My new Summit Artist arrives tomorrow.

[David]

I've played a Summit F-100 for almost four years now and finally was able to upgrade to the Artist model. I just fell in love (serious MAS - the wife just shook her head) with the satin finish and sunburst on this one, which is lighter brown than most Summits I see.

http://www.massstreetmusic.com/store...Style-Mandolin

I was a bit nervous to buy over the web without playing it first, but I've played enough of Paul's instruments (my own and a bunch at Gruhn's) to know this one will not disappoint. Thanks to Tim at Mass Street Music, great guy to work with! Can't wait for it to get here, I'll try to post some pics after I break her in a bit.

Also, if anyone is interested in a well-played and nicely opened up Summit F100 I am going to be posting one in the Classifieds soon.

[trevor]

Let us know what you think when you have it. Paul does great work.

[David]

Took me a while but here are some photos. S/N 387, build March 2011.

I love this instrument, was searching for a lifetime mandolin and do believe that I've found it in this one. Satin lacquer finish, brown sunburst, x-braced, beautiful woods, and killer tone right out of the box. Rings like a bell and I barely have to brush the strings to get a big ol' chop. I prefer this finish color with ivoroid binding over Paul's usual dark brown/orange burst with white binding, he should make them all like this. It looks more like an old Gibson color. Paul Schneider is an undervalued builder, his mandolins are as good as a lot of the 8-10K instruments out there but not as expensive.

Attachment 83998

[Fred G]

Beautiful! I really like the medullary rays visible around the F-hole, very psychedelic and I think they make it sound better.

[David]

Thanks, I didn't know those were called medullary rays, they form a ring around the whole edge of the top.

[Fred G]

Look them up in old threads and you find a discussion from the builders on them. They have something to do with carrying nutrients through the tree.

[Gerry Cassidy]

Very nice! I'll bet it's a joy to play.

I have had the chance to play a few of his creations and I really, really like what he does. The fretwork was a bit suspect on a couple of them, but the joinery, and fit & finish was pretty darn good. Playability was quite comfortable and they all barked with good, woody tone.

It might be a good idea to get into one of these at today's price. I could definitely see his stuff up north of $5K before too terribly long.

[robbiemando]

Paul is a family friend for the last 15 years or so. I had him build me a custom satin master model that is simply incredible. I too had an F100 with the smaller banjo fretwire and a 7 1/4" radius. Man that thing was fast. You could play anything from bluegrass to classical to Dawg on it. Very even. Curious to know what you all think about how it compares to some of the higher end boutique builders like Duff, Kimble, Altman, etc.

[Ivan Kelsall]

A friend of mine & ex-'Cafe member used to own a Summit 'Artist' model. I played it several times & i thought that it was superb in all respects.Played back to back with my Weber "Fern" in a blind listening test, i couldn't tell them apart.Considering that the Summit 'Artist' Mandolins are less expensive than the Weber "Fern",that makes them even more of a bargain. Bruce Weber & Paul Schneider worked together for a while & strange to say,they both use bolts for fine adjustment of the neck angle prior to finally glueing up.
Superb instruments,& you made a great choice David,
Ivan

[David]

Curious to know what you all think about how it compares to some of the higher end boutique builders like Duff, Kimble, Altman, etc.

Since I live in Nashville it's easy for me to play a lot of different mandolins by going down to Gruhns or over to Cotten Music (or among my picker friends, some of whom have very nice instruments), and I have played Duffs, Kimbles, Altmans, Randy Woods, even a Gil and a couple Loars. Obviously they are all top-notch, fine instruments. They are also completely out of my price range.

But fortunately, like I said above, I think Paul makes instruments that are in most respects as good as all of these makers but for significantly less $$$. I think he gets this value in a couple ways, one by using mortise-and-tenon neck joint (which is fine with me but I know a lot of posters here think they are deficient) and he doesn't go in for the fancy $150 tailpieces or $500 tuners (unless you order custom of course, and I didn't do that). He also saves on his web hosting by having what looks like an ancient web site that could really use a remodel . His fit and finish work is hands-down as good as any of those builders listed above, with tone that will go toe-to-toe with most any of them. His satin finish models are gorgeous and, at least with mine, have better tone than his usual gloss lacquer, Paul told me in an email that it is thinner.

[blindrobert]

That's a first-class mandolin! Congratulations!

[johnsoba]

Hey, David. Mine's #384. I
Yours was at MassMusic? Mine was at Gruhn's; you probably played it sometime--an Artist with varnish finish--the darker look you describe as more typical. I feel liek becoming a Summit dealer; great mandos at any price.

[Fstpicker]

Stunningly beautiful flamed back/sides. Love the wood grain around the F holes. What craftsmanship!

Jeff