Northfield mandolins

[Northfield mando]

Just got home. This is a beautiful instrument! I really like the feel of the neck and the setup. It is just so much easier to play than my Washburn and the sound! Crickey! LOUD! It utterly romps all over the Washburn in every way.
In the box there was a Northfield t shirt and a set of acoustic guitar strings 13 to 56 just the ones I already use!
Many thanks to Adrian and Peter and all the lads at Northfield .
Photos and video to follow as I get time.
Phil

Thanks Phil. Glad you're enjoying the instrument! This was our first shipment down under, we thought it called for a T-shirt--especially for that freight cost! Thanks for working with us on all of that. Um, I guess that EXP packaging all looks the same. Those were supposed to be mandolin EXP74s..glad you can use the guitar strings. All the best. -Adrian-Kosuke-Jidou-Peter-Lao-Dino

[Phil Rourke]

Thanks Phil. Glad you're enjoying the instrument! This was our first shipment down under, we thought it called for a T-shirt--especially for that freight cost! Thanks for working with us on all of that. Um, I guess that EXP packaging all looks the same. Those were supposed to be mandolin EXP74s..glad you can use the guitar strings. All the best. -Adrian-Kosuke-Jidou-Peter-Lao-Dino

Ha ha! I was wondering about that! It's all good ,I use 13 to 56 on my martin d18 golden era ,recently bought one of those bulk packs of 25 sets..dont wory I will use up those exp's!.i also bought 20 sets of J 74's in preparation for the arrival of my new baby!

[Phil Rourke]

Well I made a video..sort of..
Please excuse my crappy playing..I'm only a learner.
I am so pleased with this instrument!! Since I got it I cant bear to put it down. I really feel that my playing will start to improve rapidly from now on. I just enjoy the feel and the playability of this instrument so much..not to mention the sound!! That Iwill be much more motivated to practise and learn new things.
Big thanks to Northfield,I am 110% satified
Phil

[Mandosummers]

Really sounds wonderful!.. so big and rich but with nice clear highs. Love it! Thanks for posting and congratulations!

[Phil Rourke]

Thank you ! I will make another video as soon as I have something decent to play. Gotta seriously learn some tunes

[pickngrin]

Wow! Sounds fantastic. If that's you as a beginner, I'm really looking forward to hearing you when you're more experienced.

[yankees1]

Thank you ! I will make another video as soon as I have something decent to play. Gotta seriously learn some tunes

How long have you been playing the mandolin ?

[Phil Rourke]

Well I got my Washburn in 2003 but never really played it. I was in to home recording as a hobby so I was always buying different types of instruments. Kind of lost interest in music from around 05 until just recently. Developed a very keen interest in mandolin when I heard Ronnie mccoury on Steve earle's mountain album in the last year or so and dug out the washburn to have a crack . Shortly after that I ordered the Northfield . So I have really only been playing for 7 months but not really in earnest. I could only play an open d and an open g chord but have since got some of the 4 finger bluegrass chords happening as well as working on 7 th and minor chords a bit of scale practice and the beginnings of some chop.
This Northfield is so easy to play and so satisfying to the ear that I'm going to take it to work every day and practice on my breaks.
I just bought mike cpmpton's rotten taters album yesterday and I am hooked! So my next project is to learn the title track and record it with vocal on a video and punish unsuspecting people on YouTube with it!

[mandograssable]

I was wrong. I didn't get 173, I got 171 last week. It looks and sounds great! Talk about solid, beautiful construction. It is impeccable. Big Mon, adirondack spruce top, one piece red maple back, modern set up.

[Northfield mando]

Hey Everyone, as we have just passed 100,000 views on this thread, we would like to thank everyone who has participated in these ongoing conversations. Here is a video on Emory Lester playing two different northfields:

Enjoy!

[hedgehog]

While I've been happy with my the Loar LM-600 I admit to watching this thread fairly closely and have developed a slight case of MAS for a Northfield mandolin. I have a question about serial numbers though. If a Northfield has the number 110124, what does it mean? Would be a 2011 build and 124th that year or of all time? I made what I consider to be a decent offer at one on Ebay, at this point I'm the high bid and I'm about all in at this time, but wouldn't be surprised to be out bid when the auction gets closer to finishing.

[yankees1]

While I've been happy with my the Loar LM-600 I admit to watching this thread fairly closely and have developed a slight case of MAS for a Northfield mandolin. I have a question about serial numbers though. If a Northfield has the number 110124, what does it mean? Would be a 2011 build and 124th that year or of all time? I made what I consider to be a decent offer at one on Ebay, at this point I'm the high bid and I'm about all in at this time, but wouldn't be surprised to be out bid when the auction gets closer to finishing.

A lot of serious bids the last minute of an Ebay auction !

[hedgehog]

Yeah I know, this isn't exactly my first E-bay rodeo. I was poking around trying to find the reserve price.... found it. Like I said, I won't be surprised to be outbid. ..... hope not though. I've been watching mandolins sit unbid on at great prices lately.

Still waiting on the answer on the serial number........

[hedgehog]

Ahhhhhh already outbid. If it was one of you, geee thanks. I'll sit on the side and just watch for a while. Might not be done bidding yet. I won't pay his "buy me now" price though.

