Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 78

Thread: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Oak Park, IL
    Posts
    291

    Default F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    Am I alone in the world in liking the looks of an F4 more than those of an F5? My only mandolin is an A-style with F-holes. I love it, and I love the way those look. But in an F-style, there's something about the oval hole...it just looks ancient and exotic. I don't have enough experience playing different mandolins to comment on the sound, I'm just talking about the look. Anybody else?

  2. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Mark Miller For This Useful Post:


  3. #2
    Middle-Aged Old-Timer Tobin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Kerrville, TX
    Posts
    4,004

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    I go through phases where I like the looks of my F4 better than my F5. Once you stare at an F4 long enough, it just looks "right" and the F5 looks strange. But then I swing back to the F5.

    I do admit, though, that I always prefer my F5 sound over the F4.
    Keep that skillet good and greasy all the time!

  4. The following members say thank you to Tobin for this post:


  5. #3
    Registered User red7flag's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Dickson, TN
    Posts
    3,292

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    I am a big fan of ovals. I especially like the short necks that are attached to the top. They have a subtle sweet sound that is plain beautiful. I have f4 reproduction that was beautifully recreated by Gail Hester. What sweet sounding and great looking instrument. My Collins's oval is one fret longer, attached at the 13 the fret, and has an elevated fretboard. It has a more in your face modern sound, also great, but totally different.
    Tony Huber
    1930 Martin Style C #14783
    2011 Mowry GOM
    2013 Hester F4 #31
    2014 Ellis F5 #322
    2017 Nyberg Mandola #172

  6. The following members say thank you to red7flag for this post:


  7. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Oak Park, IL
    Posts
    291

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	front.jpg 
Views:	285 
Size:	248.4 KB 
ID:	155209

  8. #5
    Registered User mandobassman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Delran, NJ
    Posts
    2,921

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    I love my A5 and it will continue to be my main working instrument, but the F4 has always been my favorite instrument. I really love the classy looks of it better than the F5. Actually, I would love to have any of the oval hole F models.

  9. The following members say thank you to mandobassman for this post:


  10. #6
    Registered User JH Murray's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Burnstown Ontario Canada
    Posts
    794

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    My main mandolin is an oval hole Sobell copy. My dream mandolin is a F4. The only one I have ever played is the Eastman 614, which sadly did not impress me. Still dreaming.

  11. The following members say thank you to JH Murray for this post:


  12. #7
    Registered User Bad Monkey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    178

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    soundwise my F4 and F2 fit in with the band much better than a f-hole instrument with a flying fingerboard. lookswise, I can't see 'em when I'm playing 'em or the bass player will gently point out where the audience is. And he can do it without anyone knowing since we gave him (and the drummer) vocal mics even though they don't sing a note. It's the only way they can communicate with the rest of the band since we are running IEM. Only took him two gigs before he figured out he can be a smarta$$ all night and no one will know.

    I really prefer the overall aesthetics of the F2/4 beasties though.

  13. The following members say thank you to Bad Monkey for this post:


  14. #8
    Still Picking and Sawing Jack Roberts's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    sigmaX>=hbar/2sigmaP
    Posts
    1,701

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    I think the F4 is the most beautiful musical instrument ever produced.
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	F4.jpg 
Views:	414 
Size:	292.6 KB 
ID:	155211
    Ha, ha! keep time: how sour sweet music is,
    When time is broke and no proportion kept!
    --William Shakespeare

  15. The Following 10 Users Say Thank You to Jack Roberts For This Useful Post:


  16. #9
    Registered User CavScout's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Jersey City
    Posts
    108

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    My oval hole just had its 100th birthday. Great sound. I love it.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20170108_120737.jpg 
Views:	303 
Size:	767.4 KB 
ID:	155213

  17. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to CavScout For This Useful Post:


  18. #10
    Registered User Mandobart's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Washington State
    Posts
    3,652

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    You tell me

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	0323171913a.jpg 
Views:	286 
Size:	365.8 KB 
ID:	155216

  19. The following members say thank you to Mandobart for this post:


  20. #11
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Oak Park, IL
    Posts
    291

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    Great pictures, guys. Thanks for posting!

