How to hotrod my new Northfield?

[SincereCorgi]

I took a deep breath and bought a used 2013 Northfield this weekend, mainly so I can always have a good mandolin even if one is in the shop. It sounds wonderful, especially the highs and up the neck

However, some stuff I don't like- the tuners are fiddly and light and the tailpiece seems functional but rough to the touch and a little ugly. The case is not a good case. Does anybody have recommendations for stuff I might consider upgrading? Ideally I'd like to know brand name suggestions and for the hardware and who makes a F-style mandolin case that will accept a Northfield wearing its Tone Gard. Thanks all!

[Ron McMillan]

You can't go wrong with a James tailpiece. It's the Formula One of mandolin tailpieces.

[George R. Lane]

The most popular tuners are Waverlies and Allessi, they are expensive but they are the best. A step down would be the Stew-Mac Elities or the Grover 309's. The best tailpiece would be a James. As far as a case goes I like the Travelite, lots of protection. Others would be a Calton, Hoffee, or Pegasus. Hope this helps.

[dchernack]

Other tailpiece options are from Allen. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes; I would snag a TR-1, TR-2, or TR-3 if you're intent on keeping the stamped shape. Only a shade cheaper than the James tailpieces though.

In terms of cases, I am smitten with my Superior fiberglass hardshell case. The new models that you'll find through Elderly or other shops are very nice. The only reason I got the new version was because my previous one, from the old stock, was run over by a RAV-4 and survived with only a crack near the handle. Really good value below $150.

Good luck and congrats on your new purchase!

[John Flynn]

One advantage of the Allen TPs is that you can use both ball- and loop-end strings. If you are buy bulk strings or single strings, there is a much wider selection of ball-end strings available in the world due to the guitar market. A warning though, Allens do not always fit neatly in the holes that the old TP came out of.

As far as tuners go, understand that good tuners need to be fitted to work properly, so be prepared for a luthier's bill on that. I think Northfield uses Schallers. Generally they are good tuners, but they tend to be tight until they're broken in. Is yours a used instrument? You might just trying tightening up the screws to see if that takes the "lightness" our of them.

Most cases will take a Tone Gard with no trouble. Cases really vary in price and function. How much do you want to spend? What will you be using it for? Festivals? Checking on the airlines? Gigs? Just storing it? How much room for extra stuff do you need in the case? What kind of case does it have now you don't like?

[SincereCorgi]

Thanks for all the replies so far, everybody. I am thinking the James tailpiece looks very good. I've got Elites on my Collings and I have always been very happy with them, but I don't see them listed at Stew-Mac anymore. Are they no longer in production? I will try tightening the Schallers to see if it makes any difference. They're not awful tuners, but I like the Elites a lot.

Most cases will take a Tone Gard with no trouble. Cases really vary in price and function. How much do you want to spend? What will you be using it for? Festivals? Checking on the airlines? Gigs? Just storing it? How much room for extra stuff do you need in the case? What kind of case does it have now you don't like?

The case it has now one of the long rectangular ones. With the exception of a nice leather-velcro strap for the neck, it feels chintzy, something about the quality of the velvet stuff and cardboard. I would be able to put up with it, but it won't accept a Tone Gard. I am prepared to spend at least a couple hundred on a decent case. I don't fly with it. I gig with it locally once or twice a week, so it needs to be rugged enough to get bashed around with other cases, but for storage all I really need is room for a tuner and a strap and an extra set of strings, cloth, etc. And a Tone Gard, of course.

[TonyP]

I very rarely ever sell a Tone-Gard face to face, but I did so several months back. And it was for a brand new Northfield F5. So I did the fitting to the case. Several things struck me. The first was how flimsy the top of the case is, and how stiff the "padding" is. It's more like structural foam than padding foam.

The first thing I did was mark where the arms would interfere with the side fit by laying the Garded mandolin onto the case where it would fit. Then using masking tape I used little pieces of it to mark the 3 spots where the arms are. Pulled the mandolin out of the case and took the shank of a phillips screwdriver(or a Roberts if you have one ) and lay it across the foam where the marks were and pushed the shank into the foam. I ended up having to use my leather mallet to give the shank a good hard couple of raps and that did it.

