Northfield mandolins

[extremescene]

Some pics of my new Traditional NF... I'm very impressed with the woods on this instrument... Nice grained Adirondack and highly flamed maple. Got a rehearsal tonight, can't wait to hear how this thing cuts through a band! The chop is incredible, musical and very powerful!

[Paul Statman]

Sweet - Big congrats on a great score there.
I'm sure I'm not alone in wondering what upgrades/changes were applied, and at what additional cost to the $3000 base price?

[extremescene]

Beautiful - Big congrats on a great score there. What upgrades are we looking at (added to the $3000 base price)?

No upgrades. To my knowledge it is 100% standard traditional specs.

[Paul Statman]

Even sweeter!

[Andrew B. Carlson]

Wow. That's the best looking Northfield I've seen yet! And the best quality photos too! Is that a premium wood upgrade by chance?

[extremescene]

Wow. That's the best looking Northfield I've seen yet! And the best quality photos too! Is that a premium wood upgrade by chance?

No premium wood used to my knowledge but only Adrian would know for sure... this was made for the IBMA show, however, so they probably picked especially good sets, even if not from the "premium" pile. The wood looks even better than I would have expected, so I'm very pleased.

[Paul Statman]

No premium wood used to my knowledge but only Adrian would know for sure... this was made for the IBMA show, however, so they probably picked especially good sets, even if not from the "premium" pile. The wood looks even better than I would have expected, so I'm very pleased.

Ah-so. Over to you, Adrian!

[Scotti Adams]

Thats really, really nice

[Mandosummers]

Absolutely gorgeous!!! I played that mando at IBMA, I remember it. It is a HOSS! It would be a bargian at three times the current prices.

[Northfield mando]

Hi Everyone. Thanks for the great comments. Congratulations ExtremeScene on your new mandolin...yes, that's a great instrument and I'm glad it found a good home. Funny how that one stuck around a little longer. I don't think even Elderly really knew that it had come back from IBMA. When I went up to deliver another instrument I saw it, freshened up the set-up a little bit and picked a few tunes. All of the instruments in the batch for IBMA got a little extra special eyeball time. Hey, it's a show and tell for lots of us builders and we do like to bring new and unique instruments for players to check out. Glad ya snagged it...it was getting lonely up there Lansing.

This mandolin does not feature our premium set upgrade. It's a little bit hard to explain in writing all that goes into selecting our most premium sets but I'll try to here--always a little more fun to talk about this on the phone, because each set is selected uniquely and a lot of this wood has a story that meanders around....ahh...don't you just love this stuff!? Some info about we select our premium sets.

a. For their tonal characteristics, not just aesthetics. We run a wide variety of different tests on our materials to gather information about the potential for sound transfer. This is especially true for the spruce, which is the major "player" in creating the sound character, the responsiveness and the tone, of the specific instrument. So, our premium spruce sets are especially coveted. We use them sparingly and match them up sonically with the maple.

b. The biggest difference on the maple sets we classify as premium are that they are completely matched to each other (the neck to the sides..and the back). Right now, and for the last several months, our premium red maple sets have all been from the same log we were lucky to grab on a rare trip to Montreal. Coming up we'll also have some very special Sugar Maple sets harvested from Michigan...some of these with beautiful 1-piece backs.

The real key to this upgrade is the amount of time we spend selecting and pairing things up for character--both in terms of sound and aesthetics. The best stuff always costs us more...sometimes a lot more. But, the results can be quite special and that's what we're banking on by providing this option for interested buyers. There's just so much to say and think about when it comes to working with wood. Depending on the person, the stories behind the wood that made it come together are just as fun to tell as the stories that happen while you're enjoying the instrument out in the world. A unique experience...that's what it's all about for us, and I can tell, for many of you too. Much of this special wood was very hard to get...and once it's gone, it's gone. That's why we reserve it for custom builds--much of these sets going on our Big Mon models.

I will say though that every mandolin we build is made of materials that meet very strict standards. Our "standard" models that Elderly receives are made with the same exact approach. No design changes or modifications to the construction or techniques. Same hands on all mandolins. There are quite a few mandolins that we've made with very minor figure to the maple that sound beautiful with all the responsiveness and tone of the others with more pronounced curl or grain. Every one of them is different--they should be--but our methods are the same every time. Sorry for all the ramblin'. Hope this is helpful.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. -Adrian

[Paul Statman]

..It would be a bargian at three times the current prices.

