Flatiron Festival F5 in Bloomington, IN

[Steve VandeWater]

https://bloomington.craigslist.org/m...557851163.html

Is this a good deal? I don't know much about them. Asking for a friend.

[Northwest Steve]

That one is made in China, about 99% sure. So price is not that great of a deal, but fair. If it were made in Nashville it would be a screaming deal. The Nashville Flatirons were made from 1999 to 2001 and there was recently one that appears to have been made Feb. 2002. The labels and serial numbers are different. If you look at the back it comes to a point at where it meets the neck. It does have a nice case and comes with a pick-up (could sell if not needed). If you have the ability to play it that would be best. If it as no issues, set-up well/plays easy and sounds good then it would be worth consideration.

[lenf12]

The asking price is suspiciously low and never is the country of origin mentioned in his ad. Still, it ain't a bad looking mandolin and we all know the kind of quality that China is putting out these days. btw I have no experience with Chinese Flatirons.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[rcc56]

It is probably equivalent in quality and value to an Asian Epiphone from the same period.

[mrmando]

Oui, fabrique en Chine.

[Steve VandeWater]

Thanks all. I thought I had read somewhere on the Cafe that some of the Flatirons were less desirable due to where they were produced. I guess this is one of them.

[J.Albert]

As mentioned above, that's an "Asian Flatiron", and NOT a Nashville-built instrument.

They're in two different leagues altogether.

[allenhopkins]

...some of the Flatirons were less desirable due to where they were produced...

Country of origin isn't the issue; there are some well-made instruments made in China, well worth their four-figure prices.

The problem with "Flatasians" like this, is that Gibson took a very respected name, from a US company they bought, and whose trademark -- and expertise -- they acquired (and to some extent preserved); then they shut down domestic production of Flatiron mandolins, and assigned the label to some lower-quality instruments made in China.

Their actions follow the pattern of what they'd done 30-40 years before with Epiphone, another respected US brand which they purchased, preserved for a line of US/Gibson-built instruments for a few years, then assigned to an Asian import line that was not up to the standards of US-made Epiphones.

It's a smart marketing strategy, but it creates a lot of confusion. There are many old US instrument labels that have been acquired by American distributors and assigned to Asian-made instruments. There are also well-known US labels that are affixed to US-made and imported instruments, Fender being a good example. In quite a few cases, the newer Asian-made instruments have no relation, in terms of design, materials and quality, to the instruments formerly made in the US under the same labels.

At least this "Flatiron Festival" resembles the Flatiron Festival mandolins that used to be made here. But it sure ain't the same. Of course it's less expensive, but deservedly so. I'd spend my $850 on another Asian-made brand -- Kentucky, Eastman, Loar, etc. -- that wasn't masquerading as a US-made instrument.

[MikeEdgerton]

More information on the Chinese Flatirons can be found here.

[Willie Poole]

I owned a 2001 Flatiron Festival made in Nashville and it was a great mandolin, a fellow made me an offer for it that I couldn`t refuse so I sold it, I would love to try one of the China made ones just to see how they compare...I also wonder if more than one brand of mandolins comes out of some of the factories in China, I guess it would be hard to find that info....

I could never figure why Gibson made the Festival in the first place since it is basically the same mandolin as an F-5G which sold quite a bit higher in price...

Willie

[Northwest Steve]

At that price I would be mostly concerned about playability and sound. It it sounds good and is comfortable to play what is on the headstock or label is not really an issue in my mind. With the case stickers and the pickup it appears that this was not a case queen or a casual picker. So it might be a sleeper, would just need to play it and see. I would not necessarily assume that it has laminate or pressed top or back, could be but I would want to know either way.

Said that they did this to the Flatiron brand. I have had 4 Nashville Flatirons and were all good to great.

[Northwest Steve]

I owned a 2001 Flatiron Festival made in Nashville and it was a great mandolin, a fellow made me an offer for it that I couldn`t refuse so I sold it, I would love to try one of the China made ones just to see how they compare...I also wonder if more than one brand of mandolins comes out of some of the factories in China, I guess it would be hard to find that info....

I could never figure why Gibson made the Festival in the first place since it is basically the same mandolin as an F-5G which sold quite a bit higher in price...

Willie

They bought out Flatiron in the late 80's and kept the name and then moved Gibson mandolins to Montana. Then they moved mandolin production back to Nashville. It seems the idea was to offer a quality mandolin at a better price but they came to the same conclusion that they were offering the same mandolin for less money. So the started producing the F9/A9 and contracted to have the Mandolins made in Asia. I would bet that at that time there were more than one brand coming out of a factory or two? Now it seems Kentucky, Eastman and Northfield all have there own factory or at least a lot of control over them.