They are both offered in long or short sleeves, men or women’s sizes, in at least ten colors. The shirts are emblazoned with either a banjo or a mandolin image, where the front image shows a drawing viewed tailpiece first, and the back headstock first. These are drawings that Roger made.
Straight Up Strings will donate 50% of the profits from shirt sales to The Bluegrass Trust Fund or the California Bluegrass Association Youth Fund, as the purchaser may choose with each order. These pre-sales run through December 4, with shirts shipped no later than December 15.
They use soft, high-quality, tri-blend t-shirts, and recommend that you choose one size larger than you normally would as they run towards small.
Prices run from $20-$24, depending on size and style.
You can, of course, also choose your favorite Straight Up mandolin or banjo strings for a welcome holiday gift.
Roger Siminoff, noted luthier, historian, acoustics researcher, and author, has announced that he will be retiring this month after 56 years working for the benefit of bluegrass and acoustic musicians. He will be winding down his banjo and mandolin parts business in short order but his strings business, Straight Up Strings, will continue to operate under the direction of his stepdaughters, Amy Sullivan and Kali Nowakowski.
Over the years, Roger has received six patents for musical instrument design and has developed a number of tools and measuring devices in common use among guitar, mandolin, and banjo builders. His many luthiery instructional manuals include such titles as Constructing A Bluegrass Mandolin, Constructing A 5-String Banjo, Constructing A Solid-Body Guitar, How to Set Up the Best Sounding Banjo, The Luthier’s Handbook, The Ultimate Bluegrass Mandolin Construction Manual, Siminoff’s Luthiers Glossary, and The Art of Tap Tuning from Hal Leonard. Dozens or articles under his name have appeared in Banjo NewsLetter and Pickin’ magazines.
He is also an expert on the lives and work of both Orville Gibson, the founder of the Gibson musical instrument company in 1902, and Lloyd Loar, perhaps the most significant designer who ever worked for Gibson back in the 1920s. Roger has meticulously researched their histories and has published the findings on his web site.
Straight Up Strings has been his most recent passion, born of his belief that equalizing the longitudinal string tension and their lateral loads across the bridge is necessary to achieve optimal tone and responsiveness in fretted stringed instruments. Their guitar strings are designed to compensate for the various torque loads on a fixed bridge instrument (guitar), and to equalize downward force on moveable bridges instruments (banjo/mandolin).
As co-owners of the company, Amy and Kali will continue to operate the business and expand the types of strings and other products manufactured under the Straight Up Strings brand. The pair have extensive experience in marketing, product development, and communications, and Roger has every confidence in their ability to maintain and grow the business.
“With Amy and Kali, the string business is in good hands, and my retirement will allow me to get out of the shop and spend more time pursuing my other interests.”
Siminoff is looking forward to more time traveling in his Airstream trailer, pursuing his fondness for restoring early Jeeps and his interest in shooting. But he won’t completely turn his back on the bluegrass world. Several more book titles are in the pipeline, plus at least one more instructional DVD.
Well done, Roger Siminoff! You’ve earned your rest.
Over the next few days we will describe some of the new items for bluegrass folks introduced in the Exhibit Hall during the IBMA’s World of Bluegrass convention earlier this month, and a few that were new to us.
First up is Straight Up Strings for guitar, developed by noted instrument technician and researcher, Roger Siminoff. Roger has long built and designed fretted bluegrass instruments, and his company, Siminoff Banjo and Mandolin Parts, has offered parts and accessories for builders since 1967, including mandolin kits and technical instructions.
A few years ago Siminoff took up an interest in strings, trying to solve the riddle of how to put together a set that would balance the pressure loads across the strings for more consistent volume string-to-string. His first experiments led to sets for both banjo and mandolin, having worked through the testing to find gauges that compensated for the differing downward pressure resulting from unfixed bridges. Both the banjo and mandolin bridges place certain strings over the feet, directly below the source of vibration, with others offset.
These have been marketed as Straight Up Strings ,and have been well-received by the market.
But for guitar, Roger had a different set of obstacles to overcome by dealing with a fixed bridge solidly affixed to the soundboard. The issue became one of compensating string tension relative to neighboring strings rather than the question of whether each string had a direct path to the soundboard.
But as we knew he would, Siminoff believes he has achieved the desired result, as he explains in this brief video.
Straight Up Strings now offers three gauges for guitar: light, medium, and heavy. They are available directly from Siminoff online, or through selected dealers.
Roger Siminoff’s Straight Up Strings has announced Elderly Instruments as the exclusive online retailer for their new banjo and mandolin string sets. These are the sets that Roger designed to ensure that each string – or set of pairs for mandolin – exerts equal downward tension on the bridge, resulting in a more uniform string-to-string response.
The sets will be available to brick-and-mortar music stores and shops, but online sales will be restricted to the Elderly and Siminoff web sites.
Roger says that they came to this agreement just recently.
“We met with Stan (Werbin) at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass, and after about three minutes of describing what we were doing, Stan immediately latched on the to concept. We’re happy to partner with Elderly Instruments because they really understand what we’ve done with the technology and are as enthusiastic as we are about spreading the word.”
