Re: [Harp-L] Mandolin

[David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I play and come from a long line of Payne mandolin pickers. In my family, mandolin pickin' is, as some reflex passage of manhood, subconciously compulsary.
My family is of the F-model mandolin persuasion. It's the 1940s embryonic rock n' roll bluegrass mandolin.the F model is King Mandolin of the Elk River, since the days when my grandpa played out with his crew. He played with Bill Duncan on the Elk River back in the 50s, Bill Duncan was later one of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys and led the Harmony Mountain Boys in the day. Back then, the F model was the mandolin you played in bluegrass, pretty much still is. In  grandpa's day, you'd  be playing a gig have to sit your mandolin down and go whoop somebody, wipe the blood off your knuckles with an oily rag, take a swig of Kentucky Bourbon and start playing again. Duncan actually has had somebody try to kill him while he was on stage several times, one time he sidestepped a moment before a guy shot at him and the bullet went through his guitar. Another situation ended with a bartender killing a guy with a shotgun seconds before he would have shot Duncan. It
 was usually caused by Duncan not knowing a drunk's favorite new release on the jukebox
In all this, the F-model style mandolin played a key role in the legacy and development of Kentucky/West Virginia bluegrass. In this world, the A model is something one usually gets until he can afford an F-model.
However, since you were turned on to the mandolin at a Howard Levy concert, perhaps the Elk River style of unsubtle whoopass mandolin is not what you had in mind. Regardless, you ought to buy an A model either way. 

The A model (As are teardrop-shaped) doesn't have the punch an F model does, but it has more of a sustained tone, that you'd be more likely to hear at a Levy concert than at one of grandpa's back in the 1950s. An F can sound pretty, but an A can sound prettier.
Avoid the $35 mandolins on ebay, unless you plan to buy a better one soon. 
The Kentucky 140, 180 or whatever they call their A model now, is what you need. It's like $150 and will outplay many of the low-end F models that cost three times that much. It is made in Korea, not Kentucky. Unless you want to drop a couple grand or more, you'll not be getting an American mandolin. There are many more mandolin makers in the country than harmonica customizers. 
The best mandolins of all time were the Gibson mandolins from the 1920s. I picked with a guy once that had a 1924 Gibson F4, it was unreal. Gave me chills. There's a Lloyd Loar Gibson F5 mandolin on ebay right now for $675,000. That price is not a typo. 

I made a little movie of my grandpa, there's some pics of him with his Gibson F5 mandolin in it and a couple tunes. The first is from a record he made in 1950 at age 21, he's singing and playing guitar. The second was made in 2007 and he's picking the F5 mandolin, which is absolutely badass. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpnvPMptC2o


The mandolin is  a highly personal thing. Duncan tells this one story where he was at the Grand Ol' Opry with Monroe. Monroe broke an A string on his mandolin. Duncan decided to be helpful and change the string. Monroe comes back, sits down. He deliberately and carefully takes an A string out of the package and unfurls it. He carefully places the spare string across his lap and ceremoniously picks up the 1923 Lloyd Loar F-5 Gibson he played throughout his long career. 
Monroe took off the tailpiece and did a double take, then stared in horror. Anger filled him. 
"Who the god...n hell's been messing with my mandolin!" Monroe screamed. 
"I did." Duncan said. 
"You leave my god..n mandolin alone." 
Those who are learned of Monroe, will no doubt realize that for Monroe to actually swear, he was infuriated. 

Here's some harp content. 
There's this reluctance among purists about harmonica in bluegrass. I offer that Monroe had a full time harmonica player, an official Bluegrass boy, in 1944-1945... Curly Bradshaw. 
IF I hear any of this nonsense, I usually tell these people which part of the human buttocks they can kiss. But it was different when I took the Elk River Boys to Duncan's house in January to pick with The Man. I really didn't know how he'd take the harp, and because I respected him so, not only because he was one of Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, but more importantly, he played with my grandpa in the 50s, I was nervous 
I played the mandolin for a couple songs and then he said "why don't you let me play the mandolin, so you can blow on those harps for a while." 
That, my friends, is bluegrass.

If you want to hear a Kentucky A-model mandolin, I play one on my myspace page, you have to scroll down the songs a bit, you are looking for "Cecil Payne Stomp" 
http://www.myspace.com/davidpaynesr
Dave
______________________________
Dave Payne Sr. 
Elk River Harmonicas
www.elkriverharmonicas.com