Lou Stiver 50th Anniversary Two Point Mandolin, Engelmann Spruce, Maple - NEW - SOLD
SOLD
(NEW) Knock, knock! You hear that sound? Is it my knuckle rapping on the 100 year old Red maple on the back of this mandolin? Is it the huge throaty bark this mandolin has? Might it be the fat singing trebles this woodchopper of an 8-string has?
No. What you are hearing is the sound of *opportunity*. The *opportunity* to own the very first 50th Anniversary Stiver two-point mandolin, built by the estimable Lou Stiver of Polk, PA. Lou started building in Akron, Ohio in 1974, back when he had a regular day job. After a few short years of building world-class mandolins, Lou was able to say to heck with that old day job, and concentrate on building mandolins. He’s built over 500 mandolins since, including one for the recently departed Jesse McReynolds, who made the Stiver mandolin his instrument of choice for his unique cross-picking style.
When you hang at Bluegrass festivals in West Virginia, western and central PA, and central and eastern Ohio, one thing is for sure- when you hear a mandolin ringing from way across the parking lot, more times than not, you’ll find out its a Stiver. This is Stiver country! We at AMW, have been privileged to know Lou Stiver for thirty years and we’ve seen and sold nearly 100 of his mandolins, many to far reaches of the globe (Japan, Australia, and even Oklahoma :-) We’ve put Stivers in the hands of Bluegrassers, mandolin orchestra players, and all sorts of Jazz and Americana musicians.
So...when I asked Lou if he’d build us a few “special” 50th Anniversary mandolins, he jumped at the chance. This first one is a special two-point mandolin (love the two point!) with a one-piece back of 100-year old very special architecturally-salvaged Red maple, special high altitude Engelmann spruce form the mountains of Idaho, a K&K Pure Mini pickup system, Schaller GrandTune tuners imported from Germany, pearl nut, radiused fretboard, and a special 50th Anniversary-engraved James tailpiece. But the heart of the instrument is all Lou Stiver, hand carved, voiced, and lovingly finished by the man himself.
By special arrangement, our friends at the Northfield Mandolin Workshop have graciously agreed to allow us to purchase the exquisite carbon fiber Northfield Airloom cases to house the Anniversary model Stivers.
Will we accept orders for more? Yes, there will be four more (for a total of five) of the 50th Anniversary Stivers built over the next 12-18 months.
AMW Price: $8,500 (SOLD)
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For more information, email info@acousticmusicworks.com or call (412) 422-0710
