As I scan old posts (I'm new here) I've seen references to "A5" or "F9" etc., which I thought was just the builder's own numbering system (like my Taylor's 500, 600, etc. series), but the posts make it sound like the "5" or "9" or other numbers are generic to some specific aspect of all mandolins. #Would someone please explain this? #Thanks.
Sorry there is no rhyme or reason as to why they choose what they choose other than you can be sure an F5 is a long neck F hole Florentine style body. You might find some similiars to the letters/numbers used but generally each manufacturer has their own. If so and so is calling his an F5 it's a copy of the original Gibson F5. But even Gibson is not known for keeping a standard in the numbers assigned. Like an A5 made in 1923 is totally different then the A5 made in the 50's and 60's and the A5 in the 70's is totally different and then add the "L" to it and they come up with the A5L which is suppose to be the exact copy of the original '23 A5 and it's not even close. Then they mess with us on the F5 becoming the F5L and now the Fern. I think Martin has had a more stable numbering system than most. A D45 is a D45 unless you get into details like forward bracking, Brazlian rosewood or Indian rosewood, thick wide neck or regular thin neck. Not sure why them came up the "9" meaning a low end mandolin. Use to be the A, A1, Ajr.,A40 were low ends. Nope forget it. There is no method to the madness.
At the risk of being over-simple, one way to mentally categorize mandolins is to understand the basic early Gibson model designations. #An "A" is pear-shaped. #An "F" is the now-classic "Florentine" shape. #The higher the number the fancier the binding and inlay. #So an F-4 is fancier than an F-2, though they should sound the same all other things being equal. #The revolutionary break in this system came around 1923 with the introduction of the F-5 which featured two "f"-shaped soundholes instead of the single oval soundhole of all previous models, and as mentioned above a longer neck. #Interestingly those first few hundred F-5 mandolins - called "Loars" after Lloyd Loar, Gibson's celebrity endorser and mandolin quality-control guy at that time - set a standard which nearly all builders, including Gibson itself, have been trying to re-attain ever since.
Now bear in mind, as the above post points out, there are many exceptions to this scheme of letters and numbers: the recently introduced Gibson F-9, for example, is a starkly plain instrument compared to the now-multiple versions of their F-5's, which feature different bindings & inlays not to mention neck shapes, wood selection, and the almost indescribable musical tone intended by the designers.
And you'll find that many modern builders will use a name - the Rigel "Gypsy" or the Weber "Gallatin" - instead of a letter/number designation. #I guess it's sort of like cars -you just have to learn the designations by observation. #But if it's any comfort you're reading the best mandolin site on the internet and none of us was born knowing what we do - it's just a matter of interest and exposure.
Can anyone really explain a F12 thou?Originally Posted by (Maine Michael @ Dec. 23 2005, 21:45)
Gibson A9
Eastman 804D two point, blonde
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Thanks, Grant - I stand (or strum) corrected...
that higher the number the fancier the.... went out the window in the 30's. You had F7, F10 and F12 along with the F4 and F5. Try picking the fancy one out of that numbering system with no descriptions or photos! It is what it is so don't try to make more of it than what it is meant to be. Depends on what you mean "is" is.
Now you got the F5G, the F5L, the F5V, the F5MM, the F5DMM
and their newest one the F5GLVMMDMM..
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