Stiver f mandolin?

[biggreen]

I am new to mandolins. I have my heart set on a Stiver f-style. I am wondering if they are the best use of my money for a bluegrass mandolin?

[P.D. Kirby]

When I lived up in Pennsylvania his Mandolins were all the rage with the Bluegrass crowd. Down here in Virginia not so much. I think there are plenty of small quality builders that build Mandolins equal to or better than Stivers but then thats all a matter of opinion. I know he builds a fine sounding Mandolin (I've played 2 or 3 of them) I always thought they were a little rough finish wise but then again Lou might like the distressed look for all I know. Since you are starting with a high end Mandolin I think you would do well to look around a little before you buy anything. For the price point of a Stiver F you can get just about any Mandolin you like, with a few exceptions. JMHO

Oh, welcome to the Cafe

[dcoventry]

Yeah, what PDK said.

Heck, if you were man enough..........you could play a RIGEL!

Just sayin', and you'd be happy, cool, respected, and ladies would be knocking down your door.

[P.D. Kirby]

Yeah, what PDK said.

Heck, if you were man enough..........you could play a RIGEL!

Just sayin', and you'd be happy, cool, respected, and ladies would be knocking down your door.

That's the main reason I don't have a Rigel, I don't think the Wife would appreciate all the Ladies knocking down the door. I was thinking he needed a Phoenix Bluegrass Model. Nice Mandolin, not so many Ladies, doors last longer. :whistling:

[D C Blood]

Just curious..if you're new to mandolins, what lead you to want a Stiver? Great mandolin, but at that "price point" you could have your choice of a good many equally good mandolins...that aside, Stiver is a great mandolin.

[Dobe]

This guy always had me thinking of a Stiver some day. Don't know if he's still playing this one, but I believe it was his main mando for a long time. Pretty good pickin' too ! :grin:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aEvnS3LnVU&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL977AD886F2CBE66A

[William Smith]

Hey Man,,I'm from Stiver country and a lot of guys I know have em,,,Lou does some real nice work and his mandolins sound great,also great price for em! His F-5 is 4 G I think and well worth it...been makin em since the 70's,,No matter what anyone says to ya on here,ya gotta go by you're own research,,,,but you may have a lifelong mandolin in a Stiver,,they are one of the Bluegrass mandolins! and if ya look around ya can get a used one pretty cheap!,,Best O' Luck

[f5loar]

What is the price for one these days? I'm with PDK too. While Jesse is the most famous to ever grace a pick across a Stiver remember his was custom made for Jesse who tends to like jacked up bridges with low action and werid string spacing so he can easily do his split string technique. But if you go back in Jesse's history he also liked his mid50's Gibson F5 and his mid20's F4/F5 conversion for a long time along with a few other homebuilders.
Today is he back to a newer Gibson MM? So I would not let the fact Jesse likes them be a factor in buying one.

[greg_tsam]

I've played a Stiver and thought it was a solid instrument. Loud. Woody. Well built. But it didn't reach out and grab me like some others have but that's personal preference. It was a real nice BG mando, for sure.

[Dave Greenspoon]

I am a huge fan of Stiver. I think that his work, and Olin's Rattlesnake, possibly represent the best pro mandolin under 5K. I recently sampled a Grey Eagle, which had a great bluegrass sound, easy to play, and a good bit less than the Stiver or the Rattlesnake. You can't go wrong with any of these great options. They are all potentially lifetime mandolins from nice American small-shops makers, and IMO a far superior instrument that anything coming off the line at a famous guitar plant in Tennessee at the same price points, and even many at higher prices.

[Danny Clark]

i have had a dozen or so Stivers pass thru the years ,they all have sounded very good,i always thought he lacked a real neat scroll ,but usually they had the sound that would overlook the scroll ,some of my favs have been his A,s maybe because there were no scroll to bother me
Danny

[biggreen]

Thank you for the welcome, and the reply!

[Brad Weiss]

My best mandolin buddy plays a Stiver F5 from the late 90s. I get to play it every few weeks. It's one of the greatest mandolins I've played. Loud, clear, woody. I prefer an ever so slightly sweeter tone, but I would not be unhappy with a Stiver.

[biggreen]

Thanks to everyone for the input. Im from western PA, that's one of the main reasons I'm looking at a Stiver. Im glad to hear no one had anything to negative to say. I have an old gibson A body, but I really have the fever for a f-style.

[P.D. Kirby]

Back in the 90s I met Lou at Wintergrass up in Meadville Pa. he had several Mandolins for sale the first day and had sold them all by the first night. Back then all the Mandolin pickers in Northwest Pa swore by the Stiver Brand (still might) but it was my only experience with them up close. I moved back to civilization after 4 of those Northwest Pa. winters and never looked back. The Wintergrass Festival in Meadville was very cool though.

[Spencer]

Jesper Rübner Petersen (author of the Mel Bay improvisation book), got a Stiver not too long ago. He wrote a tune in its honor, played here with Don Stiernberg and Oliver Waitze (owner of New Acoustic Gallery in Germany)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9F0nYVGQZw

Spencer

[TheMandoKit]

FWIW, I played a used Stiver at Elderly a couple of years ago when I was looking for an ff-hole mandolin. It was very loud, clear, with a good percussive bite, and easy to play. Had I been looking for a mandolin for bluegrass, I probably would have seriously considered it. All around a nice instrument, but not the sound I was looking for.