My repairman says it would cost more to fix than to replace, and even he did fix it, it will never be the same.

I don't know how or why this happened. But my insurance company says that if it was some sort of trauma or accident, they will give me enough money to replace it with one of similar quality. But if it is the result of some sort of natural deterioration, they will not.

My repairman says he thinks it is the result of some sort of trauma, but honestly does not know why it happened either, however, I will be getting a letter from a man named Ren Ferguson, who is one of the big shots at the Gibson Montana plant saying that their instruments do not fall apart, and there is no way this could have happened naturally and it must have been traumatized in some way.

Meanwhile, to tide me over temporarily, I bought a Korean cheapie acoustic at the NAMM show that's actually pretty decent, and have made arrangements to get a Godin electric at the artist's discount. (I wanted a Godin anyway, and would have bought one sooner or later even if this hadn't happened.) Then if the insurance company honors the claim. I'll also get the Rolls Royce mandolin I really want, which is made by a company called Rigel.

It came with a single coil pickup, and since I use it for recording, I needed a humbucker, so I had Seymour Duncan make me a custom stack mandolin humbucker. As far as I know, this was the only one he ever made. (This was many years ago before he got so successful.)

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My repairman says it would cost more to fix than to replace, and even he did fix it, it will never be the same.

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First, let me say I'm sorry for your loss. Secondly, I'll give you $20.00 for what's left of it!

Seriously, Mike, humidity (lack of) can cause catastrophic implosions like the one you've described. I have heard horror stories of Martin guitars imploding from totally drying out. The wood loses it's strength and the forces from the strings gradually overcome the wood top over time. That is about the only thing I can think or to cause something like this.

Good luck,

Terry

Pre-Gibson Flatiron F-5
1960 Martin D-21

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You had it insured?

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I live in Los Angeles, where EVERY guitar player I know, without exception, has had instruments stolen at one time or another.

I was burglarized in 1969, and lost everything. It happened again in 1980, but this time I had insurance, and was able to replace it all. At the time I opted for fewer but better instruments, and so I actually upgraded from a Harmony mandolin to the Gibson.

I pay about $550 a year for around $70,000 worth of coverage, minus a $1,000 deductable. The mandolin is insured for $3,200.

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http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff. Joaquin Murphey transcription book, Rhythm Tuneup DVD and more...

[This message was edited by John McGann on 25 January 2005 at 04:51 AM.]

Considering your stature in the Mandolin community, I'm really interested to hear what you have to say about the Collings Mandolins. I'm supposed to pick up a new Collings MT this weekend. What are your feelings on the diffence in the MT and the MT2 (tonewise)?

Oh, and back to the subject at hand... Mike, I don't know if I would tell the insurance guy or the factory rep that you had a humbucker installed on the top of your old Gibson... They may determine that this caused the failure of the top.

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Mike, I don't know if I would tell the insurance guy or the factory rep that you had a humbucker installed on the top of your old Gibson... They may determine that this caused the failure of the top.

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What if Mike made the claim that the pickup was accidentally installed in the mando?

"I told the repairman 'I need to pick up my mandolin' and, because his cell service wasn't from Sprint technology , he heard it as 'I need a pickup in my mandolin.'"

Collings mandos are made right here in Cedar Valley, TX. My friend Paul Skelton works there and he too says that the A-models are every bit as good as the F-styles, only without what he calls "the $3000 strap holder," meaning the scroll.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

I'm sorry about your mandolin. If you're not "locked-in" to one brand of mandolin, I can recommend a builder.

Martin Brunkalla of Brunkalla Violins builds violins which are widely regarded as excellent instruments. Martin also builds mandolins. Recently, a good friend of mine who plays violins and mandolins tried a Brunkalla mando at a gig and was very impressed...no, amazed by it's tone and volume. In case you're interested in a Brunkalla mandolin:

Brunkalla Violins
8015 S. Hill Rd.
Marengo, IL 60152-8252
http://www.brunkalla.com/

If you'd like, e-mail me and I'll give you my mando/fiddle pickin' friend's e-mail to get a reference on the Brunkalla instruments.

Best of luck and...

I also saw some brands that I never heard of before that were also very good.

If everything I saw, as a matter of personal taste, I preferred the Rigel. But I'd be happy with any one of the ones I mentioned.

I bought something called "VENSON" for 100 bucks just to tide me over temporarily. This is all mahogany, and the top is a solid piece, not lamenated. You can see the cross section of the wood through the F holes. I also made arrangements to get a Godin electric. This is, for my purposes, perhaps the most practical mandolin on the market.

Like I said earlier, if the insurance company will honor the claim, I'll get a really fine one. But if they don't, the Godin will certainly suffice, and the Cheapie is not bad. (The guys at the Rigel and Gibson booths were both very inpressed at how nice it was, considering the price. The Gibson guy said it was better than their $300 Epiphone.)

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Livin' in the Past and Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

[This message was edited by Jerry Hayes on 26 January 2005 at 07:12 AM.]

Sorry to hear about your loss. That really stinks!

I have had issues with "lack" of humidity with one of my Mandolin's. What I have found are these rubber tubes with a sponge inside and holes all around it. You run it under water and then dry it off. Then you just stick it into the F-Holes on your Mando and put it in the case. In the winter months I do this. Haven't had a problem since.

If you are looking for a recommendation, I would put my $.02 for Bill Bussmann at Old Wave Mandolins in New Mexico. I have one of his F style Mando's and it is "like butta". The smoooooooothist Mando I have ever played! http://www.zianet.com/Bussmann/

Mark

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Sho~Bud Pro I, Fender D-8 (C6&E13) http://www.darkmagneto.com
http://www.arditotech.com

I saw about half a dozen excellent mandos at NAMM, and I'd be happy with any of them, but I really liked the Rigel more than the others.

The Collings', Breedloves, Webers, and new Nationals are all tied for 2nd place, and the Michael Kelleys and Eastmans (Eastmen?) are tied for very close 3rd. But all are truly excellent.

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My Mandolin died

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If you want to salvage parts from the Gibson, why not have a new acoustic body made? The body alone may not be too expensive from some of the lesser known luthiers. You might get lucky and end up with a really good sounding acoustic mando. 'Just a suggestion but it might be worth a try. Best of luck, amigo.

Keep on pickin'!
Glenn

[This message was edited by Glenn Suchan on 27 January 2005 at 06:28 AM.]

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Livin' in the Past and Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

But I decided that even if they don't, I am only going to have one mandolin, so it had better be the one I REALLY want.The kind folks at Rigel are giving me the instrument at a substantial discount in an artists endorsement deal, so it won't totally decimate my savings account.

I am also (assuming that the insurance company honors the claim) attempt to buy the broken mando back from them and replace the top myself. (Actually one of our fellow forumites, Mike Brebes) is interested in attempting to do the job.) If it comes out OK, fine. If not, it was toast anyway.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I saw a lot of 9s, and several 9 point 9s, and I would have been satisfied with any one of them. But I felt the Rigel was a perfect 10.

They had several different ones at the show, with different tones, raning from a rich thicker open tone to the tighter and crisper tone preferred by bluegrass players. I played one whose tone I really liked, and they fellow at the booth told me they could build me one that sounded exactly like it. (I assume the different tones were the result of different kinds of bracing or other internal structural differences.)

But I think the single thing that convinced me to get one of theirs instead of one of the others, was the neck and radiused freboard. I felt is was more comfortable to play on than any of the others.

Incidentally, one of the mandos that I really liked a lot is made by WEBER, and they made a prototype ergonomoic fretboard with angled frets. It looks funny, but is considerably more confortable than the standard fretboard.