OK J.Bovier A-5 owners time to speak .... :)

[mandodanny]

i want to know what you guy's think of the J.Bovier A-5 mandolin , and i would like to know from people who own's it ....or played it / thanks in advance

[Mike Bunting]

An acquaintance of mine bought one. I was not impressed.

[mandobassman]

A friend of mine recently became a J Bovier dealer. On night, at a gig we were playing together, he brought out his newly purchased F5 Tradition. He bought it used (not sure how old) and let me tell you it was one of the finest mandolins I have ever heard. The mandolin player in our band has a killer sounding Smith Creek. The J Bovier was very close in sound quality. Deep, woody tone and a treble range that was really sweet. Unbelievable volume. And, it only cost $800. I immediately started talking to him about getting one. I have always been partial to A-style bodies so I looked at the A5X that was listed on the J Bovier web site. It is X-braced and I was kind of unsure about whether I wanted that or not. Then he emailed me and said that Jeff Cowherd had a new line of instruments coming out for 2013. Found out that the current A5 is tone bar-braced. He only had 2 A5's in stock. One sunburst model and one black top model. They were the prototype models for the new manufacturer. I bought the sunburst and I recently found out that another Cafe member bought the blacktop model. And also, another friend of mine who occasionally joins our band bought the blacktop F5 Special. So, in two weeks time I got to hear 3 J Bovier mandolins. The first one was the F5 Tradition. As I said it was used and the sound had matured nicely. Rich, deep warm tone with lots of volume. The F5 Special and my A5 Sunburst were very similar to each other. They are brand new and still somewhat "green". However, I set mine up with flatwound strings and in a few days the tone had settled in and what a tone it has. Very strong mid-bass and midrange tone. Sweet, warm tone to the treble strings and it is very loud. I've played one gig with it so far and it was a real pleasure to play. Smooth, nice frets, nice feel to the neck, and effortless to play. I am very excited about this mandolin and I can't wait till it matures a bit. It can only get better.

I started THIS thread a few days ago and I have a few pictures posted. I'm hoping to get a sound clip soon.

[Willie Poole]

I would like to hear from someone that has played, listened to and compared them to the Kentucky KM-900, someone that is not partial to either make and will give a true report....I know different people like a different sound so I am probably asking for something that isn`t really going to tell anything factual.....But someone that has some mandolin playing time may know what to look for...My self I have only seen and played one of each and the KM-900 is heads up a better mandolin for bluegrass, the Bovier that I played was an F model also....

Thanks.....Willie

[Ivan Kelsall]

I think that we should take note that the Bovier "A" mandolin purchased very recently by a fellow 'Cafe member,was a 2013 model.They might be somewhat different than the prevous Bovier build,
Ivan

[custer]

Before the holidays I played both the A-5 and F-5 Bovier at a LMS. Both were fine instruments for the price range. The workmanship was excellent for the price range. I would give a slight edge in tone and volume to the A-5. But I would be happy with either one. I am seriously considering buying one.