonio Tsai's work in the Post a Picture section by someone who owns 5 of his mandos:

http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin....t=12281

[Eric F.]

I asked about these. Here is the reply:

Yes, I am the luthier who built the Aladdin mandolin for my friend, he shows it on Mandolincafe.my A carved board A style with F5 head mandolins are all hand works, the carved board is built by hand, very beautiful and balance sound, you can view my feedbacks about my mandolin buyer's comments, thanks,, Tony

[GBG]

Indian Rosewood "root"? Those holes in the side are for venilation or just to let the F holes suck more air?

We should be able to "see" an arch....that's what's throwing me. I think the seller is very reputable, but a Taiwan arch & a Texas arch must be two different critters.

[Bill James]

....peghead looks like a cowboy boot, no wonder Dale can't leave it alone. It's a subliminal thing.

[duuuude]

I dunno, this may be a bad sign, Dale takin a liking to a PacRim, isn't that one of the signs of Armageddon?

[MANDOLINMYSTER]

(but a Taiwan arch & a Texas arch must be two different critters)

EVERYTHINGS BIGGER IN TEXAS

[Keith Miller]

he's got a lot for sale at the moment, and for "hand built" they are quite reasonable, anyone know anything about the quality, the link from Jim will not work for me.

[jim simpson]

Dale,
Perhaps it had an arch before string tension was applied
Jim

[pathfinder]

I think it's a flat (look at how the base of the bridge is sitting flush on the topwood). #

It might make an interesting hoodmount for a vintage LTD, if the owner couldn't find a suitable rack from an old Texas longhorn!

[Andrew Reckhart]

Why are his guitars $2500 to $6000 and his mandolins under $1000? It really doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I feel that a flat-top guitar is much easier to bulid than a F5 style mandolin. Just my opinion, but you can get one heck of a guitar for a lot less than a comparable quality mandolin.

[neal]

That F looks like it has a frosted honey bun on the top, and was made by one of the guys in his shop. But the Alladin looks interesting, a little too ornate though, and that one is 6000.

[Lee]

Neal said "honey bun"
xoxoxox HA!

[August Watters]

Aren't we off base here calling this a "Pac rim" mando? We use that word for all those factory-made jobs that are manufactured over there because of the cheap labor and lack of environmental protection standards.

This appears to be something different: a handmade instrument built by a single luthier, who was presumably holding out high standards. OK, weird high standards, and who knows if he even knows the first thing about mandolin construction. For all we know this thing could totally suck -- but my point is it appears to have been built by a craftsman doing his best work, not by a factory using cheap labor to make a buck. Whatever the quality of this instrument, it appears to have been made for the right reasons.

I don't think it deserves to be tarnished by the "Pac Rim" label, the way we usually use it.

"I don't think it deserves to be tarnished by the "Pac Rim" label, the way we usually use it."

August, I agree with you on the above. Now somebody buy one of the dang things & tell us all about it! #

[Potosimando]

Here is what I posted on the other discussion thread listed above. #I hope "Susie" on that thread let's us know about the quality once the instrument arrives. #In the meantime, I can only suspect that the quality level of these instruments is off the scale in the wrong direction (i.e. really, really poor-quality instruments)...but I sincerely hope I am wrong:

When Tony first started selling things on ebay, I purchased a few components, simply out of curiousity (a fully-inlaid fingerboard, a couple of different tailpieces, a couple of bridges, a pickguard, and so on). #There was a bit of a delay at my local P.O., but in the meantime Tony and I exchanged numerous emails. #Without question, Tony seems to be one of the genuinely nicest fellows I have ever "met".

When the components arrived however, the quality control on each component was just terrible. #Disgusting by any measure and completely unsuitable to be used on any mandolin. #I tried to explain the importance of quality control to him and gave him several references to pursue. #Hopefully Tony has figured it out by now, but at the time I considered the necessary jump in quality to be an impossibility.

I have to say, Tony's actual inlay work was quite nice. #Again though, aside from the inlay the balance was so bad, in terms of both material quality and workmanship, that it was out-and-out humorous.

Good luck Susie. #Please do tell us about the quality of your new instruments when they arrive. #Tony is such a nice fellow, it would be very cool if he has indeed gotten his mandolin act together.

To others, beware...beware...beware until you at least hear some good knowledgeable reports on Tony's mandos. It is not that Tony doesn't mean well and believe in his work--he simply doesn't (hopefully "didn't"--i.e. past tense) know what he was doing...except for his inlay.