Danny Roberts (The Grascals): Loar mandolin with Waverly tuners

V-6050

Danny Roberts with his 1922 Lloyd Loar mandolin that once belonged to his good friend, the late Charlie Derrington. Danny visited Stewart-MacDonald, and talked about the Waverly tuning machines on his Loar.

Video Transcription

[Danny is playing music on his mandolin]

Waverly mandolin tuners

Danny Roberts: Yeah, this is a 1922 Lloyd Loar-signed Gibson Loar. It's a great instrument. I've had it for about a year now, and I was very fortunate enough to get it. And it's really been a blessing to me to be able to have such a great instrument to play. I'm excited every time I open the case. No other set of tuners [on-screen text reads: Waverly Mandolin Tuners], when you get to this point right here and you want to get right up to that last thing, these are just like turning a piece of glass. In comparison, any other tuner will jerk when they get that tension on them they get that little creepy feel, like kind of like a creaking. And all of them will do it except these.

Mandolins are hard to tune, anyway. And when I'm on stage, I always check my tune in-between every song. I mean, it's just what you do. I noticed last night, we played and I checked my tune. I grabbed my little tuner in my pocket and put on it on there real quick, and I don't think I had to tune maybe more than one time during a 45-minute set last night. And it just makes such a difference to be able to have something that you can rely on when you're out there, and not having to fight with it all the time.

[Danny starts playing his mandolin]