[Northfield mando]

Hi Hedgehog. Our serial numbers work like this--> First 2 digits are year, in this case 2011. Last digits are total made to date. So it's #124, delivered almost exactly 1 year ago. Happy bidding.

[hedgehog]

Thank you, I thought I had it right, but you never know. Can you tell me anything more about that mandolin? It's a Big Mon with a 1 1/16 nut, no Florida extension, but beyond that I don't know.

[Charles Andre]

Look on page 23, post 555 of this thread for spec info on this mandolin.

[hedgehog]

I thought it might be here somewhere. I did look back in the posts, got to page 21, and knew I was close, but still missed it. Does this mandolin have standard "F" holes? I am lusting and weakening on your "Buy it Now" price, nice mandolin ... I really don't know what they are going for new, on Elderly I see the Big Mon for ~$3000.00, but I don't know if there are any upgrades that would up that price.

Of course it's been written a million times, at $3000+ I'm into a darned good American made mandolin.

[hedgehog]

Well I made a good solid bid and did not win, but came closer that the winning bidder thought. My final bid was actually a mistake. While rushing along here at work, I intended to up my bid by just over $100, without thinking I only upped it by a little over $50.00. My mistake, the other bidder probably would have upped his bid more anyway. I hope the winner plays the heck out of that instrument.

[yankees1]

Any Northfield owners go with a sugar maple back ?

[Handy Hummingbird]

Just wondering whether anyone might have any idea how a Northfield F5 might compare to a Lebeda...?

[Kmcc24]

Hi All,

I just got Northfield #178 and I wanted to share my experience—not just of my wonderful new mandolin but of working with Adrian Bagale.

I’ll start with the obvious: It’s a fantastic mandolin. And not just for the price. It’s gorgeous, built with painstaking attention to detail… all the stuff you hear over and over again about Northfields. What sold me, though, was the sound. I live close to Elderly and also get a chance to visit a few stores like Gruhn every year. So though I am no prodigy, I’ve had a chance to hear a lot of instruments. And the Northfield sound is sitting in ballpark with instruments by the makers I can only dream of owning.

But everybody likes their new mandolin, right? I guess what makes this mandolin extra-special to me is what a good time I had on the way to getting it. It started when I was noodling around at Elderly one day, talking with a staffer about mandolins we thought had great sound. He brought up Northfield and pulled one that was on hold, on its way to a new owner. Within 30 seconds of playing, I thought, “This is it” and had one of those “Who are these guys?” experiences.

So I looked them up on the web and called Adrian. Happy me, he’s in Michigan and we both live about an hour from Elderly. So we made a date and he brought three or four mandolins he was getting ready to ship to customers. Even though I’m no professional—in fact I’d say beginner is almost generous—Adrian spent a couple hours with me. I went back and forth trying the various instruments. He pointed out the difference in sound they got with Engelmann and Red Spruce, the ways the Big Mon varies in tone from the standard size, the ins and outs of the traditional vs. modern neck. So much fun! And he talked about mandolin construction in general, what he’d learned along the way, what they are trying to accomplish at Northfield.

Once I decided I wanted an F5 Big Mon, he invited me over to his house to pick the actual pieces of maple. We looked at a bunch of silver and red maple, “painted” it with water to see the flame, talked about their different sounds, talked about the kind of sound I wanted and decided on red maple with an Engelmann top. Having all that input into the exact mandolin I was getting meant a lot to me. I figured I was just lucky because I’m local--but while I was over picking out wood, Adrian told me he’d just been on Skype with a Japanese customer picking out wood and talking over choices.

So off I go to wait six months. I spent a lot of time on the Northfield site looking at video and found myself second guessing my decision about the Engelmann top. (Too many choices can be a bad thing!) A month or so in, I sent an email saying I’d changed my mind about the soundboard and Adrian’s brother said he’d get the message to him in China.

Last month #178 arrived. When I went to pick it up Adrian told me he’d flipped out a little when he heard I’d changed my order to Red Spruce. He knew the kind of sound I liked, knew I wasn’t a strong player, and that I wanted a sweet sound and a mandolin that would open up easily. Worried that he’d disappoint me, he decided they’d give me the Red Spruce I’d requested but carve it to get the sound I wanted. Result: I have both strength and a wonderful “soupy, sparkly” sound. The man goes the extra mile for people.

So I took #178 home and liked it a lot on day one. Day two, I liked it better. A couple weeks in, I’m in love. It’s opened up remarkably. The color of the sound, every note, all up and down the neck… wow. It was well worth the wait.

These guys are doing something pretty great. That the Northfield team cares about the quality of their instruments is pretty obvious. Maybe not so obvious is what a great experience it is to work with someone who cares so much that people get mandolins they'll fall in love with. Thanks, Adrian!

Kate

[banjomanwv]

Ive got #169 on the way and cant wait. Engelmann top, upgraded wood, engraved tailpiece. Im sure its going to be a killer

[Northfield mando]

Hey everyone,
would just like to invite anyone going to the IBMA fanfest next weekend to come down to the Elderly Instruments booth and say hello. We will be showcasing some brand new models and will have plenty of mandolins to try. We look forward to meeting some of you!

[Northfield mando]

Hey Everyone,
Just getting ready to release our new F5S model. We had some friends try them out at this years IBMA, and wanted to share a video with all of you. Here's what our dear friend Adam Steffey had to say: