2001 Dearstone Model D-1M Mandolin sunburst

Good condition, 6,5/10, Made in USA, including non-original white Calton hardcase which by itself costs 1350USD so a really good case, price brand new for the mandolin is 7500USD, handmade mandolin in the F-style tradition by Ray Dearstone, currently in Bristol, TN, USA, very rare to see here in Scandinavia, some wear all over and especially around the F-hole on the bass side where the finish is worn, signed internally by Ray on November 30th 2001, came to Sweden in 2010 and when purchased the previous owner had a refret done by Ray Dearstone himself, more info:

Every instrument is hand carved with the top, back, tone bars
and air chamber tuned for optimum tone and balance.

• TOP: SPRUCE
• BACK & SIDES: HIGHLY FIGURED MAPLE
• NECK: HIGHLY FIGURED MAPLE
• BRACING: TONE BARS
• TUNING MACHINES: GROVER
• HARDWARE: GOLD
• BINDING: THREE PLY IVORIOD
• TAILPIECE: RANDY ALLEN
• FINGERBOARD: EBONY
• PEGHEAD OVERLAY: EBONY
• FINISH: HAND RUBBED LACQUER

Artist Who Play A Dearstone:

Jason Leek with Beachly Scott Band
Tim Laughlin with Beachly Scott Band
Ashley Lewis with Ashton Gap
Shawn Lane with Blue Highway
Jason Burleson with Blue Highway
Tim Stafford with Blue Highway
Wade Spencer with Wade Spencer Ministries
Joe Booher with New Found Road
Josh Johnson with Sapling Grove
Dwight McCall with J. D. Crow and The New South
Dwane Compton with Special Delivery
David Propst with The Country Gentlemen Tribute Band
Kermit Blankenship with Virginia Bluegrass
Gary Brown with Carolina Opry
Danny Barnes with Autumn Haze
Brad Meinerding
Gary Moore with Driving Time
Carl Caldwell
Dan Carty with Breaking Tradition
Stephen Mougin
Randy Graham with Continental Divide
Kevin Baucom with The Jeanette Williams Band
Rafe Martin with Carolina Drive
Rick Campbell with The Knott Brothers
Justin McKendree with The McKendrees
Ron Barnett with The McKendrees
Denny Kopp with Iron Ridge
Glenn Harlow
Randy Jackson
Rick Pafford
Daniel Fick with The Ficktones
Gary Moore A New Tradition in Mandolin Artistry
A Profile of Ray Dearstone, Luthier, by Tony Bolin

"Heard any good mandolins lately?"
Chances are you've heard quite a few good mandolins in the past year or so. The popularity for the defining instrument of Bluegrass music has not been greater since the mandolin orchestra movement at the turn of this century. Today, you can hear the mandolin in a surprising range of musical settings that extend far beyond Bluegrass: Nashville Country, Classical, Alternative and even Rock-n-Roll, to name just a few. For mandolin players there is even more good news. Some of the best mandolins ever made are being crafted today by a growing number of individual luthiers; craftsmen with an affinity for the exacting handwork and intuition required in the construction of a premium mandolin.

One of the best practitioner's in the art of mandolin construction is Ray Dearstone, who has been making mandolins and guitars for over eighteen years. Ray lives in Bristol, Tennessee, located in the northeast corner of the state and just a shade south of Clinch Mountain and the Virginia state line. The region is rich in Bluegrass tradition, from the Stanley Brothers to the Carter Family, and is also home to some of the best new music being made. Ray's mandolins have become the favorite instrument of such great players as Dempsey Young of the Lost & Found and Shawn Lane of Blue Highway.
How can any individual, even one possessing consummate skill, compete with the large instrument manufacturers? The answer shouldn't be a surprise. Consistently producing superior sounding instruments requires personal skill and attention to detail, something often missing in large production-oriented operations. The fact that Ray Dearstone, and his fellow luthiers, are enjoying the benefits of this upsurge in mandolin popularity reminds one of the old adage about luck and timing: "what often appears as good luck is, in reality, the result of hard work and preparation meeting opportunity."
Ray's approaches to building mandolins are not radical. He adheres to time-proven methods, with great respect for the classic designs. To appreciate where we are with the state of mandolin construction today, it helps to look at the mandolin's recent history. Among fans and pickers alike, the name William Smith Monroe is synonymous with Bluegrass mandolin. Mr. Monroe virtually reinvented the mandolin, transforming it from a parlor instrument of immigrant heritage to the firebrand of an exciting and emotionally-charged new musical form. The style, startling and unique, was based on the ancient tones of traditional music and became known to us all as Bluegrass.
Growing up in Rosine, Kentucky, Mr. Monroe was at first drawn to the guitar, long considered a man's instrument. His older brothers, however, had first choice and the only role remaining was to play mandolin, an instrument often given to women and children due to its smaller scale. The rest is history as Mr. Monroe developed a mandolin style that fused the rhythmic excitement and cascading notes of fiddle tunes with the emotional depth of country blues.

Mr. Monroe placed great importance in performing a song with feeling and emotion and considered the raw technique of playing as secondary. Nonetheless, his playing was masterful and you will find few, if any, bluegrass mandolin players who haven't closely studied his style. Many players remain in awe of his right hand that, in machine gun fashion, could so effortlessly let loose a torrent of triplets. No one before had approached the mandolin with such fire and drive.

Mr. Monroe chose to play a Gibson F-5 mandolin with its distinctive Florentine scroll and ornate headstock, and today that design continues to be the standard in Bluegrass circles. This type of mandolin works well for Bluegrass, due to its ability to "cut through" and be heard when playing in the company of banjos and fiddles. Even so, Mr. Monroe's influence was so strong that many claim had he played a round-back, "tater-bug" mandolin, then that's the model we would all play today!

From that origin the mandolin's popularity waxed and waned through several decades. In recent years the growing popularity of Bluegrass, Roots and Americana music has brought the mandolin back to prominence. Mandolin Café, (www.mandolincafe.com), a popular web site for mandolin enthusiasts, lists in its Builders Directory over one hundred individual luthiers, located around the world from Australia to the United States and Europe. These luthiers build mandolins in the traditional way, applying great skill to carefully hand-carve the arched top and back, a process that tunes the mandolin's body to its most resonant pitch. This critical step is required to deliver volume and tonal complexity. It is one of the main reasons that the mandolin, along with other acoustic instruments such as the violin, have never adapted well to mass production or assembly line methods. Machined precision alone cannot create a great sounding instrument. Variations in wood density and flexibility require minute adjustments in the arching graduations that are best achieved by skillfully applied hand methods.
Carving the top and back graduation is the true test for a luthier and it is here where Ray Dearstone's skills really shine. His mandolins possess a deep, woody tone, with a pronounced bass timbre that retains, amazingly, a sparkling bell-like brightness in the higher treble range. Ray's growing reputation, however, doesn't rest only making a mandolin with great tone. What is most striking is the consistent quality of tone from one of Ray's mandolins to the next. He has been able to develop a tonal signature that takes into account the individual characteristics of each piece of maple, spruce or redwood to create a remarkably complex acoustic chamber capable of producing rich musical tones.
This consistency is very important to buyers of custom-made instruments. Most luthiers build instruments on a custom-order basis. The buyer has input into its construction and can usually match the instrument to their particular requirements. With custom orders it may be difficult to "try before you buy." However, most luthiers will bend over backwards to satisfy their customers. There is usually some waiting period after placing the order and the mandolin may not be delivered for several months to a year, depending on the builder's backlog of orders. The buyer must be willing to accept a certain element of risk when ordering a custom-made instrument, trusting that the builder will be successful in creating a mandolin that meets and perhaps exceeds expectations. If the builder has developed a reputation for quality and consistency, with many satisfied customers, the buyer has greater assurance that the instrument will meet with their approval, rewarding both their investment and patience.

Ray Dearstone's consistency was among the first things that caught the attention of Dempsey Young, founding member and mandolin player for the Lost & Found. Dempsey often has the opportunity to meet many great mandolin builders and to play some of their best instruments. A skilled player contributes much to a mandolin's tone, so it is little wonder that builders seek out players such as Dempsey in order to hear the full potential of the instrument they have built. Mandolin owners feel the same way. It is not uncommon for fans to ask Dempsey to try out their mandolins and give an appraisal.
Dempsey's first serious look at a Dearstone came in just such a situation. Several years ago Lost & Found was performing a concert in Bristol, Tennessee at the Paramount Theater. A young man approached Dempsey and asked him if he would try out his mandolin. Dempsey agreed and found the mandolin's sound impressive. The young man then suggested that he try out his friend's, which was also a Dearstone. The second mandolin sounded just as good. It surprised Dempsey that the mandolins were made right there in Bristol. He was even more surprised to learn the person who built them, Ray Dearstone, was in attendance that night. They met and kept in touch over the next few months. The end result was that Dempsey put down the mandolin he had played for over twenty years and started playing a new Dearstone.

If you ask Dempsey to describe the sound of his Dearstone, he's straight to point, "It's that woody sound, with probably a little more bottom than you typically hear. Just the same, the treble strings are sweet and almost bell-like, without any harshness. I don't believe too much in the theory that a mandolin has to be "broken-in" for three or four years before it starts to sound good. If it doesn't sound like you want it to right from the beginning, it never will. My Dearstone plays well, too. I didn't do a thing to the action or setup, I just started playing it."

Dempsey continued, "I told Ray it would probably take a while for his name to get out. When I first took it out on the road, people would come up and ask me what kind of mandolin I was playing. They were mostly unfamiliar with a Dearstone. Recently I've been surprised how well-known Ray has become in just a short time. Not only are fans familiar with the name Dearstone, they sometimes bring their own Dearstone to show me. I guess I've played over a dozen of Ray's mandolins and I thought each one was very good. I told Ray that whatever he was doing, to just keep on doing it because it was obviously working."

Despite the praise and recognition from some of the best players, it's hard to get Ray Dearstone to admit how good his mandolins really are. He would much prefer that his work speaks for itself. A much more comfortable topic for Ray is discussing what goes into the making of his mandolins and the methods he uses to achieve that killer tone. I had the opportunity recently to talk to Ray about his approach to building mandolins.