Your mandolin is beautiful! I have another picture of mine in the equipment forum that shows the serial#. It's a little dinged up from my dad hitting the microphone with it when he used to play it. Don't know if I should have it made to look new or leave as is?
Leave it as is. Every ding is an integral part of its (and your Dad's) history, something to be cherished imho.
Len B.
Clearwater, FL
Nice. I agree. Thanks.
"The Show Must Go On" by the Tennessee Gentlemen
I just had to look this up and OMG what a fine band!! Your Dad's mandolin playing was spot on and the band vocals (ok, and the banjo too are all top notch, All the other comments about the provenance of your mandolin are all so true. This mandolin deserves to heard and played again and your dad's band should be more widely appreciated. Any other YT's of the band? TIA!!
Len B.
Clearwater, FL
Thanks for the kind words about my father and his band! That song was recorded in 1977. That particular group stayed together from about 1976-1983. During those years and a few beyond they were well known in the bluegrass world. My father won "Best Bluegrass Mandolin" at the SPGMA awards for many years BEFORE they moved to Nashville. That's back when bluegrass was growing and becoming what it is today. There should be quite a few of their albums on UTube to listen to. He only played the F-5 on the first 2. There's one called "Just Us" that has a couple of good instrumentals on it with the F-5. The neck is so small on his F-5 that he had to stop playing it because his fingers were getting fat and he couldn't hit all the notes clean enough. I could go on all day about my father and his band but I won't. Those were great times for me, my father's band, and bluegrass!!!!
Troy and Dempsey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRaJaPCBdJY
Hughes F-5 #1
Hughes A model #1
1922 Gibson A-2
1958 Gibson A-5
Where was Troy my whole life?!
When I saw Lost and Found at the Bakersfield Loarfest I heard a lot of Loars that weekend but to me Dempsey's Hutto was the best sounding of the bunch. And you can hear it in this clip. Listen to those low notes. Louder than anything else in the mix.
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