Stonebridge?

**Charley wild** · Mar-08-2010, 3:02pm

Stopped in at Acoustic Outfitters to beat on a few mandolins this morning. My accessment: MK Elegante; nice. Good volume and tone. Nicest MK I've played! Kentucky 675; nice. Not the equal of the used one he had a while back but I could live with it. Eastman 515; very nice. If I was buying and had those three to chose from, this would be it. Excellent volume and tone. Stonebridge "A"; VERY, VERY nice! Wow, what a nice mandolin! Great chop, excellent treble! Used, nice price, should have bought it. But if I had every mandoln I should have bought I'd be up to ears in mandolins! Anybody play one of these?

**LukeF** · Mar-08-2010, 3:28pm

This may be useless to you, but I play a Stonebridge acoustic guitar. It is a small OM style. When I bought it it was better than anything else hanging on the wall and was on par with the Martin's and Taylor's at half the cost. I've never played a Stonebridge mando, but every Stonebridge guitar I've played has sounded incredible.

I play an Eastman 815 mando and I've had a few great comments about it. (one being that it sounded as good, if not better than some of the Gibsons being made now). Without having tried the Stonebridge and having played the others, my vote is Eastman. cheers

**swinginmandolins** · Mar-08-2010, 3:31pm

I believe that Tommy Gauthier is playing and F style here:

Sounds good to me.

**Salmon Falls Strings** · Mar-08-2010, 3:35pm

That Stonebridge at Acoustic Outfitters is one of the nicest mandolins I have played. I spent at least an hour with it the last time I was in there. Apparently Jesse Brock (mandolinist for Michael Cleveland and the Flamekeeper) thought it was by far the nicest mandolin they had in the shop when he was in there a few months ago. David Surette plays an F-style Stonebridge and that is a very nice mandolin, especially in his hands. It is definitely a lot of bang for your buck.

**rico mando** · Mar-08-2010, 4:58pm

wow major disappointment i was hoping to read about mandolins with stone bridges.

oh well back to my

**Jim Garber** · Mar-08-2010, 6:56pm

Ah, now I see... Stonebridge mandolins and guitars are made in the Czech Republic. May I ask the price on this beauty mentioned above?

More info here.

**Ryk** · Mar-08-2010, 7:05pm

I am a huge unabashed fan of Acoustic Outfitters and of what Gary and Allison have established there. That being said, my partner, who is much better at mandolin that i am, tried this same Rockbridge becuase it was the same type of mandolin that David (her one time teacher) played and loved it. I sure liked it as well. Not enough to replace the Rigels here at home ... but a very nice mandolin.

Ryk

**TonyP** · Mar-08-2010, 7:10pm

I'd never heard of the parent company, Furch, before playing one at Buffalo Bro's. At the time Steve handed it to me and said "Furch"(sound like Furk) and saw the puzzled look on my face, he said the importer decided the name Stonebridge would be more friendly sounding. I ended up getting the Furch as a second mando. It has the "other" sound I was looking for. Almost an oval hole sound, with a great chop and a deep voice on the G and D courses and loud. Just a plain Jane A model, pumpkin top with min binding, cedar top and mahogany back and sides. It keeps me coming back to it while my Newson F5 sits resting after 25yrs as #1.

I've since played several Stonebridge F5's and the two dealers said they can't keep them in. At the same price point there were no other imports that could compete IMHO.

**Matt Hutchinson** · Mar-09-2010, 4:10am

My first proper mando was a Furch A style (same instrument, just re-named Stonebridge for the US market). It was by far the best in my price range at the time I bought it (much better than all the Eastmans I tried, nice as they were). I sold it in the end to buy a 1988 Flatiron A but wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.
Matt

**300win** · Mar-09-2010, 9:50am

nice looking mandolins, and guitars

**David Surette** · Mar-09-2010, 2:59pm

I like mine a whole lot. It serves as a great backup to my trusty old 1918 F-2, plus I've gotten to kind of dig the f-hole thing. I find it has a very full sound on the low end, too, which I like for Celtic and folk stuff. I have heard they're hard to find, so I would suggest grabbing one if you see one and like it.

