The Session >> Discussions >> george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
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george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
wondering if anyone else out there lucky enough to have one of these as is a marvellous piece of workmanship though being new dont know what its made of. great tone and really loud, got some info on the maker and seen 2 others for sale in hobgoblin in rathbone place quirkily enough the making place of these mandolins in the 1890s-1930s so any more players or owners out there?
also do you think the could be an insrument review section on here id gladly write a review of mine and for guys like me starting out it would be a great place to start, know you can do so under discussions but putting them together in seperate bit would help if you were looking to buy a new banjo or mandolin say, you cuold browse though the wealth of wisdom i know a lot got on here,
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
I have seen a few of these mandolins - in Hobgoblin and on Ebay. They are, indeed, nice looking instruments. However, as a player, I would be wary of spending money on an instrument of that age; whilst they may be better made than the majority of early C20th mandolins on the market (most of which are barely playable and beyond restoration), I suspect that they are probably past their best.
If you have particular interest in antique instruments, or you want to try your hand at restoration yourself, then maybe it is the mandolin for you. But if you are looking for a good session instrument, I think you would get more for your money and a more reliable instrument buying a new one from one of the many makers around in Britain at the moment.
I may be completely wrong about this; no doubt there are a few la Foley instruments around that have been well looked after and/or expertly restored and may, in fact, compete with new mandolins for tone and playability.
p.s. Do not confuse George la Foley with Joe Foley of Dublin.
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
the mandolin is in great nick holds its tone which is really sweet well and is really loud!! i dont know muh about mandolins being new but it seems a great one to me i could never afford a n instrument like this ow (handmade in england using beautiful woods and finishings ) so it has been a pleaseure to learn on something half decent what do you tyhink the cheapest reasonable mandolin for learning is, being a father of three money very tight are there any sub £200 mandolinns to learn on?
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
I think I might have misread your opening post: It seems you *already have* the mandolin you are talking about, not trying to decide whether to buy it.
"are there any sub £200 mandolinns to learn on?"
There are reasonable ones around, although they would probably need a bit of set-up work to get them playing nicely. But if you already have one you are happy with, why do you need another? Perhaps you need to clarify your question.
As regards your suggestion for a reviews section, the man to ask is the site host, Jeremy, whom you can contact through the 'Contact' tab on the 'Home' page. Whilst it is a good idea, I feel it might be a little beyond the scope of this site; the focus is primarily on the *music* itself, rather than the instruments. http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum would seem to be the place for this (the 'Post a picture of your mandolin' board, perhaps).
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
Most publications that run reviews of anything normally use respected and qualified reviewers that can be relied on to give dispassionate and considered comments. Hence your description of yourself as someone starting out means that you are most certainly NOT qualified; you might, simply through inexperience, over praise an item, or miss noticing obvious flaws; something that looks and sounds all right to you might make a more experienced practitioner wince.
You think this instrument is great, now; that's good for you. In a years' time, with more experience both playing it and hearing other peoples', you might well have changed your opinion considerably. That's why,as a beginner, your writing a review now is almost valueless. Imagine being asked to write a review of something you know almost nothing about; I don't know - high performance cars, racehorses, early 20thc sculpture, Japanese Noh theatre; would you do a decent job on that ?
Sorry, but that's the truth.
PS I know I do it too, posting a rapid reply, but re-reading before you post, and spellchecking, makes something much more easy to read.
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
It used to be general practice in the legal profession (perhaps it still is) that documents were drafted with the minimum of punctuation or none at all if possible. The reason was that punctuation wrongly used could drastically alter the meaning of a document *. Instead, great attention was paid to the choice of words and the structure of sentences without punctuation. Done properly with skill this provides precision and avoids ambiguity.
Even today a claim in a British patent document is required to read as a single sentence with the only full stop coming at the end. This is not the place to go into the reasoning behind this but I can assure you that it is necessary and is an essential factor in defining the scope of the claimed monopoly.
* There was a court case many years ago where the meaning of a will, and hence who got the inheritance, hinged on the position of a comma. This frightened the lawyers silly and commas were henceforth banned in important documents like wills.
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
Anything that frightens lawyers silly is alright by me.
A good friend of mine died about two-and-a-half years ago, leaving considerable sums of money to various beneficiaries, and my wife as a trustee; even though the monies she left were her own, and not her husbands', if he dies within seven years there will be death duties payable on her major bequests; meanwhile her two goddaughters saw all the interest on the estate she left them eaten up by the lawyers fees, like about £400 per hour for whatever they are doing, sitting in their offices......
Go on, scare a few lawyers....
george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
wondering if anyone else out there lucky enough to have one of these as is a marvellous piece of workmanship though being new dont know what its made of. great tone and really loud, got some info on the maker and seen 2 others for sale in hobgoblin in rathbone place quirkily enough the making place of these mandolins in the 1890s-1930s so any more players or owners out there?
also do you think the could be an insrument review section on here id gladly write a review of mine and for guys like me starting out it would be a great place to start, know you can do so under discussions but putting them together in seperate bit would help if you were looking to buy a new banjo or mandolin say, you cuold browse though the wealth of wisdom i know a lot got on here,
who do i ask???