Hey! Stop that, Mandosummers - don't be giving them ideas (that recent price hike postponed a few buyers' plans already)!

[yankees1]

Hey! Stop that, Mandosummers - don't be giving them ideas (that recent price hike postponed a few buyers' plans already)!

Not me, I'm locked in at the $2500. price for a F5 !

[Paul Statman]

Not me, I'm locked in at the $2500. price for a F5 !

I am delighted!

[majorbanjo]

That is a beautiful mandolin....hope my big mon is that nice....I ordered the premium wood, modern set up, and large f-holes, james tail piece and violin neck......

[extremescene]

That is a beautiful mandolin....hope my big mon is that nice....I ordered the premium wood, modern set up, and large f-holes, james tail piece and violin neck......

Feel free to send it to me to photograph for you when it is finished! In all seriousness, I took the NF to rehearsal last night and it was incredible... the band commented on the tone right away. Really cuts through when you need it to.

[Glassweb]

Northfield is getting their F5 pretty dialed in... i'm impressed! their quality of workmanship is now just about as good as Gibson's was during the Loar era! now all they need to do is change that silly headstock motif! whoever came up with the idea to have those inlays scrunched-up there in the great northwest needs to re-evaluate their decision. good design counts!

[Mandosummers]

For what its worth, I personally love the original inlay style. Kinda simple and understated but still very unique. I'm good with mine as is.

[Andrew B. Carlson]

That is a beautiful mandolin....hope my big mon is that nice....I ordered the premium wood, modern set up, and large f-holes, james tail piece and violin neck......

No holds barred! We'll have to see pics and maybe you'll honor us with a video of that hoss?

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

Some pics of my new Traditional NF...

Extremely nice. The mandolin looks fantastic. Every time I convinced myself I don't need a Northfield, I see one like this just makes me want one even more. Looking forward to seeing majorbanjoy's big mon when it arrives.

[nycmando]

There are a bunch of great pics of NF Mandolins on the Northfield Sessions Podcast
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-No...33593680082147

[extremescene]

What are you guys using to maintain the varnish finish on these... you can't polish them to my understanding, what do you guys do to periodically clean them up or maintain them?

[pdb]

jubilee cleaner/polish...steve at cumberland acoustics sells it.

[yankees1]

For what its worth, I personally love the original inlay style. Kinda simple and understated but still very unique. I'm good with mine as is.

I agree!!

[yankees1]

Any news from Northfield Mando ? Pretty quiet at Elderly also and they changed their delivery dates on F5 modern to "expected date unknown" instead of the 180 days on other models.

[Northfield mando]

Hi Everyone. Don't "fret" yankees1, mandolins are being delivered regularly. Why, just this morning I'm setting up a few. New batch heading to Chicago, Japan, Canada and up to Elderly. I guess people just haven't had time to write into the forum. However, I have gotten calls or emails from everyone that received mandolins in October and November. We sent 4 mandolins to all different parts of the world. Thrilling for us to see these mandolins heading out into the world. It's been a little quieter on the forum...but rest assured we're busy little elves this holiday season. I'll try and post a pic of the newbies going out as soon as they're ready. And, I'll try to encourage those that received mandolins recently to post some pics...but ya know, everyone gets busy--especially around this time of year.

As for Elderly's dates, that is always changing. We have a large backlog of custom instruments that we're working on and we complete them in the order that they come in. But to be clear, our orders now stretch out into May and there are several "pending" orders that people are still putting the finishing touches on. So...hopefully, anyone that is considering an order will give me a call to finalize it. Next time I post we could very realistically be booked through June 2012. We're finishing/completing about 4 instruments per month. Takes us about 90-120 days to make one. That's about where we've been for most of 2011..but it's getting a little longer as the order list gets longer and custom orders come in. Lots of mandolin players out there these days!!! The more, the merrier.

All the best, Adrian (Any questions? Give me a ring at 269.267.3678)