Wilford Balsam
Feb-04-2010, 7:13pm
I've looked all over this forum (before posting my first time) to try to find a discussion on the quality and quality of sound of an Elkhorn varnish F5 such as the one that is offered for sale right now on this site. I am unable to find a discussion. Could a few of the experts please respond to this post? Thank you in advance.:)
Trey Young
Feb-05-2010, 11:39am
I'm not quite an expert (at anything...) but I do own an Elkhorn mandolin. It's an A-5 style and is the third mandolin built by Robb (or at least under the Elkhorn name). If you use the search function there is a review of the mandoin from when I first acquired it, about 2 years ago. There is also a youtube clip of me playing it if you search youtube for Elkhorn mandolins you'll find it. For a quick review, I love the mandolin and I am going to have Robb build a F-5 for me as soon as I can save up a bit more money. My particular mando has a pretty mellow tone and really fills up the air. It is pretty even across all of the strings with perhaps a bit of emphasis on the bass, which I like in a mando. The construction of the mando is great and the finish has a couple of imperfections, which were disclosed to me by Robb prior to my purchasing and the price was adjusted accordingly (and fairly). Robb told me that at that point finishing was something he was still working on perfecting and by looking at pictures of newer models he's got to be close. Any way there is my opinion, I feel he makes an extremely good mando and for right now is sort of working under the radar...hope this helps.
Trey
ps There is an Elkhorn mandolins website and a facebook page.