New Ellis F5

[red7flag]

I have been in touch with Cathy Pelosi at Ellis Mandolins. My special order F5 is almost finished. It should be arriving from the finisher any day. Then, stringing and final setup and on the way to me. I have left most of the details for Tom to decide. I asked him to pick tone wood less on appearance and more on tonal qualities. Who better to make that decision. The F5 will be triple bound and come with Waverly tuners. What more needs to be said. I simply love the Ellis sound. Every Ellis I have every played or heard has his distinct tone. It is that tone that had me sell my Gibson RSDMM. That is no small statement as the RSDMM is a Loar like monster. Can't wait to see my new baby made by Tom and his wonderful staff. I am looking forward to ABing it to the F4 short neck Hester. Not to decide which is better, but to compare their distinct voices when playing the same tune, attempting to play with the same inflection. Both are awesome.

[G. Fisher]

You said it should be arriving from the finisher any day. So, Tom doesn't do the varnish work on his mandolins?

[red7flag]

From my understanding, they have the finishing done by their workers at another location. Not sure if that location is in Austin, but I would imagine so.

[Marty Jacobson]

Tom talks about it all here:
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...l=1#post949918

[yankees1]

I have been in touch with Cathy Pelosi at Ellis Mandolins. My special order F5 is almost finished. It should be arriving from the finisher any day. Then, stringing and final setup and on the way to me. I have left most of the details for Tom to decide. I asked him to pick tone wood less on appearance and more on tonal qualities. Who better to make that decision. The F5 will be triple bound and come with Waverly tuners. What more needs to be said. I simply love the Ellis sound. Every Ellis I have every played or heard has his distinct tone. It is that tone that had me sell my Gibson RSDMM. That is no small statement as the RSDMM is a Loar like monster. Can't wait to see my new baby made by Tom and his wonderful staff. I am looking forward to ABing it to the F4 short neck Hester. Not to decide which is better, but to compare their distinct voices when playing the same tune, attempting to play with the same inflection. Both are awesome.

My new Ellis F5 evidently will be in the same litter as yours as my Ellis is due back at Tom's shop by tomorrow ! The man who finishes Tom's mandolins lives in Missouri.

[red7flag]

Thanks for the clarification yankees1. I am sure you are as psyched as I am.

[yankees1]

Thanks for the clarification yankees1. I am sure you are as psyched as I am.

I didn't ask Tom to choose wood for tonal qualities but I did tell him I wanted mine to sound better than red7flags and he said no problem !

[Tobin]

Congrats to you both on the impending acquisitions of your new children! Fine choice indeed.

As great as they will sound new, just wait. You'll love the sound more and more as they play in. And I'm sure Tom has mentioned it (or will mention it when he sends it to you), but the finish will take about 6 months to cure, so be careful.

Can't wait to see and hear 'em!

I am looking forward to ABing it to the F4 short neck Hester. Not to decide which is better, but to compare their distinct voices when playing the same tune, attempting to play with the same inflection.

I'd be curious to hear that comparison. I do it a lot with my Ellis F5 Special and my vintage F4 (Gail didn't build it, but she did work on it). The sounds are so different, coming from opposite ends of the mandolin spectrum, that each brings a different mood or theme to the tune. It's loads of fun going back and forth and experimenting.

[yankees1]

Congrats to you both on the impending acquisitions of your new children! Fine choice indeed.

As great as they will sound new, just wait. You'll love the sound more and more as they play in. And I'm sure Tom has mentioned it (or will mention it when he sends it to you), but the finish will take about 6 months to cure, so be careful.

Can't wait to see and hear 'em!


I'd be curious to hear that comparison. I do it a lot with my Ellis F5 Special and my vintage F4 (Gail didn't build it, but she did work on it). The sounds are so different, coming from opposite ends of the mandolin spectrum, that each brings a different mood or theme to the tune. It's loads of fun going back and forth and experimenting.

I have an Ellis A5 now and after four years of hard playing not a finish problem at all ! As good as when new !

[Tobin]

I have an Ellis A5 now and after four years of hard playing not a finish problem at all ! As good as when new !

The only finish issue I had was when I put a ToneGard on my Ellis when it was only a few weeks old. It marred the finish where the arms clamp on, even with the chemically-neutral protectors on there. I also tried putting felt between the arms and the mandolin, but that only made it worse. So I took the ToneGard off, and somehow those areas healed themselves. It's weird, but I don't see them any more. I just chalk it up to the finish still curing at the time.

[yankees1]

The only finish issue I had was when I put a ToneGard on my Ellis when it was only a few weeks old. It marred the finish where the arms clamp on, even with the chemically-neutral protectors on there. I also tried putting felt between the arms and the mandolin, but that only made it worse. So I took the ToneGard off, and somehow those areas healed themselves. It's weird, but I don't see them any more. I just chalk it up to the finish still curing at the time.

