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OK, here is a little fun. My playing is a bit messier even than usual but I want to compare these two mandolas on a tune. The tune I picked is the famous and well-known My Grandfather's Clock by Henry Clay Work. The tune has been very well known since the 1870's, but perhaps more important is effect of the song on the type of clock it was written about -- ie, the grandfather's clock. Work named his tune after a tall standing clock owned by a person in a story he had heard -- before his song this type of clock had many names. eg, case clocks, coffin clocks, standing clocks, upright clock, long clocks, and other names. But after the song became popular these clocks all became known as Grandfather's Clocks. Work also wrote the famous song The Wreck of the old Ninety-Seven. This is the mandola comparison -- first I play the tune on a 2008 Eastman MDA-815 and then the same way on a 1915 Gibson H-1. The Eastman is a scroll style f-hole and the Gibson an A-style, oval hole. The Eastman has maple backs and sides the Gibson mahogany -- both have carved spruce tops. What do you think? BTW the comparison is not perfect as the brand of strings is not the same on both instruments -- but I'm just doing it for fun anyway.
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