Straight Up Strings has also announced their first batch of professional endorsers. Phil Barker, mandolinist with Town Mountain, Adam Roszkiewicz from Front Country, and Caleb Klauder with Foghorn Stringband have all committed to using Straight Ups in their recordings and live performances.
Roger has dedicated several years of analysis to determining how to wrap and gauge his string sets to compensate for the difference in distance from the posts for mandolin bridges, and for the fact that three banjo strings are positioned directly over a foot, and two aren’t. He is convinced that these new sets counter this issue.
Straight Up Strings, designed and marketed by Roger Siminoff, is following up the successful introduction of their mandolin strings with three sets for banjo, starting October 1.
Like the mandolin strings, Roger designed these sets to create even downward tension from each of the five strings, choosing gauges for a light, medium, and heavy set to suit.
If you have followed Roger’s research into the sonics of banjo over the years, particularly the response of the strings through the bridge to the head, you know that while he supports the traditional three-footed bridge, he finds problems with the fact that three of the strings are seated above the feet, and two over openings in the bridge structure. His SUS research on equalizing this tension across the strings is what has led him to these gauges for banjo.
He lists five primary advantages of his strings:
Compensated downloads that adjust for the difference in energy transmission to the head of those strings that sit over feet compared to those strings that sit over arches.
Download pressure of each string carefully calculated (at a 15° string break angle) to ensure excellent string-to-string balance.
A unique core-to-wrap wire ratio for the D string engineered to improve the relationship between the wound and plain strings’ tone color.
Chromium stainless wrap wire gives the wound D string a smooth, rust-free plain-wire feel.
Application of ISO 226:2003 equal-loudness principles to enhance the perception of an evenly distributed tonal range.
The three gauges are as follows:
Light: D .009″, B .0105″, G .013″, D .020″w, G .009″
Medium: D .010″, B .0115″, G .013″, D .020″w, G .010″
Heavy: D .011″, B .012″, G .014″, D .022″w, G .0105″.
For the past fifty plus years, Roger Siminoff has been at the forefront of technical analysis for fretted stringed instruments. He has published his research over the years in a number of publications geared towards acoustic musicians, notably Banjo NewsLetter and both Frets and Pickin’ magazines, with which he had been affiliated while they were active.
A matter of special interest to Roger has been string tension and the load that different string gauges assert on the bridge. While it was in print, Frets magazine ran a regular column of Siminoff’s called the Frets String Clinic, which examined various questions related to string performance, many of them controversial when published in the late ’90s.
More recently he has been examining string response on non-fixed bridges, particularly for banjo and mandolin, and the impact of string tension on volume and tone for strings not directly over one of the bridge feet. Roger calls this issue “string balance,” and has written about it extensively this week over at Mandolin Cafe.
To address this concern, Siminoff has introduced a new line of mandolin strings called Straight Up Strings which are designed to counter the question of the vibrational path of string energy through the bridge to the top. The idea is to address the problem of the inside strings responding differently as they are not located over the feet, as are the outer pairs.
He explains his concept in this brief video…
Roger’s roughly two years of research have show what he finds to be the optimum downward pressure on the bridge to compensate for this difference in direct access to the soundboard. The result is found in the new Straight Up Strings which he hears offering a more balanced response on the mandolin.
You can find more information about Roger and his new strings online.
Tribute or themed bluegrass festivals have become quite popular of late. Many touring bands serve as hosts at weekend events, and some are held in honor of icons of the music, like A Lester Flatt Celebration held annually in Sparta, TN to mark the birthplace of one of the co-founders of bluegrass. Another is the new Five String Fest launching this year in North Carolina to celebrate all things banjo. We could use more of these.
Bonnie Jaeckle, a relative newcomer to Lewistown, IL, is embarking on her second year promoting Lloyd Loar’s Hometown Bluegrass Festival, held at Marigold Meadows, her property in the Spoon River Valley just north of town. The farm is designed as a “step back in time” experience, with work accomplished with draft horses and traditional tools where visitors can escape from city life for a few days – or more.
She tells us that organizing ministry events gave her the courage to tackle starting a new festival, and her fascination with the mandolin proved to be the key when she made a discovery about her new home.
“When we moved to Lewistown, IL about a year and a half ago ago, I learned that it was the boyhood home of Lloyd Loar. Not only was I disappointed that his memory wasn’t being honored in his hometown, but surprised that his name wasn’t at least being ‘used’ for tourism purposes. It wasn’t long before my thoughts turned to, ‘Why don’t you, as the new kid on the block do something with this? You love bluegrass and own property where a historical fall event is already held, why wouldn’t Marigold Meadows be a perfect setting for a Lloyd Loar Festival?’
There are two other driving forces behind doing this:
1) We hope that the festival will be an avenue to help encourage and support young ‘wanna be’ bluegrass musicians in their interest, who may otherwise not have the opportunity.
2) We want Marigold Meadows to be a place where families, of any financial status can come and bask in the beauty of what God has created on our farm and enjoy the universal language of His love; music.”
