EEEEK

Why would anybody want to copy a model of this 70's gibson mando?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws....79&rd=1

[Kelly_guy]

Ah, grasshopper, isn't it obvious? Think of this quote by Schopenhauer;

"All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed; Second,
it is violently opposed; and Third, it is accepted as self-evident."

Maybe the same thing happens in aesthetics? First, the Lumpy is ridiculed. Later, it is considered sacrilegious to bring a Lumpy to a bluegrass jam. Eventually, the Lumpy will be revered as a rare collectible, and many will copy it!



Kelly, owner of an early 70's Gibson A-12 Lumpy.

[earthsave]

a flat top made to look like an arch top.

[fiddler59]

Even as ugly as an A-12 is they hold a special place in my heart becuase that was my first real mandolin back in 1971.
Thank god I got rid of the heap a year later and never looked back. They were god awful.
DB

[August Watters]

This is not a copy of the A-12. The luthier who made this was not aware of the A-12; he was just trying to recreate the look of the carved top in a flat-top instrument, and arrived independently at the idea of the lump scroll. I know 'cause I'm the one who asked the builder to make it -- although I didn't know about the lump scroll until it arrived!

This is a great mandolin by the way, if you can get past the memory of Old Lumpy. It's similar to more familiar high-quality flat-tops, like those made by Flyde or Sobell.

Just goes to show: truly great minds can reach the same brilliant conclusion independently.

August Watters
http://www.galleryofstrings.com