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I only knew this man from his reputation on his presence on the Mandolin Cafe massage board. He had an immense knowledge of all things mandolin and a never ending passion for his work. Perhaps best known to the public as the man who rebuilt Bill Monroe's Loar F-5 from pieces after it was smashed by vandals.

Here is what Joe Vest of Gibson had to say about it yesterday:
"It is with heavy heart I inform the Cafe that my friend, Charlie Derrington, has passed on. He was taken in a motorcycle accident last evening by a drunken driver in the wrong lane. He will most certainly be missed by the Bluegrass community as a whole, the Cafe, Gibson, and his family and many friends.

Please be in prayer for his wife, Susan, and their daughter, Anna, who is just about to enter her sophmore year in college. It is a terrible loss to us all. I have no information on arrangements yet. I will post them as they become available."

What a tragic loss. Rest in peace.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Charlie was head of R&D at Gibson in Nashville, and he was the luthier who rebuilt two of Bill Monroe's mandolins after they were destroyed by a vandal wielding a fireplace poker. My prayers go out to his family and friends.
http://www.newschannel5.com/content/news/21138.asp

Horrible news indeed...

I last saw Charlie at Loarfest in Bakersfield earlier this year where we were
on the same panel discussing the Loar mandolins.

It's always so difficult to lose those people--especially under these kind
of circumstances--who have such an enthusiam for life, and Charlie had
it in spades...

He was simply nuts about mandolins and what made them tick, and
could
hardly contain that enthusiam...

One can not imagine those kind of people suddenly not being here
anymore, and all day I've been moping around just shaking my head...

Condolances to his family and friends at this horrible time...

My condolences to the family and friends as well, they will be in my prayers.

That's just awful news...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."