Sorry.....for being too cryptic and being a little facetious. Lou
often writes from an authoritative perspective complete with
painstaking detail and footnotes. Guess I felt the need to set the
record straight. I suppose I should have come right out and said it
was a Greg Brown tune. Greg Brown is a favorite of mine and writes
some great tunes. When I first heard his tunes "If I Had Known" and
"Laughing River" I must have spun them a hundred times. Would have
worn them out if they were on vinyl.

Regarding x braced here's what Lou states:

"the tone might become 'too wide or 'too tubby' with prolonged use.
Also there was a preceived lack of subtlety and nuance in such
instruments" "today such cross braced instruments are rarely purchased
new, and many people are cautious about even buying a new one."

I actually spoke to Mr. Martin when I ordered my 2004 Gilchrist Model
5 cross braced. To be fair I can't recall the conversation verbatim
but I don't recall him telling me to stay away from x-braced. He did
convince me a one piece back was really important so I ordered mine
with that. It sure does look purty not sure it influences the tone
though?

Interestingly I always thought that tone bar mandolins were generally
considered to be more in your face mid-range wise
and x-braced maybe had a little more subtlety and nuance; quite the
opposite of what is stated above. I suppose though a luthier could
build either to sound like the other. Back then I think the general
consensus was that x-braced were thought to be a little more versatile
if you were going to be playing music other then bluegrass. Not that
it all really matters because I really love my Gil and wouldn't have
it if not for Tater's influence so thank you!

I thought I would mention all this here because of Tater related
content. Interestingly the Mike Compton bio is a reprint written from
a 1988 perspective. Lou's newsletter is a fun read and almost always
includes Bill Monroe content. Another interesting tidbit: Lou cites
the "Tanyards"  from "Grounded, Centered, Focused" as having "one of
the greatest endings in the history of bluegrass" It's a fantastic
album for sure.

Congrats on the return of the F4, I didn't know it went away?

On Jun 6, 9:20 pm, mistertaterbug <[email protected]> wrote:
> Strang,
> The song "The Train Carrying Jimmie Rodgers Home" was written by Greg
> Brown and has nothing to do with me whatsoever. It *is* however, a
> damned well-written song. And what exactly is it about an X-braced
> Gilchrist F5, according to Lou Martin/Harry Gilmore, that makes it
> unsellable? If I had the money, I'd buy it off you in a New Yawk
> second. Oh, by the way, I GOT MY F4 BACK! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!
>
> Taterjoy
>
> On Jun 5, 1:04 pm, 14strings <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > I learned some things this month:
>
> > That the tune "The Train Carryin' Jimmie Rodger's Home" was inspired
> > by Tater's stories of home.
> > I also learned that my x-braced Gilchrist may be unsaleable ;)
>
> > Lou's newsletter has a nice little bit about Tater in this month's
> > issue as well as some "Paddy" commentary and sheet music.

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