This weeks mandolin that won't get a bid or buyer

[journeybear]

So I guess he put up the picture of the box to have something in the listing, until he could put up photos of the actual item? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Why not put your whole listing together and then upload? Whatever!



Thanks to the expert for identifying it - which is more than the seller does. The model number is not in the description. BTW, looking around the interweb, I'm seeing it's mostly unavailable. Has it been discontinued? I did see it being offered at a couple of sites for $400 and less - considerably less than his BIN of $2000. Sometimes lack of supply may drive up demand and, correspondingly, price. I don't think that's the case here. Not by 500%.

[mrmando]

I think the FM-52E may finally have been discontinued. I have been trying to sell one at far less than $2K for some time now, but no nibbles yet.

[mrmando]

Fender FM-52E relisted as a Buy It Now at $2500, with copy claiming that it's the last "new in the box" mandolin of its kind, as if (a) the seller had any way of knowing that, and (b) it mattered. Besides, it isn't strictly true, since I got him to remove it from the box long enough to shoot a couple of photos.

[NickR]

Journeybear: J. Geils grammar conundrum:

When the J. Geils Band recorded the track in the studio on the 1974 album "Nightmares...." it was titled "Must Of Got Lost" but when it appeared on their live album "Blow Your Face Out" released in 1976, it had been retitled as "Musta Got Lost". I saw the band twice and both concerts were truly memorable. It is worth pointing out that on the album "Nightmares" J Geils played mandolin. Here is the track- you will have to wait for the mandolin break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACROtYLFT7o

[journeybear]

Fender FM-52E relisted as a Buy It Now at $2500, with copy claiming that it's the last "new in the box" mandolin of its kind, as if (a) the seller had any way of knowing that, and (b) it mattered. Besides, it isn't strictly true, since I got him to remove it from the box long enough to shoot a couple of photos.

Little did he suspect that proving its existence utterly destroyed its inestimable collector's value. It's the old Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle conundrum in action. That is, the act of observation of an action interacts with that action. So nothing can be observed as it truly is without affecting it, however slightly. (The HUP is a really small number, but it reduces everything from 100%; arguably, still arbitrarily close to 100%, but not exactly.) And I'm not even going to start with comparisons to Schrödinger's cat.

[journeybear]

Journeybear: J. Geils grammar conundrum:

When the J. Geils Band recorded the track in the studio on the 1974 album "Nightmares...." it was titled "Must Of Got Lost" but when it appeared on their live album "Blow Your Face Out" released in 1976, it had been retitled as "Musta Got Lost". I saw the band twice and both concerts were truly memorable. It is worth pointing out that on the album "Nightmares" J Geils played mandolin. Here is the track- you will have to wait for the mandolin break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACROtYLFT7o

Somehow I never saw them, however many times they came through New Haven. But I did bump into Peter Wolf once backstage, in the green room at a Lucinda Williams show in Northampton MA, late 90s. Had a very good if brief chat, in which I learned he had been a DJ with a blues show for years before the band, which is where he developed his encyclopedic knowledge of the genre.

I think I saw all that you reported in researching this matter, though you laid it out concisely and precisely. I still think the best version of spelling the grammatical equivalent of the spoken phrase's phonetics is the title of the image in the wiki, "Must've Got Lost." It incorporates the non-existence of the "h" in the word "have' and the existence of the "v" sound. Neither "must have" nor "musta" fulfill those elements, and "must of" is grammatically, ah, horrid - despite its use in the release's graphics. Sadly, historically, the band's misspelling is the way it is, was, and shall ever remain in the annals forever and aye.

Oh, and thanks for the note re: mandolin's existence in the J. Geils Band universe. So that everyone else doesn't have to wait for this 8-bar interlude - solid if not groundbreaking - tune in at 2:46. Honestly, I was surprised to hear a cut from them featuring accordion and mandolin. An interesting aspect of their oeuvre.

[NickR]

They must have wised up to the grammatical mistake and sort of wangled away from it!
I get the impression that Peter Wolf is a really great guy- and he and the J. Geils Band members got to know so many interesting people- prior to the band's formation and during its existence. These people ranged from Van Morrison, Barry Tashian, Gram Parsons and a wealth of bluesmen, R & B artistes and white blues rockers. In fact, it was just an incredible galaxy of musicians and singers that they knew and respected. I always felt that track might have been recorded in an Italian restaurant because of the musical content. You really missed out by not getting to see them- they just gave it their best shot when they performed. This interview with J. Geils was very interesting and rather sad as he died a few years after it was recorded. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZe-JZHAW6Q

[Eric Platt]

Little did he suspect that proving its existence utterly destroyed its inestimable collector's value. It's the old Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle conundrum in action. That is, the act of observation of an action interacts with that action. So nothing can be observed as it truly is without affecting it, however slightly. (The HUP is a really small number, but it reduces everything from 100%; arguably, still arbitrarily close to 100%, but not exactly.) And I'm not even going to start with comparisons to Schrödinger's cat.

Once knew a guy who would custom order acoustic guitars through stores and then return or reject them if the dealer opened the box to makes sure it what was ordered. Heard through one store that he was banned most places unless he paid up front and signed a waiver.

[journeybear]

. You really missed out by not getting to see them- they just gave it their best shot when they performed.

