Sam Bush Gibson owners/players Q:

[Kbone]

I have very small hands & was wondering if that would affect the playability, IOW is it more difficult w/ the ' Bush" type neck - thanks

[Capt. E]

I had a chance to try out a used "Sam Bush" Gibson a couple of days ago and I don't think small hands would be much of a problem. It is at Fiddlers Green in Austin, you might give them a call and ask Ben his opinion. I do have to say I wasn't blown away by the instrument. There are others I would buy in the price range.

[woodwizard]

I've played several and couldn't tell that the neck being slightly wider made much of a concern to me. Never played one that wasn't a monster either. They were all fantastic and must have been set up perfect because they played like butter.

[AlanN]

One SB mandolin I played had a very beefy neck, didn't care for it.

[f5loar]

These model's necks vary from really chunky to pretty normal Loar like size. This is one model I would want the 48 hour aproval before buying it. And these models are not imune to being dogs either. I played on one at a store in NC that I told them it needed some serious set up. They said they set it up again just for me and it was worse. That was 5 years ago and they still have it. But most SB models I have found to be really great. I know the ones Jesse Brock and Paul Williams has are killer SB.

[Kbone]

Thanks much for the feedback..

[Bernie Daniel]

Thanks much for the feedback..

I have a 2001 Bush F-5 and its a great instrument -- all that I have played have been very good mandolins. FWIW, the neck on mine feels pretty much like the Ferns I have had.

I have larger than average hands (XL gloves) and find the wider fingerboard ideal for me -- in fact that is why I went with that model.

If you have small hands then I would think that the Bush model is counterproductive for you to select. Yes, you could probably play it fine -- but the wider nut does make chop chords just a bit more of a stretch.

To make a closed G-chord (7523) on a Bush model you have to cover a bit more area than you would on a Fern for example -- its just a simple length X width = area fact of geometry.

One other thing. If you do buy a Gibson Bush model be advised that you may end up doing what most the other SBM owners do -- and that is have a new nut made to convert the string spacing to regular mandolin spacings. They used to come with Sam Bush's preferred string spacing.