Gibson A-9 vs. Weber Yellowstone

[mandosteve]

Hey y'all,
I'm a first time poster, but a long time visitor of this great website. Anyways, here's my question. I just ordered a Gibson A-9 from Elderly and am eagerly awaiting it's arrival. I currently own a Weber Yellowstone that is everything I've ever wanted in a mando. How will the A-9 stack up? I'm assuming the Weber will still be king in this household. In case you're wondering, I bought the Gibson A-9 to be my backup mando. Until now, I've been dragging a Washburn M3SW along to gigs while hoping and praying I don't have to actually pull it out of the case. I guess I'll follow this up with my own comparison when the A-9 gets here.

[jim simpson]

Mandosteve,
My experience has been each time I purchased a 2nd mandolin, it took the lead. I had a Ratliff and a Kentucky KM1000. I traded in the Kentucky on a Yellowstone. The Yellowstone sounded better and I then wanted to get rid of the Ratliff. I traded in the Ratliff on a Gibson F5-G. Now I wanted to get rid of the Yellowstone and get another Gibson. I ended up selling the Yellowstone and I bought a Sim Daley. Now I play the Sim Daley and the Gibson F5-G is the back-up. I still like the Gibson but the Daley just sounds that much better. As you can see, there was a pattern here. I was afraid that I would buy something that I would favor over the Gibson and I really like the Gibson. You may be surprised to find which one you'll favor. Give us a review after you get your new one!

[mandosteve]

Well, the Gibson A-9 arrived today and I must say it's a keeper. It's got some serious bark, more than my Yellowstone. Maybe it's time to switch from the Brekke bridge to a traditional Loar-style bridge on the Weber. The A-9 will probably remain as my backup for now, anyway. The Yellowstone is easier to play, prettier to look at, and has better tone in my opinion. I'm sure the A-9's tone will improve over time though. It feels awesome to actually own a Gibson, even though it's a bottom of the line model. Is the difference in the two bridges the only reason that the Gibson A-9 has so much more punch than the Weber Yellowstone? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[pickinNgrinnin]

Go ahead and try out a Loar style bridge on the Yellowstone. It's a fairly inexpensive experiement. May sound better and perhaps not. Seems each Mandolin will respond in different ways from a Brekke to a Loar style. Could be your set up too. You might want to have that checked.

[8ch(pl)]

I think I would take them both to gigs and alternate playing them. Or use the Gibson for practice and the Yellowstone for performing. The idea being to give the new instrument time to open up. Is the Yellowstone X braced? It needs less time to open up, and is likely thee now.

I was never a Gibson fan except the old A's, but I have to admit that the A9 is a nice sounding competitive priced mandolin.

Since I like Flat top instruments (being into folk), I would like to see Gibson re-invent the Army Navy model to compete with the Weber Aspen and the Mid Missouri. They were great sounding flat tops and with X bracing would shine for folk and celtic.

[Kbone]

I've owned both , and to tell you the honest truth ,my A9 had better tone , but the yellowstone played easier.