  21. #12

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    Doug Unger, a serious arbiter of visual aesthetics in the fretted instrument world, once told me he thought the ultimate most beautiful sight in the mandoverse and beyond was viewing an F4 from a certain perspective--neither profile or front-view, something in between.
    He also remarked (this was in a banjo-building course): "Banjos are plumbing and hardware, but mandolins are everything!" =
    The guy knows his stuff...https://www.elderly.com/instruments/...model-2012.htm

  22. The following members say thank you to Bill Cameron for this post:


  23. #13
    Registered User Billy Packard's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Grass Valley
    Posts
    885

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Gibson F4 Hybrid.jpg 
Views:	437 
Size:	1.89 MB 
ID:	155225Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Gibson F4 Hybrid, petgead.jpg 
Views:	303 
Size:	2.15 MB 
ID:	155226Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_0676 (1).jpg 
Views:	238 
Size:	336.0 KB 
ID:	155224

    I got this beauty directly from Dave Harvy at the Gibson shop in Nashville, 2010 just before the flood. It is a stunning beauty.
    Billy Packard
    Gilchrist A3, 1993
    Stiver Fern, 1990
    Weber Fern, 2007
    Gibson F4 Hybrid #1, D. Harvey 2009
    Gibson 1923 A2
    Numerous wonderful guitars

  24. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Billy Packard For This Useful Post:


  25. #14
    Middle-Aged Old-Timer Tobin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Kerrville, TX
    Posts
    4,004

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    One of my favorite things about vintage (teens) Gibson F4s, aside from the shape, is the color. The red sunburst and overall red theme is just ...cool. I'm not sure why it isn't more popular today in modern mandolins. But there's just something about the dark red vintage color, especially with the patina of age, that appeals to me.

    My 1917 H4 and 1918 F4 with my modern mandolins:
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	The Gang.jpg 
Views:	253 
Size:	97.0 KB 
ID:	155228  
    Keep that skillet good and greasy all the time!

  26. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Tobin For This Useful Post:


  27. #15
    two t's and one hyphen fatt-dad's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Richmond, Virginia
    Posts
    7,635

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    . . . with 12 fret neck joints. Don't really think the hybrid does the oval hole justice.

    I'll duck now from the Collings oval-hole fan club. I mean they are great instruments, but for the oval hole mandolin, I prefer the Gibson layout - 12 frets, which means integrated fretboard (i.e., laying directly on the top).

    YMMV,

    f-d
    ¡papá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!

    '20 A3, '30 L-1, '97 914, 2012 Cohen A5, 2012 Muth A5, '14 OM28A

  28. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to fatt-dad For This Useful Post:


  29. #16
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Oak Park, IL
    Posts
    291

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    Quote Originally Posted by Tobin View Post

    My 1917 H4 and 1918 F4 with my modern mandolins:
    Those are beautiful mandolins, but you paid too much for that pick!

  30. #17
    Down the road I go Trav'linmando's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    WA on the Snake River
    Posts
    142

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    How do I like my oval hole ?
    Very well , thank you.
    Very few of us know, how much we have to know, in order to know, how little we know.
    Father Ed Dowling

    Pava A5 #156
    Eastman 815V
    Eastman 514
    Eastman 404
    Godin A8

  31. #18

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    Every "serious" mando geek has to have at least one of each.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	GibsonMandos2091104..jpg 
Views:	188 
Size:	174.3 KB 
ID:	155285

    Len B.
    Clearwater, FL

  32. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to lenf12 For This Useful Post:


  33. #19
    Joe B mandopops's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Chicago ‘burbs
    Posts
    615

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    Oval hole Gibsons (A or F) are my favorite Mandolins. I like the sound, looks, & scale length. I'm with fatt-dad on this, I like the shorter 12 fret neck. That is important part of the ovals for me.
    In my early years of playing Mandolin, I didn't like F5's, the sound or the longer neck. I eventually came to appreciate them & got one.
    I agree with Len B, I had to have at least one (or 2) of each.
    To me, the oval hole looks right for a Mandolin. The F holes make it look more like a Violin.
    I sometimes bring an oval to Bluegrass jams. I have a line I use when Bluegrassers see me with one of my ovals, "This is from the days when Mandolins were still Mandolins, before they became those F5 noise boxes." Of course, I do play F5's, too.

