1984 Gibson F5

[Dave Hanson]

Visited the shop Ray.

Dave H

[almeriastrings]

It is really, really easy to tell the 70's era monstrosities from the reintroduced F-5L, and an '84 would look utterly, completely different from the photo received by DataNick. Some early F5-L photos here, from when the change from "bad" to "good" began.

Plain dots on the fingerboard vs. the fancy pattern are the single most obvious indicator.

http://www.mandolincafe.com/news/pub...s_001217.shtml

[DataNick]

Well guys we could put this one to bed fairly easily! If one of the UK guys participating on this thread would call the Leeds Hobgoblin store and ask them about any Gibson F5 mandolins in stock, we'd get a definitive answer. If they said only one, obviously it would be the 70s F5 in the picture. If two, then there would seem to be an 84 F5L out there, and a pic could be requested.

Any takers gents?

[Johnny60]

Hi all,

I happened to be in the Leeds Hobgoblin store on Saturday and I actually played this particular Gibson mandolin. I have to be honest and say that I was VERY underwhelmed. The set-up was OK, condition is not bad (bits of checking here and there), but it just sounded.... boring. No balls, no volume, no punch. Just a very so-so tone, pretty tinny. My wife, who stood in front of it while I played, said "your Eastman sounds better". And I totally agreed with her - my lowly Eastman 505 would have blown this thing out of the water for sweetness of tone, clarity, punch, etc.

I wish I'd seen this thread before I'd visited the store, but I'm pretty certain that it's exactly the same one that Nick posted in his photo. It certainly had the same fancy fingerboard and headstock inlays.

If I had a spare £3000 I'd rather buy a nice Weber A style Gallatin from Tamco and still have well over a grand left!

Obvioulsy, the one thing I don't know is how much better it would sound with a better set-up and fresh strings. Having said that, the strings weren't dead and the action was OK.

[DataNick]

Thanks Johnny!

Dave, it sounds like it indeed is a 70s era Gibson F5; of which I'd steer clear of!

They're just not worth it! I don't know what the shipping/import challenges are, but Gryphon in Northern California has a 2004 F5G that is just sweet, for $2900 USD http://gryphonstrings.com/instpix/44322/index.php

Good luck to ya Brotha!

[almeriastrings]

No balls, no volume, no punch. Just a very so-so tone, pretty tinny. My wife, who stood in front of it while I played, said "your Eastman sounds better".

You just described a 70's F-5 perfectly.... and yes, your Eastman is better - by a mile. A KM-150 is better, loads better.

£3,000 ($4,840 US!) is completely off-the-wall for one of these. Even half that and they would still be over-priced, and you could still (easily) by a whole bunch of far superior instruments and be left with change.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From all the info.on here & especially Johnny's remarks via. a 'hands on' experience,Hobgoblin might have that one on their hands for a while. I'd bet a £ ($) to a penny that the Gibson name encouraged them to take it on board in the first place. It's not encouraging to think that some poor mando.player might be saddled with that one,
Ivan

[Ray(T)]

Hobgoblin might have that one on their hands for a while.
Ivan

I tend to disagree, Ivan. North of Brighton, F model Gibson mandolins are in such short supply that I suspect you could almost sell anything, just because of the name on the headstock.

[almeriastrings]

You can only hope someone dropping £3K on a mandolin does a bit of research first....

[Steve Ostrander]

Your 3000 e's could buy a much better sounding mandolin.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I understand your point Ray,but i'd hope that anybody wanting to pay £3K for a mandolin would be a serious enough player to know a dud when they hear one. For example,would you or i buy it ?. However,for some folk, the name 'Gibson' overides common sense. I've heard more than my fair share of poor sounding Gibson banjos in the 50 years i've been playing. Maybe due to a poor set up on some,but with others.......................!,
Re.'F' model mandolins - Forsyth Bros.in Manchester currently have a good selection in stock,including 2 very nice Breedlove models,
Ivan