Lloyd Loar, of course, is credited with the design of Gibson’s notorious F5 mandolin, as well as the other double-course instruments that made up the mandolin orchestras that were so popular in the United States in the 1920s and ’30s. His mandolin design has become the absolute standard for instruments used in bluegrass, so much so that only rarely will you see a modern mandolin that is not a near replica of his.
Roger Siminoff, a recognized expert in the history of the mandolin, and Mr. Loar in particular, has been very helpful to Bonnie in planning the festival. If his schedule will allow, he hopes to be at this year’s event (June 27-29) and exhibit a slide presentation on Lloyd Loar with some Loar memorabilia.
In addition to a number of Illinois bluegrass bands, Bonnie has scheduled a performance by the Orpheus Mandolin Orchestra from Bloomington, who will demonstrate the sort of classical music played by these groups in the early 20th Century.
She started small last year with about 300 attendees, and is hoping for a larger event in 2014. There is no fee to attend, but donations will be graciously accepted.
Jaeckle’s long term plans include raising funds for youth bluegrass musical scholarships, and keeping the Loar legacy and heritage alive in his hometown.
There is no web site for Lloyd Loar’s Hometown Bluegrass Festival, but there is a Facebook page, and Bonnie invites anyone interested in this event to contact her there.
John and I have already had a busy day. We attended the Special Awards Luncheon, interviewed Sam Bush, and were interviewed by Katy Daley.
At the Special Awards Luncheon we had the distinct pleasure of sharing a table with Rodney Dillard, his wife Beverly, and their children. What a delightful family, very gracious and enjoyable. I have the feeling we’ll be hearing from them this evening, but at the luncheon they sat and ate, and applauded enthusiastically for all the winners.
Speaking of winners…I tried to make some notes, so here’s what we have.
The award for Best Liner Notes for a Recorded Project, went to Steve Martin for his CD, The Crow.
Best Graphic Design for a Recorded Project was awarded to Greg Carr & Salli Ratts for their design of Steve Martin’s CD cover, The Crow.
This year’s Print Media Person of the Year is Roger Siminoff, for his work on Siminoff’s Luthiers Glossary, Banjo NewsLetter and Bluegrass Breakdown.
Our good friend, and co-hostess of this evening Red Carpet videos, Katey Daley, was named Bluegrass Broadcaster of the Year for her work at WAMU’s Bluegrass Country in Washington, D.C.
In addition to these Special Awards, four five Distinguished Achievement Awards were given as well.
Hylo Brown, Jody Rainwater, Dick Spottswood, Joe Wilson and Pati Crooker (Thomas Point Beach) were all recognized for their contributions to bluegrass music.
Roger Siminoff has dedicated his life to the fretted string instruments we use to play bluegrass music. His work as a luthier – and as an instructor to other builders and repairmen – has been a valuable service to our acoustic music community.
Roger’s latest effort is a book of descriptive definitions, illustrations and photos for builders, entitled Siminoff’s Luthiers Glossary. In this 206 page softcover book, Roger defines well over 800 design terms commonly used by artisans working in the design, construction, and production of acoustic stringed instruments.
The glossary provides definitions for parts, techniques, tools, adhesives, finishes, machinery, woods, stains, plus acoustics and legal terms. Roger also includes color photos of common tone woods to help in their identification, both finished and unfinished.
Siminoff’s Luthiers Glossary is published by Hal Leonard and can be found in music retailers specializing in acoustic instruments, and from Roger’s web site – which is itself a treasure trove of information and parts for luthiers at any level of experience.
The November issue of Banjo NewsLetter marks the 35th Anniversary of continuous publication for this cherished 5-string monthly. And how appropriate that it follows founder Hub Nitchie’s posthumous receipt of an IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award in October 2008.
This issue contains a number of well-deserved tributes to Hub, his wife Nancy, and his sons Spencer and Donald who have run the business since their father passed away in 1992. Among them are remembrances from Roger Siminoff who recalls his first discussion with Hub about the possibility of starting a banjo magazine, and a transcript of Tony Trischka’s remarks prior to the presentation of Hub’s award at IBMA this year.
New content is included as well, but the most compelling material comes from the rich history of the magazine and it’s commitment to support all styles of music played on the five string banjo. Photo copies of several tabs from the early days are included, along with a precious snapshot of the state of the banjo world in 1973.
A sample…
Richard Keldsen, future president of Saga Musical Instruments, opened a retail store, The Fifth String, in San Francisco
J.D. Crowe & The New South recorded a self-titled album not released by Starday until 1977
Bela Fleck’s grandfather gave him his first banjo
Earl Scruggs, Curtis McPeake and Doug Dillard each released albums following the Dueling Banjos phenomenon of 1973
Jerry Garcia played with Old & In The Way. Their performance at the Boarding House in San Francisco was recorded and released on Rounder Records a few years later
Pete Wernick was working on his Bluegrass Banjo book, which was published in ’74 and became a best-seller, enabling him to quit his academic job and try to launch a career in music
Former subscribers who have fallen away may want to pick up this issue as a keepsake – if not be spurred into renewing with BNL. Single issue and subscription information can be found on the Banjo NewsLetterweb site.
