Post by nkforster on May 29, 2017 16:27:11 GMT
May 29, 2017 6:10:02 GMT @robbiej said:
I can't stop listening to these. To me this is what a Celtic mandolin should sound like. Somehow it sounds bigger, like an octave mandolin, and I'm guessing this is the bigger body at work. Robbie,
Ps. I LOVE the shirt 😉
Some of you might remember that article I published on my blog - "What is a Celtic mandolin?" It put a few noses out of joint at the time, but the main motivation behind the piece was my frustration at how poor most Celtic mandolins were. I understand why - the Celtic mandolin market simply isn't worth much. The "top of the tree" is still Stefan, and I've no idea how much his mandolins are these days, but I doubt they are $24K like a Gilchrist. So there is little financial motivation for makers to really work on the design.
There is a "race to the bottom" just now amongst builders which is great news for players - makers are competing with each other to see who can do the most work for the least money. Such is the nature of competition in a saturated market. But competing on those terms just doesn't interest me. I don't make many mandolins, but when I do, these days, I think you get something pretty special. I've been making "Celtic" mandolins for nearly 30 years now. I'm not a beginner! To some extent, my older "Celtic" mandolin design was nice, but it was pretty much a Sobell "tribute act." It was only by going to meet, interview and spending time with other mandolin makers - like Steve Gilchrist and Rosta Capek that I could really see the limitations of the "Celtic" design. It was only then I could work out how to make these things perform better, whilst keeping the outward appearance in line with people's expectations.
I'm very happy with this design. I don't expect to make many though, as I realise there aren't that many folk in the "Celtic" world out there who are willing to pay a reasonable amount for what is just as much work as a guitar.
nigel
www.nkforsterguitars.com