well, off we went in the car for the 5 hour drive to Pittsburgh. we set off early around 5am so that we could get to Steve's shop when he opened. that would have been the case all but for the road construction 3 miles from the exit to Steve's. we sat looking at the side of the road for 45 minutes, but no harm, no foul.

i brought steve several custom mandolins to sell for me and a vintage gibson oval hole that i got in a trade and frankly with the purchase of my new colling MT2-O it was never going to get played again. plenty of other mandos around the house these days so it was "release" time.

I do believe I saw every Collings mandolin that Steve had. The "super" Deluxe MF5 varnish is STUNNING. and if you are looking for big sound right out of the box, well, that's your mando. with the price of a used Gilchrist at $22k i'd say this mando is a best buy. it sounds as good as it looks.

On to the rest- well, i played the blonde varnish and the 'burst varnish, and an amber MF....mmmm, (amber, like carmel....mandolin sweet tooth)....this one has a one piece back and made me think that blonde is really not all that important...but i just got an MF from Steve and am working at breaking it in steadily. so on to the varnished birdseye maple MT2v....wicked, just wicked and then the lacquer MT2....birdseye also, and if that had been an engelmann top it would have gone right in the car...(i already have a blonde MT2....yeah, so what you say, but the mister was looking over my shoulder and i had promised to be good...(rolls eyes)....

huge sounding blonde MF with engelmann top. had that characteristic big woof that you get from engelmann and a very pretty mando to boot.

i got to see the new Collings 0-2 madagascar....look, but no touchie as i have taken a vow of no acquiring for the rest of the year. i could feel the drool though developing at the corner of my mouth.

in between i had to take a break for lunch or i was going to OD on mandos right then and there. so, two doors down is a great chinese place. off we went for lunch.

after lunch i went into the varnish room....as i just traded my d1a...well, let's say i did touch the CJ that is in there briefly while no one was looking, but only to pluck the strings and i just turned around and walked out....mmm, couple of d1a's in there.....closed eyes and walked out.

for those who have not been to Steve's shop it is a wonder. case after case after case of candy. the mandos are stored in a climate controlled room (the shop used to be a flower shop. how perfect is that?).

i did not spend too much time looking at guitars as it is not very often that you get to sit in a room full (and i mean full) of mandolins. i'm sure i missed a ton of other good stuff and it is good that i live so far from there as it could be very dangerous.

but i have to say, it was well worth the trip. it is a great shop and i have to thank Steve for his wonderful hospitality. Besides it was the perfect way to spend my 47th birthday. i went to bed that night with mandolins swimming around in my head, and thoughts of how i was going to get that one last mandolin purchase in there before the end of the year.

Mary, you are having way too much fun. Damn, I'm jealous.

mary, great write-up!! you should write for a travel/guitar magazine. happy (belated) birthday.

PM sent to M2 "the enabler"

back at ya. em2

Mary, great report. And hey, don't look now, but Gryphon just posted an MF5 Deluxe Varnish/Birdseye Maple mando of its own.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom F.:
Mary, great report. And hey, don't look now, but Gryphon just posted an MF5 Deluxe Varnish/Birdseye Maple mando of its own.

That is a stunning mandolin---and I don't play! The birdseye is gorgeous, and that figure near the border of the top?!? How did that get there?

Thanks Mary,now you got me MAS-ing for another 8 stringer.

After playing Gibson A's for most of my life I took a chance on a used MF5 not long after they first came out. Neck hurt my thumb so I traded that to a friend who still has it and loves it....boy, has it opened up.

Then, I tried a new MT... OK til I found an MT2 I liked better,had thumb trouble again so I gave up on Collings for awhile and tried a Pomeroy F5.... nice,Pomeroy blackface A....better,then a Phoenix BG which I thought was the best to that point but after a year or so just fell out of love with it and gave up on mandos for a short time. Then I happened upon a used MT at AMW one day when I wasn't even looking for a mando and have been happy with it ever since so full circle 5 year trip back to the plain but mighty fine MT.

After reading your report Mary I'm planning another trip to see Steve and I'm gonna have him put me in that mando room and do some serious testing.I kinda like the MT-2 Oval's but they seem a little tight. I've been hoping to hear some feedback from a few owners to see if their MT-2 O's have opened up some. I guess it's still early in the game for those but I like how they look and play with the wider neck.I wonder if they're planning MTO's like the Plain Jane MT's ?

I don't know about trading/selling my MT to move up to something else when I'm already happy with it and I don't want to start a MAS movement...already too much string-age around here to get to on a regular basis.I mostly play Celtic fiddle tunes in the first position so I don't feel the need to go big time on a mando but when I hear how that MF5 has opened up over the years it does cross my mind to find a really great mando even up to 5-6K...or more... if I sell/trade a bunch of guitar stuff.On the other hand, maybe the MT is enough. What's a boy to do?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cowboycamper,

cc,
i left two brentrups there. nice comfy necks.

had the MT2O out the other morning. fine, darn fine and it gets the david surette seal of approval. none finer at celtic fiddle tunes than Mr. Surette.

i was an oboist in my early years, and although i've been twiddling away on guitar for 'nigh on 40 years i took to mandolin quite easily. perhaps it's the "little instrument" syndrome but you know, you can get a lot more of those in a room than guitars.

having owned all kinds of mandolins from a whole lotta builders i have to say the collings mandos that are being built right now are some of the best darn "fiddles" being made today. they are all fine instruments but every once in a while you get one that just "storms the barn".

and for those who balk at the wait time for varnish and such, in 1980 the wait time for a Laubin oboe (builder out of upstate NY who it was esteemed made the finest oboes worldwide) was 9 years. the senior Mr. Laubin has since passed on (he was up there in age when i was in college) and his son has taken over his now 20 year backlog!!!!!!
(how's that for a backlog)

em2

This message has been edited. Last edited by: marymary,

Thanks Mary, I'm going to try your Brentrups and the blackface 0 at AMW for sure but what others you tried would be "storm the barn" Collings keeping in mind my first position Celticness.

Brings up another ?...is an F model or A model with f holes "right" for Celtic music or is it pretty much thought that roundholes are better?

i think you have to play them all. what i think is a barnstormer is not what you would think. in fact when you play those Brentrups you are going to say, what was she thinking? (but i have a few more at home that will be staying put)
celtic guys like dagger gordon play MT's as well as sobells (i could never get with that line of instruments, no matter how many i tried). i also left a nice old gibson A there. a lot has to do with technique. one of the nicest mandolins i played saturday was that fancy MF5V deluxe deluxe.

try the amber MF. it has a nice loose sound right out of the box. but if you are looking for something that you can play drones on (i know some celtic guys will lower the E string to a D) then an oval is preferable.

i own this
http://brentrup.com/gallery/content/22_Oft_large.php

http://brentrup.com/gallery/content/22_O_bk_large.php

as celtic as it gets

This message has been edited. Last edited by: marymary,

and this

http://mandobar.com/mystealthA.jpg

this one does just about everything well.