Gibson Doyle Lawson

[Nick Triesch]

Just wanted to tell you folks about the Gibson I played the other day It was a Gibson Doyle Lawson model and my friend has had it for about two years. We met at the Old Time Music store in San Diego and She took it out of the case and I must tell you that I have played many great mandolins in my life but Holy Smokes!!!!!! It was the best mandolin I have ever played. It's the new number one for me. It had the most terrific bottom end I have ever heard but the mids and high notes were great also. Plus Gibson set it up to play like glass. I could not put it down. I always thought my mandolin sounded good but the Gibson was twice, yes twice as loud as mine. It was so good that the shop manager Tom ran from up front in another room to the back of the store to see what kind of mandolin it was! The overall fit and finish was not that clean compared to say a Collings MF5 but I have never played a Collings that could match the sound. A lot of folks say this or that about Gibson mandolins but this thing had it all in the sound department. OK, I'm done now, just had to tell you. It was that good. Nick

[Mike Bromley]

Thanks for sharing! The revelation about a "Good Mandolin" is always a knockout, eh?:))

[Mike Snyder]

There is obviously something special going on with the Lawsons. Last September at Winfield, the best sounding mando in the contest was a Lawson. There were a bunch of good ones, but the Lawson was head and shoulders on top. IMHO.

[man dough nollij]

I seem to remember a thread that said they had bound soundholes and different graduations, hence the difference in tone from the other big-G offerings...

[Big Joe]

Same graduations, just bound F holes. It makes them effectively smaller, which alters the tonal output of the instrument.

[pickloser]

I played a lot of mandolins in the last few months, while looking to buy. I played 3 Doyle Lawsons in three separate music stores. The Lawsons were amazing, and to my ears the best mandolin in each store. I was very impressed.