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Interesting. Thanks, Hank. I’m a bit leery about shipping it. Maybe when this pandemic thing dies down, I will drive it out there. It’s time for a first visit to northern Cal, anyway.
Walter and Matt,
The sound board on mine has improved with age and seemingly rings forever. No structural issues with the body, like cracks or separations, anywhere. Mainly just wear on the frets near the nut in the usual places for typical bluegrass chords. Intonation is still pretty good.
If you were going to have your SC re-fretted and maybe PLEK’ed, where would you send it? Back to the factory?
VA 724 turned 30 this month. Time flies. I did finally figure out why Mandolin Bros. used #10710 as the serial number in the ad. They flipped the “f” around in the “#1 of 10” that’s on the label. lol. They read it as #10710.
Hank, how do you get a wife to give you a top notch axe? And what is your consulting rate? 🙂
Walter, that makes sense. I am guessing it was shown at NAMM given the comments made by Mandolin Brothers.
Hard to believe how much Brazilian Rosewood has gone up in cost per Old 97’s comments. That is insane.
So what would the most expensive possible build consist of these days? Old Brazilian? 10,000-year old Sitka? lol.
In the 1995 Mandolin Brothers catalog, there is a listing for a CF Martin “The Gene Autry Commemorative D-45” with a list price of $22,000. That was in 1995 dollars.
Here are serial numbers for four of the guitars in the Vintage Artist Limited Edition series:
#1 VA-724 1291 (originally listed in The Vintage News in Feb. 1992)
#? VA-746 (most recently listed at Dream Guitars – still visible and also on youtube)
#5 VA-778 (most recently listed on Reverb for Fellowship of Acoustics – still visible)
#6 VA-784 (originally listed in The Vintage News in Feb. 1996 or possibly earlier)
I remember seeing a listing for either #3 or #7 on ebay about 10 years ago. Price was in the $3K range if my memory is any good.
Here are serial numbers for four of the guitars in the Vintage Artist Limited Edition series:
#1 VA-724 1291 (originally listed in The Vintage News)
#? VA-746 (most recently listed at Dream Guitars – still visible and also on youtube)
#5 VA-778 (most recently listed on Reverb for Fellowship of Acoustics – still visible)
#6 VA-784 (originally listed in The Vintage News)
I remember seeing a listing for either #3 or #7 on ebay about 10 years ago. Price was in the $3K range if my memory is any good.
Hank, they may be referring to a count that is model specific, meaning yours was the fourth OM made from The Tree. That would be my guess. Not sure it matters all that much as it does not change the history of the wood, which is the real story.
Dream Guitars recently sold a 1992 VA (VA-746) that was part of the limited edition series. The page is still up. Lots of good pictures there. Not sure what number this guitar was in the series as they did not list it.
One question I am trying to get answered is the reference to the 100-year old Sitka Spruce top in the Dream Guitars ad. Mandolin Brothers did not publish this detail in the listing for either #1 or #6. Was the wood harvested in 1891? That is why I posted the question a while back.
The mahogany grain exhibits a three-dimensional aspect as the viewing angle is changed. Sort of like those hologram stickers.
What is weird is that while I was searching for info about the LE series, I found several differences between VA-724 (#1) and some of the other guitars. VA-724 carries the dot-less ebony fretboard that was that was part of the original VA design. It doesn’t have pearl dots inlaid on the fretboard. VA-746 and later have pearl dots.
The tuners on #1 are gold-plated. The others have nickel-plated tuners.
The pickguard on #1 is similar to the 1934 D series. (Is this Dalmation style?) The others have the traditional solid tortoise pickguard.
Anyway, I have no idea why these elements were changed in middle of the series. lol. Maybe Richard can answer these questions. Go figure.
The lowest offering price that I have seen for a new VA made from The Tree was $2,813 (cash). It was described as a “bargain.”
The listing shown below is from August 1996.
Tad, what are the odds that two people on this thread own guitars on that same list from about 30 years ago? Mine (the VA) was also built 12/91. I guess that they were writing the month and year on the label at the time.
Walter, in the mid-1990’s I finally got a chance to visit Mandolin Brothers — I think twice on the same trip. Larry showed me the 12-fret mahogany slot-head model. I was like this thing is so sick.
If I could change careers and go back in time, I would probably become Larry’s assistant. lol.
Correct answer is The Tree.
Here is the text from the listing:
90-8436 Santa Cruz (new) Vintage Artist Limited Edition, #784, #6 of ten made total, special quilted mahogany Vintage Artist.
Doc Watson owns a regular Vintage Artist and has said many wonderful things about it. This one is fancier and only 10 were made. Was $3750. THIS IS ON SALE. Call us for the very reasonable price.
There is a small black & white picture above the listing but it was photocopied and is low resolution. They may have published a more detailed listing in other issues. Interesting that this was still for sale in 1996 if it was made in 1992 or 1993. Directly under the listing was a new regular Vintage Artist with serial #1378.
Mandolin Brothers sold at least two of the limited editions: #1 and #6. The #6 was listed in the March 1996 edition of The Vintage News. It had serial # 784. In the blurb (ad) for the guitar, they never mentioned the 100-year old spruce top, just the quilted mahogany. At that point in time, the source of the mahogany (The Tree) wasn’t used for marketing. Nobody knew they that were buying a guitar made with wood from a tree that had an unusual history.
Matt and tadol, thank you for your responses. Very enlightening regarding old growth versus new/relatively recent growth.
I am researching the #1 of the limited edition series. Recently, Fellowship of the Acoustics offered the #5 for sale at Reverb. The product literature mentioned that the top was 100-year old spruce. I hadn’t seen that detail before and was trying to figure out the story behind the wood. If it was 100 years old in 1992, and if the age is measured from date cut, then it would have been cut circa 1892.
Dream Guitars posted a video in 2016 on youtube of one of the limited editions and also mentioned the 100-year old top. Not sure what number it was.
