vega

[ira]

went to the music emporium in lexington, ma today and played a ton of mandos, and could chime about the rigels, webers (though the custom maple hyalite with gloss finish was wonderful), gibsons new and vintage, midmos, morgan monroes, kentuckys, sultana (i think thats what it was),etc... but the true winner for me was the 1920 vega cylinder back- wow! excuse me i don't think that was loud enough for the fun i had WOW!!!!!!!!!

beautiful focused tone. rich and soulful, sweet as sugar on highs, lows and mids, comfortably playable all the way up the nice wide neck with action low as could be with no buzz to be heard. beautiful to look at-quite ornate, loud but not brash. i played some sweet blues on her and if i didn't know for sure how much of an issue it would cause in my home (do the kids really need to go to daycamp this summer? do we really need to replace our crumbling stone steps?) i would have shelled out the 2K+ right there on the spot. i dont know if i have ever enjoyed playing a mando more. was surprised that the cylinder shape didn't make it uncomfortable as i dont' ever feel right playin a taterbug, but it was just right.

why don't they make em like that anymore? hey builders- check one out if you haven't, they are worth creating a new generation of mandos with similar specs.

just wanted to share my amazing mandolin experience today (and hey, when you play 15 or 20 instruments in one afternoon as good as most of these were, my vega experience becomes all the more amazing).

thanks for listening,
ira

[neal]

Rigel

[ira]

huh?

[Django Fret]

I enjoy playing my 1919 Vega C-Back as much as any mandolin I have ever owned. The tone and playability are both incredible, and it is always noticed and complimented on by the guitar players I play with.

Rigel is the only company I know that makes a modern version. I haven't played one yet, but would love to see if they have successfully recreated one of the best sounding mandolins ever constructed. (In my opinion...)

[sunburst]

I imagine that a lot of builders would be glad to build you one if you were to approach them.
It probably wouldn't be easy to make a living trying to market cylinder backs, but custom orders are welcomed by many.

[Jim Garber]

Ira,
What wood were the back and sides of the one you played? They made them mahogany, maple and rosewood. I imagine that this was one of the higher end ones, probably maple.

Jim

[ira]

looked like maple but i didn't ask. it sure projected way louder than mahogany and too lite looking for rosewood.

[ira]

looked like maple but i didn't ask. it sure projected way louder than mahogany and too lite looking for rosewood.

[Jim Garber]

If it was fairly light-looking it was maple. Both the rosewood and mahogany were finished dark.

You can see some pictures of a maple cylinder back mandola at this site run by Bob Develli who is pretty active on this board. I am actually surprised he hasn't chimed in on this topic. His is an upperend model with an inlaid pickguard.

BTW I checked on the Music Emporium site and I can't believe that they only have 6 vintage instrument in stock. I have a feeling that their web site is not updated much.

Jim

[neal]

Check the Rigel site, he makes 'em on special order. Sorry first post was too short. They look real sweet, too.

[Jim Garber]

I have not seen the Rigel c-back in person, but i would imagine that they are significantly more expensive than a vintage Vega, even the one at TME.

Jim

[John Bertotti]

There's a Vega c-back on ebay right now. Sorry don't have a link. John

[Jim Garber]

This is the cylinder back on eBay.

The seller believes that it is mahogany. I think the bidders think it is rosewood. I tried to get her to send some larger photos to determine what the back was, but she couldn't give me anything better than what she posted on eBay. Then the bidding got crazy -- this was previous time it was on eBay. The high bidder was a dud so it was relisted.

At the same time was another one which was not in quite as good shape as this one appears. I ended up getting that one which should be coming soon and at a fairly reasonable price.

Jim

[Bob DeVellis]

Jim:

Congrats on getting the Vega! You're right, I would've chimed in sooner but I've been out of town. ALthough I've played a few that weren't that inspiring, I have to say that a good example of a cylinder back is among the most satisfying instruments to play, in my experience. In addition to my maple mandola, I also have a mahogany style 202 mandolin (lowest of the cylinder back models) that I fell in love with when I picked it up. I really wasn't in the market and walked away from it. An hour later, I went back and bought it and haven't regretted it. Although these have crept up in price over the past couple of years, they're still well worth what they sell for, in my opinion. As I recall, the Rigel copies run about $4500, which is considerably more than a vintage one, but then it's also brand new.

The one on Ebay is very pretty. ALthough it could be a rosewood 203, its date (I think 1919 based on serial number) makes a mahogany 202 more likely. The 203 switched from rosewood to maple somehwere around 1919. Also, Vega's mahogany backs are darker than their mahogany necks and their appearance is consistent with the way this one looks in the posted images. Where the side joins the neck does look a bit like rosewood, but the back looks pretty much like mahogany and the side might just have a bit more figure than usual. Rosewood would typically have more dark streaks and I don't see that on the back. The price it's at now seems like a bargain to me, assuming it's a good-sounding instrument. But a lot can happen in the 2 days that remain.

[Jim Garber]

Here's is the patent (November 45, 1913) that David Day got for the cylinderback mandolin. It is interesting to me that it was a design patent, in other words more of a cosmetic innovation than a real structural patent. I am not a patent attorney so I am not so sure of the difference.

Jim