    Joe

  34. #20
    fishing with my mando darrylicshon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    atlanta
    Posts
    1,303

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    I love my oval holes , but none of mine are expensive , some are getting old

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	2017-02-15_03.47.53.jpg 
Views:	261 
Size:	968.1 KB 
ID:	155295
    Ibanez 70's 524, 521, 3 511's,2 512's,513,1 514,3 80s 513's, 522
    J Bovier F5-T custom shop
    Kiso Suzuki V900,
    The Loar lm600 Cherryburst
    morgan monroe mms-5wc,ovation
    Michael Kelly Octave Mandolin
    Emandos Northfield octave tele 4, Northfield custom jem octave mandolin 5 octave strat 8
    2 Flying v 8, octave 5, Exploryer octave 8 20"
    Fender mandostrat 4,3 Epip mandobird 2,4/8, Kentucky. KM300E Eastwood mandocaster
    Gold Tone F6,Badaax doubleneck 8/6

  35. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to darrylicshon For This Useful Post:


  36. #21
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Outer Spiral Arm, of Galaxy, NW Oregon.
    Posts
    17,103

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    I like my A4, F4 minus several thousand dollars.
    writing about music
    is like dancing,
    about architecture

  37. The following members say thank you to mandroid for this post:


  38. #22

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    Just picked up an Eastman 614 and I'm not sure if it's the huge upgrade in instrument quality, the oval hole, or both, but I love it!

  39. #23
    Registered User Joey Anchors's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Posts
    1,008

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    I'm in the same mind set of the oval hole/12th fret neck setup being "the" sound for oval holes.

    That being said. I'm loving my Eastman MD404! I play strictly jazz/jump blues and this mandolin sounds so good for these styles!
    Last edited by Joey Anchors; Mar-26-2017 at 8:24am.
    Waterloo WL-M

    Blues Mando Social Group - member

  40. #24
    Registered User red7flag's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Dickson, TN
    Posts
    3,292

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    My lovely Hester F4, Collings MT2-O, and soon to be Nyberg arch top mandola (Sobell type) soon to arrive. This is a nice group of different sounding ovals that meet most any need.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Hester F4 001.JPG 
Views:	244 
Size:	979.9 KB 
ID:	155320   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSC_6497.JPG 
Views:	183 
Size:	993.5 KB 
ID:	155321   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_0396.jpg 
Views:	138 
Size:	453.0 KB 
ID:	155322  

    Tony Huber
    1930 Martin Style C #14783
    2011 Mowry GOM
    2013 Hester F4 #31
    2014 Ellis F5 #322
    2017 Nyberg Mandola #172

  41. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to red7flag For This Useful Post:


  42. #25

    Default Re: F4 vs F5; or, how do you like your oval holes?

    Quote Originally Posted by fatt-dad View Post
    . . . with 12 fret neck joints. Don't really think the hybrid does the oval hole justice.

    I'll duck now from the Collings oval-hole fan club. I mean they are great instruments, but for the oval hole mandolin, I prefer the Gibson layout - 12 frets, which means integrated fretboard (i.e., laying directly on the top).

    YMMV,

    f-d
    As an owner of both and someone who thoroughly enjoys both, I would say the commonalities far outweigh the differentials. Sure, the Collings is a raised fretboard and it's one fret off at the neck join, 13th fret vs 12th, but the sound is very reminiscent.

    No need to duck, I would never tell anyone they were wrong for thinking the two were different, as they are--but to me, its not that far off. Plus, if they were identical I would have no excuse for owning both.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_0414.jpg 
Views:	256 
Size:	482.2 KB 
ID:	155342


    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	FullSizeRender.jpg 
Views:	266 
Size:	623.4 KB 
ID:	155339
    Last edited by ColdBeerGoCubs; Mar-26-2017 at 1:48pm.
    Gunga......Gunga.....Gu-Lunga

  43. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to ColdBeerGoCubs For This Useful Post:


Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •