My, doesn’t time fly? I thought I had another week to go, only to realise that the third Thursday of the month is nearly upon me!
Rootling through a miscellany of stray thoughts about music, I have come to realise that I am easily susceptible to the sound of vintage instruments. In the UK we have a popular long-running series on BBC television called ‘The Repair Shop’. The format is that people come in with damaged possessions of all sorts which have personal significance for them. Craftspeople on the program take great trouble to restore the items as closely as possible to their original condition, to the delight of their owners. I’m not sure if you can view BBC programs on line in the USA, but if so it would be worth searching the website at www.bbc.co.uk to watch ‘The Repair Shop’ Series 5 Episode 36, aired on 28th September this year. Among the items brought in is a Jedson banjo from the 1930s. It is a good quality instrument made in the UK, with a substantial pot and tone ring, rather like the Slingerland Maybelle banjos of the same period. The owner tells a moving personal story about the history of this particular instrument. After the banjo has been expertly renovated and set up he gifts it to a 20-year-old lad, the son of one of his friends, who plays ‘Blackberry Blossom’ to the appreciative audience in the repair shop.
The banjo has a beautiful tone, sweet and with plenty of sustain, which reminds me of a Vega Tubaphone. I’m sure its new owner will treasure it. I’m reminded of how particular vintage instruments carve out their own place in your affections. In my early years of learning the mandolin I bought a 1923 Gibson A2 which was a step up from what I had previously been playing. I remember opening the original hard shell case and seeing this creation in dark wood set off against the olive green of the case lining, very different from the admittedly serviceable mass-produced mandolin I had started with. The tone of the Gibson was a delight, with that particularly resonant bass which you get with a Gibson A model. To play the instrument was inspiring, and it was just right for me at the time.
A difficulty arose when I came to play it in a bluegrass band. Simply put, I was drowned out. “Lovely mandolin,” people would say, “….a pity it doesn’t cut through.” I guess this is a perennial problem for mandolin players. A well-adjusted PA system can help you out, but this option is not usually available in jam sessions. I’m reminded of one of Jethro Burns’ reasons for playing an electric mandolin: “Now people can hear me!” His other reason was that he could put his beer can on top of the amp.
Another problem I found with the classic A model is that there is restricted access up the neck, not too good for playing the high break in ‘Raw Hide’. Enter the pioneering British luthier Mike Vanden, who by the mid-1980s was making some fine F5 style mandolins which were being snapped up by British players. Having heard a number of these instruments around the festivals I reckoned it was time to invest in one, which Mike made to order. The Vanden F5 transformed my stage presence in that I now had more confidence that I could be heard. I was also able to explore further up the neck and to move comfortably around the fingerboard without having to think much about it. The workmanship and finish were superb – I’m particular pleased that Mike did white-black-white binding on this mandolin. It’s amazing how you can be encouraged in your music by playing a beautiful instrument.
Thirty-five years on, my Vanden F5 still comes out of its case frequently, but I have to confess that it now has a rival. I had reluctantly sold the A2 years ago, but as time went by and I played a wider variety of music I really missed that Gibson A model sound. When I started looking for another one I was shocked (though not really surprised) at how prices had gone up, but I was fortunately able to find a 1925 Gibson A which turned out to have the sound I was after. And I’m reminded again of just how inspiring it is to be able to play a good vintage mandolin. I’m hoping that the young musician who was the fortunate recipient of the Jedson banjo in ‘The Repair Shop’ will be similarly inspired by having a vintage instrument to help him on his way.
John Baldry
October 2020