David Surette

**grassrootphilosopher** · Mar-10-2010, 3:58am

Furch/Stonebridge (same company... Frantisek Furch started it) builds very nice instruments that can compete with a bunch of higher priced ones. They are built old style by quite skilled czech luthiers. If your budget is not acustomed to the vintage end, they are the way to go to my mind.

**Matt Hutchinson** · Mar-10-2010, 6:10am

Originally Posted by grassrootphilosopher

If your budget is not acustomed to the vintage end, they are the way to go to my mind.

Mine was certainly good value. I tried it against a few Eastmans and a couple of lower end sole luthier instruments and it won hands down. Had a remarkably full sound for a mando at the price. Their guitars are apparently great as well, in fact I remember being told the guitars were selling so well they'd scaled back mando production (although this may not be the case...just what I heard)

Matt

**Dagger Gordon** · Mar-10-2010, 6:33am

I had a go on one belonging to JP Cormier a couple of years ago. Very good. He liked it a lot.

**Charley wild** · Mar-10-2010, 8:32pm

Well, I called and put it on hold. I'll pick it up tomorrow. Couldn't pass it up. I still have a bit of scrollitis but tone rules. I figure I'm getting it for a whole lot less than if it had a scroll AND I got to play it. Should be the last F style mandolin I'll ever need. Any scroll in the future will be an oval hole. I'm excited! This mandolin is so much better than me it reminds me of one of my ex-wives....I don't recall which one. Yeeha!

**Charley wild** · Mar-11-2010, 11:54am

I just brought it home! Gary slapped a complimentary set of J74's on it and I'm having a ball with it. I think the banjo is going in the closet for a long spell!

**TonyP** · Mar-11-2010, 5:50pm

congratulations Charley, I always love to hear of MAS remission. pic purty.

**Charley wild** · Mar-11-2010, 9:45pm

Thanks, Tony. I justified buying this mandolin by deciding to get rid of a few instruments. First up was my lowly MK A+. No need for it, right? Both the Stonebrige and the MK are f hole A's and the Stonebridge is much the superior mandolin. Well, let's not get hasty here. After spend a few hours playing both I'm not so sure the the MK is that much inferior. It's louder and it's more defined. In other words less sustain than the SB both bass and treble. The MK actually has a better chop. But the SB is very even bass and treble with more ring. It is a bit prettier. Almost like an oval hole in comparison to the MK.
Now I beginning see why this MAS thing is so dangerous!

**TonyP** · Mar-11-2010, 10:34pm

One of the things that was a little worrisome at first to me about my Furch was the chop. Even though it was a ff hole, it had more of a oval bottom end sound. And the ovals I've played didn't have much chop to speak of. Well after a week or so of playing with others, it developed a chop, and how. So give it some time. And chop it like you mean it, I guarantee it'll come around. Mine is also a cedar top, and unlike my NewsonF5 with a spruce top, it's like it's warmed up all the time.

I really only have the two mando's, and had only the Newson for 25+yrs before the Furch. They cover all the mando sounds I'm lookin' for. So until the Furch, my MAS was cured, but I was always on the lookout. No more.

**Charley wild** · Mar-12-2010, 2:45pm

Don't worry, Tony, I'm pounding away on it! My warmup drill is about a half hour of just chopping with rhythm tracks! And then I get serious! I didn't meant to imply that I was a little disappointed in the SB. Just the other way around. I love the idea of having two mandolins with different characteristics! I just didn't realize how different until I played them back and forth for a couple of hours. Although the SB has some oval hole qualities no one would mistake it for one. In fact, I might even pick up an oval hole some day. But I'm in no hurry as the SB is as pretty a sounding mandolin as I could want! Like you, I now have the sounds I want covered!