Gibson F5G Sound Clips

[JimW]

Well, I have been wanting to get a few sound clips up of my varnished F5G, so yesterday I was playing around and captured a few sound clips. The quality isn't that great, and you can hear my neighbor's lawnmower in the background, but hopefully it'll give you an idea of how my mandolin sounds. This is just a plain computer microphone going directly into the soundboard and captured via Audacity.

Here's a direct link to Ashokan Farewell (http://#############################/ashfarwell.mp3).

There's five mp3's all together and if you want check them out, Click Here (http://#############################/gibson.htm) to go directly to my website where the mp3's are located.

Jim Watts # http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Jerry Byers]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[straight-a]

Thanks for posting that Jim! Great sound clips and a great web site as well!

[Jonathan James]

Very nice Jim. Now that you've had the F5G for a while now, how would you compare it overall to the Ward Elliott F5 you owned?

[Jasper]

What kind of pick are you using? I noticed that there is no "pick click" on the strings in any of your recordings. By the way, your -G has a wonderful tone!

[JimW]

jjboone101, I guess the differences between the Elliott and my Gibson would be tone. I would say the Elliott had a more "modern" sound if you will, very Collings like and the Gibson has that powerful chop, cutting mid-range and classic bluegrass sound. That's the best way I know how to describe the differences.

Jasper, I use a Dunlop Ultex Triangle 1.0 .

Thanks all for the nice compliments.

Jim

[BobbyMaynard]

Hey Jim, sounding pretty good there. That Gibson really records well and it does have the cutting power.

Bob

[J.Albert]

Jim, I enjoyed the sound clips, particularly Ashokan Farewell. That one was worth saving (and I did).

You ought to consider getting a decent audio interface for the computer, a good mic or two, and re-do it full length, with some variations.

I also enjoyed your other thread with the pics of the custom F-5g, as I have one of these myself (bought through the mandolincafe classifieds for about the same price as I would have paid for a new F-9). Mine appears to be just the "laquered version", not the varnished one (label says "F5-FB", no additional "V"). It does have nicely "antiqued" binding (might be part of the specs of the special order of F-5g's that were originally done for the "MusicMachine" outlets). One characteristic is that it seems to have the strangest _smelling_ laquer, for some reason!

I recall you mentioning in the other thread how you thought the varnish gave the instrument it's particular sound and tonal qualities. #However, I think the single feature that may contribute most is the red spruce top. Listening to your clips, I thought it sounded very similar to mine, which can be heard here:
http://www.nowhereradio.com/johnalbert/singles
..on "Storms Are On The Ocean" (if you can put up with my strictly home-level playing!)

The only other instrument I have is a Nashville-built Flatiron "Festival F", which is a standard F-5g "in disguise", which has a Sitka spruce top.

The two instruments both sound good, but considerably different.

The Flatiron seems "thunkier" ("woodier"?) and is actually a bit louder. When you play it, each string shouts, "listen to ME". It has the qualities of a straight-ahead bluegrass mandolin.

The F5 FB, on the other hand, yields a tone with a little less volume (though it has increased in the few short months I've had it), but the sound is much more "complex" (almost "classical", perhaps?). When played, its strings seem to say, "listen to US", as if they are in closer harmony with one another. This mandolin might actually be more versatile with all kinds of music.

I recall reading postings here at the cafe that suggested that it could take three or four years for a red spruce topped mandolin to attain its "full voice". I tend to believe that after owning the F5 FB for just three months. When I first got it, I _almost_ considered asking the seller to take it back, because it sounded so "restrained" in comparison to the Festival F. But the sound keeps growing and maturing. In fact, I now find it so pleasing that I can't imagine a mandolin that could sound better.

Lately I've been considering a third instrument, with my sights on either an Alan Bibey model F-5 or perhaps one of the new "Goldrush" instruments. But since both of these come with regular sitka tops, I wonder if they would equal the sound of the less-adorned F5 I have now. It's easy to get your head turned by "flash", when it's the _sound_ that really counts.

- John