Some pictures of my Stanford

[Cathal Whelehan]

which I have a feeling is a less well-known maker. As a quick summary, Stanford Guitars has been around since about 1990ish and is owned by Toni Goetz (a German guitarist/luthier) and Frantisek Furch, the eminent Czech luthier.

This one is called a DFM-300 and is Chinese-made (but then I think all of them are); it has a carved solid spruce top, carved solid flamed maple back and sides, flamed maple neck, ebony fretboard with MOP dots and headstock inlays. The finish is called "matt antique".

Some of the images look slightly blurred now that I have them on the screen (looked fine on the camera) so sorry for the slight fuzz in some.

[Randi Gormley]

beautiful lines. I like the finish. very understated.

[adwishart]

hi
I've put in a provisional order for a Stanford DFM300 with Toni Gotz and am waiting for confirmation of when they will have them n stock. As I've not been able to get any more pictures of on other than what's is on the website, it's really helpful to have come across you photos. I have to say that was not really the appearance I was after and will have to clarify what i might be getting. I have seen other photo of a DFM70 on mandlincafe with a finish I prefer. Information on any Stanford mandolins seems rare on the web. Canyou tell me how you find your DFM300 to play and own - any insight would be great as I'm buying overseas and can;t try one before buying it?

regards

[Dave Weiss]

That's a very nice looking mandolin. Does it play and sound as good as it looks? I hope so, enjoy.

[grassrootphilosopher]

If I remember right Stanford is the firm that Frantisek Furch does business with concerning countries that are not in the EU. Otherwise I would wonder why he has his Furch company and the Stanford company side by side. Whatever it is, I found Furch instruments to be quite good with regards to the price they cost. They are well made and not very expensive. They are certainly well worth a try and I think they are superior to the Chinese/American brands like Eastman et al that are in the same price bracket.

[Brent Hutto]

Stanford brand guitars are famously irregular in their availability, variable in their particulars from batch to batch and difficult to track down details about. I personally would not commit to anything unless/until I could see a photo and specifications on an instrument actually in hand. It could easily be many months until the one that's due Real Soon Now actually arrives from China and it may well be very different than previous batches.

[adwishart]

I actually own a Stanford D5 Pro acoustic guitar of which I've been very happy with over the ten years I've had it. THis is what intrigued me to look into their mandolins as build quality and sound excellent for the price as far as the guitar goes. Living on a remote island unfortunately means risks have to be taken with purchases whether it be cars or mandolins!! At least I can return it if I don't like it.

[buckwheat1858]

I like it

[almeriastrings]

http://stanfordguitars.de/index.php?page=dfm-300

I have only encountered one, and it was very average. A typical mid-range Chinese F5 copy. Nowhere even close to say, a Kentucky KM1000 or the high end Eastmans. One thing to consider is that they have very low re-sale value, due to lack of promotion and established reputation. If you can find a used one cheap, and you like it, could be worth a try... but I would certainly not order a new one and especially not without trying it.

Instead I'd be scouring Ebay... a Montana-built 'Flatiron' F sold on ebay.co.uk this week for less than £700.... that is a whole different class of mandolin from any Stanford entirely.

[adwishart]

Thanks for the advice, I'll have a look around. I do infrequently look on ebay but have always been a bit disappointed with the range available - at the times I've been looking anyway. I'm learning all the time as far as mid-high range mandolins go! My dad's got an old Saska (?) mandolin which is 35 years old now and has matured to a really nice mandolin and a new Gibson F5 which is very nice to play with a volume and tone one would expect. However I'll continue with finding my own one!!
http://stanfordguitars.de/index.php?page=dfm-300

I have only encountered one, and it was very average. A typical mid-range Chinese F5 copy. Nowhere even close to say, a Kentucky KM1000 or the high end Eastmans. One thing to consider is that they have very low re-sale value, due to lack of promotion and established reputation. If you can find a used one cheap, and you like it, could be worth a try... but I would certainly not order a new one and especially not without trying it.

Instead I'd be scouring Ebay... a Montana-built 'Flatiron' F sold on ebay.co.uk this week for less than £700.... that is a whole different class of mandolin from any Stanford entirely.

[grassrootphilosopher]

I ´fess up, I messed up. My previous post is not worth anything. I was thinking about the Stonebridge brand (http://www.stonebridgeguitars.com/Contactus.html). They are Furch made also and an okay value for the dollar. I don´t know about Stanford. But Stanford, Stonebridge... it got me confused.

[billkilpatrick]

i see them (stanford) on ebay germany every now and then.

[adwishart]

yes, I found a couple on the german ebay last night and found examples for the two version beneath the model I'm after - they all had the finish is preferred and so am more encouraged on that front! Toni Gotz at Stanford is supposed t be getting back to me over the next week or so, so will hopefully get a lot more info then. Thanks for the interest.