# Posted on December 26th 2009 by xavier 493
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
I have seen a few of these mandolins - in Hobgoblin and on Ebay. They are, indeed, nice looking instruments. However, as a player, I would be wary of spending money on an instrument of that age; whilst they may be better made than the majority of early C20th mandolins on the market (most of which are barely playable and beyond restoration), I suspect that they are probably past their best.
If you have particular interest in antique instruments, or you want to try your hand at restoration yourself, then maybe it is the mandolin for you. But if you are looking for a good session instrument, I think you would get more for your money and a more reliable instrument buying a new one from one of the many makers around in Britain at the moment.
I may be completely wrong about this; no doubt there are a few la Foley instruments around that have been well looked after and/or expertly restored and may, in fact, compete with new mandolins for tone and playability.
p.s. Do not confuse George la Foley with Joe Foley of Dublin.
# Posted on December 27th 2009 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
the mandolin is in great nick holds its tone which is really sweet well and is really loud!! i dont know muh about mandolins being new but it seems a great one to me i could never afford a n instrument like this ow (handmade in england using beautiful woods and finishings ) so it has been a pleaseure to learn on something half decent what do you tyhink the cheapest reasonable mandolin for learning is, being a father of three money very tight are there any sub £200 mandolinns to learn on?
# Posted on December 27th 2009 by xavier 493
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
I think I might have misread your opening post: It seems you *already have* the mandolin you are talking about, not trying to decide whether to buy it.
"are there any sub £200 mandolinns to learn on?"
There are reasonable ones around, although they would probably need a bit of set-up work to get them playing nicely. But if you already have one you are happy with, why do you need another? Perhaps you need to clarify your question.
As regards your suggestion for a reviews section, the man to ask is the site host, Jeremy, whom you can contact through the 'Contact' tab on the 'Home' page. Whilst it is a good idea, I feel it might be a little beyond the scope of this site; the focus is primarily on the *music* itself, rather than the instruments. http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum would seem to be the place for this (the 'Post a picture of your mandolin' board, perhaps).
# Posted on December 27th 2009 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
Most publications that run reviews of anything normally use respected and qualified reviewers that can be relied on to give dispassionate and considered comments. Hence your description of yourself as someone starting out means that you are most certainly NOT qualified; you might, simply through inexperience, over praise an item, or miss noticing obvious flaws; something that looks and sounds all right to you might make a more experienced practitioner wince.
You think this instrument is great, now; that's good for you. In a years' time, with more experience both playing it and hearing other peoples', you might well have changed your opinion considerably. That's why,as a beginner, your writing a review now is almost valueless. Imagine being asked to write a review of something you know almost nothing about; I don't know - high performance cars, racehorses, early 20thc sculpture, Japanese Noh theatre; would you do a decent job on that ?
Sorry, but that's the truth.
PS I know I do it too, posting a rapid reply, but re-reading before you post, and spellchecking, makes something much more easy to read.
# Posted on December 27th 2009 by Guernsey Pete
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
A little more punctuation might help, too. Sorry, I'm 63.
# Posted on December 27th 2009 by will morgan
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
Hey, me too, Will.
What is it about old farts and punctuation ?
# Posted on December 28th 2009 by Guernsey Pete
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
"What is it about old farts and punctuation ?"
I'm 35 and I concur. Old before my time?
# Posted on December 28th 2009 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
Don't confuse with Georgina le Faux -fiddle maker
# Posted on December 29th 2009 by Michael Sam Wild
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
I know Steve Faux, fiddle and synthesizer player. Any relation ?
# Posted on December 31st 2009 by Guernsey Pete
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
with wittgenstien on punctuation
# Posted on January 2nd 2010 by xavier 493
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
...and ee cummings on capitals.....
# Posted on January 3rd 2010 by Guernsey Pete
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
It used to be general practice in the legal profession (perhaps it still is) that documents were drafted with the minimum of punctuation or none at all if possible. The reason was that punctuation wrongly used could drastically alter the meaning of a document *. Instead, great attention was paid to the choice of words and the structure of sentences without punctuation. Done properly with skill this provides precision and avoids ambiguity.
Even today a claim in a British patent document is required to read as a single sentence with the only full stop coming at the end. This is not the place to go into the reasoning behind this but I can assure you that it is necessary and is an essential factor in defining the scope of the claimed monopoly.
* There was a court case many years ago where the meaning of a will, and hence who got the inheritance, hinged on the position of a comma. This frightened the lawyers silly and commas were henceforth banned in important documents like wills.
# Posted on January 3rd 2010 by Trevor Jennings
Re: george la foley mandolin and instrument reviews a possibility?
Anything that frightens lawyers silly is alright by me.
A good friend of mine died about two-and-a-half years ago, leaving considerable sums of money to various beneficiaries, and my wife as a trustee; even though the monies she left were her own, and not her husbands', if he dies within seven years there will be death duties payable on her major bequests; meanwhile her two goddaughters saw all the interest on the estate she left them eaten up by the lawyers fees, like about £400 per hour for whatever they are doing, sitting in their offices......
Go on, scare a few lawyers....
# Posted on January 8th 2010 by Guernsey Pete