Gilchrist F5c

[108 Mile]

Does anyone know offhand how many Steve made? There is a nice one for sale @ Fiddle and fret
Charlie

[Gary Alter]

If you look at Steve Gilchrist's website under Archive / Serial Numbers, you'll see a list of all of the instruments Steve has built with model type, serial number and the build specs.

http://www.gilchristmandolins.com/serialnumbers/

[108 Mile]

Doh!! I should have thought of that....Thanks Gary

[Glassweb]

I know for a fact that the particular example they have for sale is SUPERB. Walter Carter doesn't play lesser mandolins... plus it's quite the looker...

[mtucker]

sorry, see below

[mtucker]

Dawg takes a spin on it with the mrs. at Carter's.


and one more...

[Jim Garber]

I was in the same room with EM's F5C and though I did not have a chance to play it, I certainly heard Evan. Here's a simple little ditty he plays on his. Obviously, he knows how to get the best out of this instrument. It is his main instrument. Those other guys above were just playing.

I am always impressed when luthiers "voice" their instruments for specific tonality. Those I know about are Gilchrist, Rolfe Gerhardt (Phoenix) and Marty Jacobson.

[Bill McCall]

I was in the same room with EM's F5C and though I did not have a chance to play it, I certainly heard Evan. Here's a simple little ditty he plays on his. Obviously, he knows how to get the best out of this instrument. It is his main instrument. Those other guys above were just playing. .....

Too bad he plants his pinky and uses a thin pick. Imagine how good he'd make that thing sound if he learned the right way to play

[Mark Seale]

Is this the same one?

[sgarrity]

I don’t think so. The one Sarah is playing was out of this world good.

[Ron McMillan]

OK, I'll do exactly what I dislike seeing others do, and give an answer to a totally different question from the one posed by the OP.

The only time I ever get my hands on high-level instruments is during rare visits to TAMCO in Brighton, England (whose owner, Trevor, is one of the relatively unsung heroes of the retail trade) . A few years ago I sat down for a couple of hours and sampled the kind of instruments I could normally only dream about setting eyes on, let alone playing. I played high-end Collings, Weber, Ellis, Gibson, Girouard and even a Monteleone. None of which could hold a candle to a 1979 oval-hole Gilchrist (F4 or F2, I can't recall) that somehow just lit up the room for me. Since Mr Gilchrist has steadily developed his creations over the decades since he made that mandolin, I can't begin to imagine how impressive a modern F5 might be.

[trevor]

Hi Ron, it was an F4, you can see it here.

http://www.theacousticmusicco.co.uk/...t/?q=gilchrist

[AlanN]

That Gilchrist era is indeed special. It brings to mind the NME, Butch, Charlie, with a surely bittersweet remembrance. Some people think that his current output is by far the best. I think every period of Steve's long span has produced beauties. His oft-quoted response to "What is your best one?" resonates: "The next one". Last summer, I played a brand new one. It was lovely. So was a 20-year-old specimen.

[mtucker]

Is this the same one?

According to Fiddle and Fret that 5C was originally owned by NME Fred Carpenter then Walter Carter, black bound top and back. I'm sure it kicks.