Just one last (hopefully) post along this tangent ... I truly do not know how I missed them. They played at the biggest club in town plenty of times, and the club got to be very proactive at leaving free passes (and deeply discounted ones) around town to get people in and improving the bar tab. Maybe they got to be too big or just disbanded before the time of those promotions. Yeah, wish I'd seen them. Oh well!

We now return you to to your regularly scheduled programming, already in progress ...

[mrmando]

Once knew a guy who would custom order acoustic guitars through stores and then return or reject them if the dealer opened the box to makes sure it what was ordered. Heard through one store that he was banned most places unless he paid up front and signed a waiver.

That must have been the guy this seller was trying to reach. And now I've ruined it for him.

[Bertram Henze]

And I'm not even going to start with comparisons to Schrödinger's cat.

Schrödinger's guitar, in fact. If mysteries are the new hype, we might as well sell empty locked mandolin cases with a "Shmergel" logo on them and a matching conspiracy theory.

[mrmando]

J. Geils made an album with Aaron Weinstein, believe it or not. I don't know if Aaron plays any mandolin on the album or just sticks to violin.

[journeybear]

I was curious. so I did some googling. The album is entitled, "Jay Geils - Gerry Beaudoin and The Kings Of Strings Featuring Aaron Weinstein," released in 2006. A few sites mentioned violin only. Then this review, apparently written by someone who actually listened to the recording, says this (reprinted without corrections):

This CD is a follow-up to Gerry's acoustic recording with Dave Grisman which was nominated for a Grammy. On this CD Gerry teams up again with Jay Geils (The King of Strings) while adding nineteen year old teenage fiddle whiz Aaron Weinstein. The result is a swinging recording of classics from the swing era plus some original blues and bebop.

"In A Mellotone" kicks off with Freddie Green style comping by Gerry while Aaron on violin picks up the melody followed by Jay. Very tasty- especially acoustically. Blue Benedetto" is a catchy 12 bar blues dedicated to luthier Bob Benedetto. I think Gerry is playing rhythm and Jay the improv on this one. Either way, its a fun tune. Check out the transcription in this issue. Other tunes include "Here's That Rainy Day," "Minor Swing," "Take The A Train" and "Sweet Georgia Brown." The CD ends with a nice take on Miles Davis' "All Blues" with Aaron doing duty on mandolin.

A swinging recording with some tasty arrangements and playing by all.

Also, in an interview, Geils said this:

Q: Any other projects in the works?

Well, there’s the Kings of Strings, which is an acoustic jazz group with me and Gerry on acoustic archtop guitars with string bass and Aaron Weinstein, who’s a Berklee College kid who plays mandolin and violin.

Note that "mandolin" appears first. As it should.

[NickR]

I've got that album and it is superb and Aaron Weinstein does play mandolin on Out of Nowhere and Here's That Rainy Day for starters. I will have to play it all the way through at some time to get a fix on it and if he plays mandolin on other tracks but that's what the blurb mentions in the liner notes.

[journeybear]

Thanks. I don't have the album. I found an image online of the back cover, but it didn't provide track-by-track credits.

[mrmando]

Message from the seller of the new-in-box Fender: "I really really really don’t want to sell this but… If you can do $1999.99 right now… I’ll sell this to you… That’s $500 off! Let me know thanks."

Not to worry if you don't want to sell it, pal.

[Reywas]

I mean, you've gotta buy it now - you made him open the box!

[mrmando]

I've got that album and it is superb and Aaron Weinstein does play mandolin on Out of Nowhere and Here's That Rainy Day for starters. I will have to play it all the way through at some time to get a fix on it and if he plays mandolin on other tracks but that's what the blurb mentions in the liner notes.

Following this discussion I went ahead and bought the Geils/Beaudoin/Weinstein CD on Amazon... and instead the seller sent me the 4-DVD Lethal Weapon box set. Not even sure I knew there were four Lethal Weapon films...

[Dusepo]

Well I doubt this'll get a bid. It's listed as a Soviet mandolin made in the USSR, but in the description (and on the soundboard itself), it says made in 1994!

[Cando]

The painting might be from 1994 but the mandolin itself seems indeed like a soviet mandolin from the Lviv factory.

[journeybear]

Could we have the url please? It hampers our ability to be fully dismissive if we haven't access to the listing's information. Thanks!

[journeybear]

Here it is. You're right - it does indeed say it's from Lviv, 1970s vintage. It's just the painting appears to have been done in 1994. And the price is in line with similar instruments. So ... It may actually be spirited away by some happy owner. The artwork is pleasant enough - a bit gaudy, perhaps, but folksy. I'm most impressed by the effort to put all the tuning pegs in line. One hardly ever, if ever, sees that.

Here's another one. Is this a common custom, folk-art painting of Lviv-made mandolins? I was not aware of it until now.



And another one. All from the same seller. I think I have my answer.

[Dusepo]

I'm afraid I closed the tab now and can't find it again, but in the listing I found it said in the description "made in 1994". Maybe they just meant the painting...

[journeybear]

Yes, you did, and it does. I included the link in my previous post, merged with the phrase "Here it is." I found it by searching eBay for "Russian mandolin painted" or some such. It turned up these three examples and surely others - all from the same seller. Seems to be his business of sorts. The tip-off they were from the same source was the tuning pegs, so neatly aligned, as well as the similar iconography - central figure of a bird, lots of flowers, bold colors. They are charming, in a primitive or folk-art way. Not my cup of tea, even from a samovar, but perhaps someone's.

[Sue Rieter]

I kind of like it.
Especially the chicken (if that's what it is).