But there is a tail pad that's stuck to the lid and it was too thick. I pulled it free as it was just glued in place and took it out on the bandsaw and sliced about half the thickness off. Then glued it back to the lid.

I don't know if he kept the case but like you found, he was not happy about how flimsy it was. From the luthiers I've been able to talk to, while the rectangle case is cool and looks like the old Loar cases, it takes some special inner support(like the old cases) around the perimeter where the mandolin padding is to be truly protective from being crushed. That would seem to be why the high end fiberglass cases are not rectangular and have an arch to the lid. With the pads on the lid that are so stiff and the fact that the top of the lid is so flexible I think unless you want to do some pretty extensive mods to that case you might be better off finding a new home for your precious as I'd be worried it get crushed if somebody decided to put the mandolin on the bottom of a pile of cased instruments. just my deflated 2c worth....

[Russ Donahue]

"mainly so I can always have a good mandolin even if one is in the shop"

I've used this argument myself. I currently have a mandolin in the shop and can congratulate myself on such forward thinking.

My soul mate? She has a different perspective...

[DataNick]

+1 on the Grover 309 tuners if you can't bring yourself to cough up $400 for Waverly tuners. I just had the Grover 309s put on my JBovier; big difference. My luthier was also impressed. He said "good call on the Grovers"...

[David Smith]

My Northfield F5S with tonegard fits perfectly in my new travelite case. From all the cafe reviews I read, the travelite works great for normal travel circumstances, but would not be a good option for frequent flyers. The travelite is inexpensive to purchase and does the job, but would not satisfy an engineer looking for construction perfection. I cannot speak to other suggested additions to your Northfield except the tonegard. I was suffering from a touch of MAS until I slapped that dandy piece of padded metal on the back and man, what a difference.

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

Ah.. so you're the one who got the F5S at Gryphon.. it was a super good deal and I'm glad someone on here got it. Congrats.

Defintiely get a good case: a Travelite will work, as would a good Eastman or Superior Fiberglass case. The stock Northfield is OK strictly for storage purposes, but I would never take it outside anywhere: it's bulky and flimsy at the same time.

I also disliked the tailpiece but more for the utility of it than asethetics. I have to be extra careful to hold the loop end of the string in place when changing strings; otherwise they slip out of the post, and I had to start all over again. A James would be much more preferrable.

[SincereCorgi]

Thanks again for the suggestions, all. I ordered a James tailpiece and a new Gard, and I'm going to go look at cases this afternoon. I am on the fence about the tuners, just because I keep thinking that the existing Schallers should be okay since they're a reputable brand, but these seem cheap. I can't drop $500 on Waverly or Alessi- are the Grover 309s a big improvement?

[DataNick]

My recently departed Eastman MD515 had Schaller tuners; the Grover 309s are much better in my book. You can definitely "feel" the difference in gearing ratio between the 2. Just much smoother, easier to turn, and better "fine" tuning. The Schallers always felt after a point that I was "cranking" on them...really hard to turn in spots.

[Mandobar]

I thought about changing the tuners, but thought these are functional for right now. The tailpiece is functional, so that can stay for a while longer (I may never change it), but I am going to definitely have it fitted for a Cumberland bridge. I am carrying the mandolin around in an old Calton I had. While I liked the style of the case that comes with these, it was not padded at all, which was scary.

[SincereCorgi]

I took it in to the shop to have the James put on and the tuners swapped, but the luthier gently discouraged me from changing out the Schallers, which he said he finds quite as good as many more expensive tuners. So, I'm going to be patient. I honestly think I was just accustomed to the feel of dry Elite tuners on my Collings, because he oiled those and they feel really 'loose' now, although no less accurate. I ordered a standard Canadian shell type case- anybody have any opinions on their oblong shell type cases? I kind of lust after the tweed rectangular one.