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Bob Bledsoe
Jun-19-2013, 8:38am
My new J Bovier F5-T just arrived yesterday. How I ended up with it I think is worth telling:

There was a recent thread on here which sold me on getting the J Bovier F5 Studio instead of the Eastman I was planning on. They supposedly sound better than the Eastman, I loved the look of them with the satin finish and the price was right. In searching all over for one, I learned that the Studio models were discontinued. The next model up in the line, the Tradition was a bit out of my price range.

I emailed Jeff Cowherd asking him if he knows of any of the old Studio models still floating around. He told me they are all gone, but said to check out his 2013 Tradition model because he has a blem in the shop that he could sell for close to my price range. Great! Ordered it! I had to sacrifice my satin finish preference but who cares.

I get an email from Jeff saying that shipping might take an extra couple days. He tried to fix the tiny blemish on my mandolin (which is really nice of him to try to do - I PAID for a blem) and he ended up making it worse. So he decided to ship me an unblemished F5 Tradition - which happens to be a satin finish... Finish is not a huge thing for me, but I think it's cool that I ended up with what I wanted. So, as I said in another thread here, I feel like I owe Jeff Cowherd a couple favors because of the deal I got on this mandolin - especially now that it's in my hands. On to the mandolin:

I'll make this brief because I've only had it for less than 24 hours, but it's really incredible. It's loud, has a real nice woody tone, nice chop, etc... Can't wait for it to open up. It's a beautiful instrument. I haven't played any other J Boviers so I don't know what the 2012 and older models were like, but the new 2013s are IMPRESSIVE. Had I paid full price for mine, I still would feel like I owed Jeff a favor or two.

I'll probably post a video sound sample in the next week or so. In the meantime, here are some pics:

Randi Gormley
Jun-19-2013, 8:44am
Lovely instrument. Congrats!

DataNick
Jun-19-2013, 11:46am
Bob,

Looks great and I'm sure based on what you've posted that you really like the sound...it only gets better.
What you got is essentially my F5 Studio with upgraded hardware and better end pin, etc.

My Eastman MD515 is known in these parts as a hoss, but my mando friends like the JBovier better; and I concur. One of my mando friends was telling me he likes it even better than my Flatiron...I don't know if I'm ready to say that, but let's just say they're so close in tone, that only the loudness of the JBovier comes across as a discernible difference!

Can't wait for the sound clips...mine is 9 weeks old and just gets better and better...was a hit again this past weekend at Huck Finn Jubilee BG festival.

Enjoy my man!

Perry Babasin
Jun-19-2013, 11:47am
Very Nice! They do good work!

Bob Bledsoe
Jun-19-2013, 8:03pm
Bob,

Looks great and I'm sure based on what you've posted that you really like the sound...it only gets better.
What you got is essentially my F5 Studio with upgraded hardware and better end pin, etc.

My Eastman MD515 is known in these parts as a hoss, but my mando friends like the JBovier better; and I concur. One of my mando friends was telling me he likes it even better than my Flatiron...I don't know if I'm ready to say that, but let's just say they're so close in tone, that only the loudness of the JBovier comes across as a discernible difference!

Can't wait for the sound clips...mine is 9 weeks old and just gets better and better...was a hit again this past weekend at Huck Finn Jubilee BG festival.

Enjoy my man!

Thanks man, yeah I'm really excited about this mandolin. I'll get a video up when I can... It sounds awesome.

Michael Weaver
Jun-19-2013, 8:24pm
Congrats man looks good.

Clement Barrera-Ng
Jun-19-2013, 11:56pm
Congrats on the new mandolin. I played Nick's F5 at Huck Finn and I was impressed by it. Great mandolin, and my hats off to Jeff for going the extra mile to make a customer happy.