Re: Northfield Question.
Certainly the materials used on the 900-and up series of Kentucky mandolins is very high quality and is normally North American in origin. Indeed, they describe it as 'Michigan maple' and it is either sitka or red spruce for the top.
KM-1000 back:
Northfield Big Mon back:
Tops are very nice too. They vary individually, of course, but I'd say materials-wise there is very little in it... all very good.
There are other differences, however, alluded to above. Design. Finish.
With Gibson you'll tend to get the 'fanciest looking' woods on their higher end mandolins, but this really is cosmetic. A plainer set can sound just as good, so in that sense the 'quality' is still there.
You have to look beyond where things are made and how fancy the woods are and more into how they are made and who makes them.. or even when they were made, and factor in some individual variability too. So it is not quite as easy you might think.
I have played some really bad Gibsons (not recent ones, I might add - these have been consistently excellent) and some very fine Northfield and Kentucky examples...
Gibson F5 'Harvey' Fern, Gibson F5 'Derrington' Fern
Distressed Silverangel F 'Esmerelda' aka 'Maxx'
Northfield Big Mon #127
Ellis F5 Special #288
'39 & '45 D-18's, 1950 D-28.
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