I played an archtop OM by northfield at greyfox
last week. i now have omas. Does anyone make
a decent archtop octave that isn't 5000 dollars.
maybe in the 2500 dollar range??
I played an archtop OM by northfield at greyfox
last week. i now have omas. Does anyone make
a decent archtop octave that isn't 5000 dollars.
maybe in the 2500 dollar range??
Eastman makes an archtop octave that goes for 700. I don't know of any others 2500 or below. Cheapest I can think of is Weber A style for 4k
I just sold mine about a month ago here on the Cafe, but Kyle Dunn of themandoshop.com in Tallahassee Florida sells an F5 style OM his TKD brand. They are priced right at $2500.
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2012 Gibson F5 Master Model
2019 Northfield F5 Artist 5 Bar
2019 Northfield Arched Octave Maple
2020 Northfield F5 4.0
To answer the OP’s question, No. not comparable to the Northfield. If you like the Northfield you won’t be satisfied with Eastman, and the F5 that the Mando Shop sells is a different animal.
"your posts ... very VERY opinionated ...basing your opinion/recommendations ... pot calling ...kettle... black...sarcasm...comment ...unwarranted...unnecessary...."
Nyberg's carved-top, oval hole OM is listed at $3,075; lots of good reviews of these instruments (recent thread). Bernunzio here in Rochester has a couple used ones for around $2K.
When you say "archtop," I wonder if you're looking specifically for an OM with f-holes, rather than an oval hole? Eastman makes a decent arch-top f-hole (not in the Northfield class) for around $700, but everywhere I Google they're out of stock.
Not a huge range of choices. There are quite a few threads started by Cafe-ers who convert older arch-top guitars to OM's. Might be worth searching back, see if any of them are for sale, or if any of the "converters" would take on another project.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
You could pick this tenor up and convert it to OM
https://reverb.com/item/13278742-193...p-tenor-guitar
Or this one
https://reverb.com/item/13850420-193...ar-with-pickup
But I'd expect the first to sound better.
Still not going to be nearly as good as the Northfield.
The Eastman is OK but also doesn't touch the sound of the Northfield. I'd sooner go to a quality flattop guitar bodied OM than the Eastman.
PS- if you are going to buy an archtop OM, keep an eye out for a used Clark. They are the best I've ever played!
Last edited by colorado_al; Jul-24-2018 at 6:20pm.
Yes i just like the looks and sound of the archtop f hole .
The tenor guitar neck. is it strong enough for the double
string OM after conversion??
I don't want an eastman for 799 . Or a Northfield
for 4k or 5k. it's funny they are either cheap
or high end but not much in the middle.
This conversion Idea is sounding better.
I converted a tenor guitar to an OM and it only took an afternoon.
Check it out here:
https://tinyurl.com/yafk2g9v
It would be mostly the same on an archtop tenor, but you'd have to re-slot the floating bridge.
If you use a 6 string guitar, you'll likely find the neck to be too wide.
https://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and...rchtop_Guitar/
Also, search Reverb.com. Lots of interesting stuff comes up on their search for arch top tailpiece.
"your posts ... very VERY opinionated ...basing your opinion/recommendations ... pot calling ...kettle... black...sarcasm...comment ...unwarranted...unnecessary...."
You'll have to excuse me but i know nothing
much about these. Are most octave mandolin
strings ball or loop end..?
Packaged string sets labeled for octave mandolin are loop end. However, because the scale length can vary between 22" and 19", I think many of us OM players end up with custom gauges, or a pieced-together set. If you convert a tenor guitar with a 23" scale, you'll probably want custom string gauges for best response.
Edit to add: You'll also want to be careful not to over-stress a tenor soundboard designed for fewer strings. A standard set of OM strings might be too much tension.
I don't think you are going to find a ready-made 8-string archtop-style tailpiece. Check with some of the octave makers using arch top tailpieces, but I believe they are either ordering customs from manufacturers or modifying a guitar tailpiece on their own. The tailpieces on both my Mowry and Girouard are for ball end strings. Northfield is using a variation of their Nugget mandolin tailpiece for their GBOM's. They might be willing to sell you one.
"your posts ... very VERY opinionated ...basing your opinion/recommendations ... pot calling ...kettle... black...sarcasm...comment ...unwarranted...unnecessary...."
Gotta say, Archtop Octave Wassup is a great song title.
I recently bought a Michael Kelly Octave Mandolin for a nice price of $550 , I've read mixed reviews on it, but I am very happy with it. I don't see a lot of them for sale and especially at that price. I'm not saying it can compare to a $2500 - $5000 one , haven't had the chance to play an expensive one yet, but I like the scale length, sound and it's built nicely
Ibanez 70's 524, 521, 3 511's,2 512's,513,1 514,3 80s 513's, 522
J Bovier F5-T custom shop
Kiso Suzuki V900,
The Loar lm600 Cherryburst
morgan monroe mms-5wc,ovation
Michael Kelly Octave Mandolin
Emandos Northfield octave tele 4, Northfield custom jem octave mandolin 5 octave strat 8
2 Flying v 8, octave 5, Exploryer octave 8 20"
Fender mandostrat 4,3 Epip mandobird 2,4/8, Kentucky. KM300E Eastwood mandocaster
Gold Tone F6,Badaax doubleneck 8/6
Any of the usual cast tailpieces will work fine. You will have to drill, but then again you will be doing a heck of a lot more drilling to get the headstock sorted.
Tom Jessen has hand built OM's on his website, one currently $2600.
http://www.cricketfiddle.com/mandolins.htm
I have bought 5 instruments he has built over the last 10 years. No one comes close to his bang/buck ratio. I have a 21.5" F4 OM he built that sounds better than the Webers I've tried and light years better than my Michael Kelly Octave Plus.
I have to 2nd the opinion on a Jessen build. I got Tom to build his first GBOM & I'm very happy with it. I went with the basics & it came in just under 3 grand with one of his great cases. Attachment 169667 I played the one for sale on his site & if hadn't been so stubbornly bent on having the guitar body I would have bought that one on the spot.
Well I pulled the trigger on a gibson tg-50.
Hope i did good ..should be here next week.
Now i need to find a hard case for it.
same body size as an L 50. l4 or es-150
according to my research. Any suggestions?
There is a nice arch top two point black top Rozawood octave at Acoustic Corner in Black Mountain, NC.
Asheville Celtic Mandolin Blog and Tablature Resource.
www.AshevilleMandolin.com
The Asheville Celtic Mandolin Collection: Standard Notation, Tablature and Chords for the Celtic Mandolin https://a.co/d/2KaJwBq "] - Tablature, Standard Notation & Chords to 50 Celtic/Irish Tunes.
Hurdy Gurdy Music - https://youtube.com/@TheHurdyGurdyWi...nCX2BHJY7jCVM4
The Mud Larks - Hurdy Gurdy and Nyckelharpa - https://the-mudlarks.com/
i've actually been there. It's a nice store. I am going to go with this gibson
archtop tenor conversion. andrew mowery is going to
fashion a trapeze tailpiece block for me out of ebony.
When i say archtop i mean like an archtop guitar
like a gibson L60 with f holes . But that's a sweet
mandolin. The guitar bodied archtop just sits nice
in ones lap These larger mandolin shaped instruments
slide around too much.
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