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Post by Mike Floorstand on May 27, 2013 20:55:42 GMT
Lovely delicate arangement of Sleeping Tune there Joe - suited the tune v well Thanks Keith - I think it suits CBT well too, showcases the sustain of the trebles even with a capo on. [Glasgow Reel], again with an interesting lilt to what I've only ever heard as a very "straight" reel ... Well I have been wondering why I get funny looks at the local session whenever I start a reel off! I shall blame my technical deficiencies - if I played them straight I wouldn't have an space to insert my triplets! Interesting comparison with your own CB, though I'm guessing that the ages of the strings had much to do with the differences, which seemed more pronounced than when I heard you play both CBs at the East Anglia Guitar Festival recently. The strings on my own Ceol Binn were a bit older, and are Newtones rather than D'Addarios, so perhaps not as useful a comparison as it might have been. But, I think the mandos do sound quite different, and I suspect the biggest differences are down to the newness of the spruce and the differences between cedar and spruce - spruce a bit more sparkly, cedar more mellow. I can only speculate as to the effect of the heavier tailpiece on CBT, as I resisted the temptation to swap them around in order to conduct a properly scientific investigation  .  Top stuff Joe. Any excuse to wear your long frilly bloomers eh? Well normally I "go commando" but they say variety is the spice of life! |
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Post by Mike Floorstand on May 27, 2013 21:03:44 GMT
Ah the buzzes - it must be Spring Thanks for the review Joe and also the recordings - you've got a great touch on the mandolin and as I said to you when you came over your mix of chordal accompaniment to the melody is really cool. That's a really wide variety of music in the recordings - all lovely but I've a particular fondness for the Can-Can  Thanks for patiently putting up with the irritating buzzes and rattles that hopefully will be sorted soon - especially with Keith on the case using the "phone a friend" facility  The tailpiece transition of the strings makes an "interesting" string path over the saddle which I think isn't helpful for buzzing noises and in my attempts to make my own tailpiece I'll be looking for a design with as straight a string path as possible. I didn't notice the different sized tailpiece until we were at The EAGS - David Dyke has obviously got a new supplier in Germany for these rather than the earlier Chinese made ones. The scale length isn't that unique as the Fylde Touchstone mandolins are 375mm too but the nut width probably is - I know that Fylde made a special wide nut Touchstone for Ken Nicol though. They do work for guitarists though I think as I can play these and could never find enough finger room on mandolins I tried before. The guitar sized frets work well too and I use these on all my instruments including ukuleles. Thanks again for the music and the review and I hope you have a great meet up with Keith. Glad you enjoyed the Can-Can Dave, I played this once at the local session and I think I got away with it, but in no hurry to try again! I shall keep playing it at home though, in the hope of conjuring up a line of chorus girls trooping through my kitchen ... no luck so far, but if you don't try ...!! I didn't realise the Fylde also has a 375mm scale - I used to own one of those but sold it as I found it too cramped, but I haven't had that problem with the CBs. I looked up Fylde and I think they also put on quite-a-bit-heavier strings, again CB's 30-20-15-10 feel about right - be interesting to hear Keith's take on this once he has collected his thoughts. |
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Post by Mike Floorstand on May 27, 2013 21:08:06 GMT
Smashing thread and some lovely mondolin playing as well Mike. Really enjoyable  The mandolin sounds good, particularly on Drowsey Maggie Regards Phil Thanks Phil, you are too kind!. I'm certainly looking forward to hearings the remaining roadtrippers recordings, CBT is certainly capable of some lovely sounds. |
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Post by Mike Floorstand on May 27, 2013 21:13:26 GMT
I've listened now to all the YouTube clips of CBT which Joe put up and am, frankly, quaking with fear! Some fantastic technique and brilliant tunes (I particularly enjoyed the .comparison' video - fantastic stuff) A great review, too, Joe. I can imagine you being confounded by the buzzes but, as you say, someone has to be first  I can't deny it was frustrating, all the more so because I had a strong sense that CBT is going to be a great-sounding mando once the settling-in and setup issues are sorted. I don't regret being first in the queue though, it was still a privilege to witness the first few week's of CBT's life! |
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Post by Mike Floorstand on May 27, 2013 21:15:12 GMT
Great playing on these videos - I don't think I'll be posting any of my amateur efforts when the mando comes my way at this rate! Recordings and videos are certainly not compulsory ... but they are fun though! |
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Post by Mike Floorstand on May 27, 2013 21:33:46 GMT
Here's one more video, the tune is O'Carolan's Concerto and was recorded shortly after the Sleeping Tune so the capo is still on the first fret. The video is a compilation of photos of CBT next to my own Ceol Binn II, photos were taken in a bit of a hurry with a Blackberry on the morning I set off to take CBT to Keith's, so not the greatest quality!
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Post by Mike Floorstand on May 27, 2013 22:06:46 GMT
Nearly done ... here's a photo of Keith holding CBT, just to prove I gave it to him!  I think I have one more recording to post, will probably do this as another photo compilation on youtube, if I can find some vaguely relevant photos ... |
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Post by ocarolan on May 27, 2013 23:07:16 GMT
Glad to see you got home OK Joe - hope you had a good time on your short break and that the M4 wasn't as bad on the way back. Carolan's Concerto is a lovely piece that you played really well and CBT seemed to like playing it too. Keith |
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Post by davewhite on May 28, 2013 7:26:31 GMT
I can't deny it was frustrating, all the more so because I had a strong sense that CBT is going to be a great-sounding mando once the settling-in and setup issues are sorted. I don't regret being first in the queue though, it was still a privilege to witness the first few week's of CBT's life! Well - Road Trips are sort of like circles and you are very welcome to have CBT again for another go when it returns with many miles on the clock and lots of playing time behind it. "Carolan's Concerto" sounds lovely  |
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Post by Phil Taylor on May 28, 2013 20:09:24 GMT
The Concerto does indeed sound very good - lovely sounding mando |
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Post by Martin on Oct 5, 2013 16:26:49 GMT
Excellent playing, Joe and a good variety of pieces certainly helped to show off CBT at it's finest. Teething difficulties aside, this is a super sounding instrument, and I'm certainly enjoying my own time with it. Sorry to have waited so long to comment, but I kind of wanted to come to it fresh with no preconceived ideas of how it looked or sounded. As I've had it for nearly a week now, I feel at liberty to come onto these other threads now to comment before I start my own thread Again, really great playing |
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Thanks for patiently putting up with the irritating buzzes and rattles that hopefully will be sorted soon - especially with Keith on the case using the "phone a friend" facility 
The tailpiece transition of the strings makes an "interesting" string path over the saddle which I think isn't helpful for buzzing noises and in my attempts to make my own tailpiece I'll be looking for a design with as straight a string path as possible. I didn't notice the different sized tailpiece until we were at The EAGS - David Dyke has obviously got a new supplier in Germany for these rather than the earlier Chinese made ones.
