Collings MF #208

[grsnovi]

[grsnovi]

[FolkMusician]

I love the way the scroll looks on that first shot. Great!

[MANDOLINMYSTER]

smooooth as a babys bottom

[Zed]

The tone, man, tell us about the tone.

[Russ(String-Alley)]

whoa! I think you could have called it "new addiction" instead of "addition". that looks soooo sweet!! WOW what craftmanship! do tell, is the tone as rich as it looks?

cheers and congrats!

[grsnovi]

I always struggle when asked to describe tone.

Lets put things in perspective:

- my first mando was the Vega Style 4 (see pics elsewhere)
- I picked up a Washburn M-3SWTS about 12 years ago from a friend upgrading

I do not play bluegrass. My playing ends up sounding more Celtic - but it isn't that either.

I like listening to Grisman and Thile. I don't care for Nickel Creek (I know, go figure).

The day I got this I also played several other mandolins (couple of the A/F9 Gibsons and a couple of Weber Bitterroots).

This mandolin has a ton of sustain. The tonal spectrum is very rich.

It has a very pronounced "sweet spot".

My Vega sounds "delicate" - maybe thats my imagination, maybe its the light guage strings? The Washburn is a very utilitarian instrument - built like a tank.

I think this one would have sounded fine in the mando tasting environment.

I'm very pleased.

I know that because of the less adorned appointments, this gets compared to the Gibson F9 but I don't really think there is a comparison.

[musicofanatic]

Boy, the way that looks, it had better sound real good! Not my cuppa tea, I guess. I still like gloss and binding.
JonR.

[grsnovi]

Hi Jon,

I think its interesting how aesthetics play such an important role in how we make choices.

BTW - the Collings is bound in a tortoise colored binding on the top, but the headstock is plain.

The aesthetic "issue" kept me from either the Gibson F or A 9's, the F5-G (hate the backs), the F5-L (hate the fern inlay), the Bush sig (hate the block inlay), etc... I like the modified fern on the Doyle Lawson sig.

I also really like the look of the Collings F5 - gloss, bound and the headstock inlay. Just not ready to spend that kind of money.

[mandopoet]

Gary,

Speaking of binding, I actually saw a new Collings MF for sale that had a "whitish" binding along the front side only. The back side looked just like yours, binding wise.

I still like the look of your mando better.

[Kevin@bluegrassbrethren]

I had the opportunity this weekend to play the "no frills" Collings. They strike me as having all the right stuff when it comes to tone and chop. I was about five minutes from buying a flagship MF5 and the question came to mind......

I haven't seen any high profile players with a Collings and I'm wondering why.

Anyone care to chime in on this. I think they are superb mandos BTW.

[grsnovi]

I think part of the answer has to do with the fact that most of your high-profile players already have favored instruments.