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Peghead Nation Reviews Weber Cutaway Red River

Peghead Nation Reviews Weber Cutaway Red River

by Teja Gerken February 29, 2016 Founded by former Flatiron Mandolins head luthier Bruce Weber in 1997, Weber Fine Acoustic Instruments has grown into a premier source of quality mandolin-family instruments. First located in Montana, the company moved to Bend, Oregon in 2013, after being purchased by the Two Old Hippies company (which also makes Bedell and Breedlove guitars). Although the shop location has changed, Bruce Weber continues to be actively involved in the design and manufacturing of Weber instruments. Weber offers the entire range of mandolin-family instruments, from the diminutive sopranino to the XL-sized mandocello, and at this year’s NAMM show, our curiosity was piqued by Weber’s new Cutaway octave mandolin with a body shape reminiscent of an archtop guitar. Octave mandolins are tuned an octave below a standard mandolin (to G D A E), with a scale length of 20–22 inches. They often have a beautifully rich voice that is perfect for accompaniment, as artists such like Tim O’Brien and Sarah Jarosz have...

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Weber Big Sky Acoustic Archtop

By Russell Carlson While the name Weber may not yet ring a bell in the minds of guitarists, it's far from obscure in the tight, friendly, roots-music community. Mandolinists have trusted the brand since it rose from the ashes of the former Flatiron mandolin operation in Bozeman, Mont. In 1987, Gibson USA, which has a guitar-production plant in Bozeman, purchased the Flatiron factory, whose luthiers had been crafting mandolins since 1979. After 10 years of ownership Gibson moved the Flatiron business to Nashville, Tenn., leaving the factory's workers to choose between uprooting and heading east or finding new work locally. Montana must truly be beautiful, because all of the Flatiron employees elected to stay there, and many eventually took jobs with the fledgling company Sound to Earth. Founded in part by Bruce Weber, a former Flatiron luthier, Sound to Earth has in the ensuing eight years produced mandolins from its factory, presently located in a converted schoolhouse in Logan, Mont., and seen the Weber name become ubiquitous in...

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Jazz Mando Review of the Gallatin D-hole Mandola

We been stricken by the 2-point (let alone F-body) instruments founder Bruce Weber and his team of mountain country craftsmen have produced the last decade and a half under the Weber name, and prior to that, the original Flatiron. Looking to keep costs down for what would be more of an auxilliary instrument we chose the A-body Gallatin, appropriately named after the Gallatin River of Yellowstone which spills into the Gallatin Valley, home for wildlife and first class fishing. Tradition, subtle contemplation, and a stripped down, uncomplicated atmosphere would also be the perfect environment, for playing this instrument. Click images for closeup The finished work is not something that sparks huge attention with penetrating harmonics or brash projection. The mandola sonic character packs a humble, yet rich lower register, and the only thing that distinguishes it from its more expensive siblings (Bighorn, Fern, Bitterroot) besides cosmetics is a reduced tonal prowess in its upper frets. The Gallatin is perfectly competent below the 12th fret...

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Acoustic Guitar Magazine Interview: Bruce Weber

Bruce Weber and Renegade Roundneck resonator (right). Photos by Dan Albright. Manhattan, Montana, is Big Sky country—a place where the laid-back lifestyle, abundant natural beauty, and consistent humidity make a perfect setting for building acoustic instruments. Antelope and deer are a common sight from the windows of the 1920s brick schoolhouse where Sound To Earth’s luthiers are building their line of Weber-brand instruments, which includes mandolins, flattop, archtop, and resonator guitars. Sound To Earth celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2007 and traces its origins to the Flatiron mandolin company (which was purchased by Gibson in 1987). Bruce Weber was the company’s general manager and head luthier when Gibson decided to move Flatiron to Nashville in 1996. As Weber recalls, “Not one [original Flatiron] luthier went down there. We all live in Montana for a reason. It’s not that we disliked Gibson; it’s just that we love Montana. That gave me a perfect opportunity to start my own business. My wife,...

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Design a Weber Reveiw by Jazzmando.com

Jazzmando.com by Ted Eschliman November 2, 2010 | Design a Weber If you've ever had the itch to design your own dream mandolin, there's no better place to take a test drive of the process than at the Sound to Earth website. Born out of the original world renown Flatiron mandolin company in Montana in the 80's, the Weber Custom Shop is now over a decade old in delivering some of the best personalized instruments on the planet. On the site's main page is a delicious menu option, "Design a Weber" that gives you a step by step exercise in exploring options for creating your own instrument to your specifications. It's a terrific opportunity to not only get pricing, but dream a little. Want to make changes? No problem, you can back in and out of features as you select the components of your own "build." Start with an instrument in mind, mandolin, octave mando, guitar, etc. We decided to price a mandola and chose a Gallatin A from several popular models including A/F/flat body Bighorn, Bitterroot, Fern, etc. Pictures are right...

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