No Tonegard on mine ! With the way I hold my Ellis I don't feel that a TG would benefit it. I had a TG years ago that I used on several other mandolins and I wrapped the pegs that make contact with the mandolin with microfiber ( hot glued on ) and this eliminated any marring problems.

[Jim Roberts]

Any builder that used to play bass for the Austin Lounge Lizards is bound to create wonderful mandolins! Tom is a cream of the crop builder and great guy. Hopefully your new mandolin will give you many years of mirth and merriment! Congratulations.

[FLATROCK HILL]

Congrats to all of you Ellis owners... current and soon-to-be.
On the subject of finish, I have a question. The last few Ellis F5s I've seen close up, had a sort of low shine, almost matte varnished finish. Is this the standard finish now? Are any of the new ones being done in a gloss varnish?
I'm not disparaging either finish, just curious.

[Tobin]

Congrats to all of you Ellis owners... current and soon-to-be.
On the subject of finish, I have a question. The last few Ellis F5s I've seen close up, had a sort of low shine, almost matte varnished finish. Is this the standard finish now? Are any of the new ones being done in a gloss varnish?
I'm not disparaging either finish, just curious.

I can't speak for the new ones. But even amongst his older ones, there was variety in the finish sheen. I noticed this when we took this photo. Mine is on the left (made in 2013), and is very glossy. Steve Smith's F5 is on the right, and you can tell that it has a more matte-like finish. Notice how the scroll and peghead don't reflect like mine. His was made in 2011 or 2012, as I recall. So I tend to think that varying finishes are optional. Either by customer request or perhaps by whatever Tom feels like specifying.

[almeriastrings]

interesting. Mine has a gloss, but not in a 'mirror gloss' kind of way, as you'd see with lacquer. It's very 3-dimensional.





Red7flag, I am sure it will live up to your expectations. Tone-wise, the 'character' and consistency of the Ellis instruments is simply incredible. Whatever he's doing, he's doing it right, that's for sure.

[LongBlackVeil]

Nice! The only mandolins I have played that sound as good, to me as my ellis a5, also had the name the ellis on the headstock.

Before I had my Ellis, I never really played many open chords at bluegrass jams. Now I just have to, because it just sounds so full and beautiful when I let it ring out!

I'd like to get an Ellis F one day, but I don't think I could bring myself to let go of the A

[dcoventry]

I'd like to get an Ellis F one day, but I don't think I could bring myself to let go of the A

Uuuuummmmmm.........I think the deal is that you don't get rid one one to get another, you keep both.

I think that's right, no?

[LongBlackVeil]

Uuuuummmmmm.........I think the deal is that you don't get rid one one to get another, you keep both.

I think that's right, no?

In an ideal world yes! But I'm just an average guy who saved up to buy a nice mandolin. I couldn't afford to have both

[Ivan Kelsall]

Be aware that Tom Ellis does state that the finish on his mandolins doesn't fully harden until after 6 moths have elapsed. So don't put any unwanted pressure on any area at all. My recently bought 'used' Ellis "A" style had a bass guitar strap pin screwed into the lower part of the neck. A felt washer was put under it to 'protect' it,it didn't, it just made a permanently rough area in the finish,
Ivan

[red7flag]

We are just getting done recording for our 2nd CD, Beartracks, Friends. The whole CD was recorded using my Hester F4 short neck. I wish I had the Ellis available for the bluegrass influenced fiddle tunes. The Hester did a great job, but the Ellis would have been perfect for those tunes. The Hester was great in the Celtic, gypsy and waltz numbers. The Ellis will definitely be on the next CD. Here is a link if you want to hear a rough take of two of the tunes. This is not even eqed or mixed:
http://www.tresbearmusic.com/site/al...riends/listen/

[yankees1]

We are just getting done recording for our 2nd CD, Beartracks, Friends. The whole CD was recorded using my Hester F4 short neck. I wish I had the Ellis available for the bluegrass influenced fiddle tunes. The Hester did a great job, but the Ellis would have been perfect for those tunes. The Hester was great in the Celtic, gypsy and waltz numbers. The Ellis will definitely be on the next CD. Here is a link if you want to hear a rough take of two of the tunes. This is not even eqed or mixed:
http://www.tresbearmusic.com/site/al...riends/listen/

Any word on your new F5 Ellis ? I thought I might hear something today but no word.

[red7flag]

Only that they had received my check. We are like little children listening for Santa the night before Christmas.

[Cathy]

I'm waiting to hear back from our finish guy about when we can expect your mandolins to come back. Both should be ready about now. Sometimes things happen that make the process take a little longer. If it ain't perfect it ain't going to cut it. These are after all Ellis Mandolins.

[Hallmark498]

Talk about customer service!

[lflngpicker]

Tony, It sounds like beauty! Hope it arrives soon... Best, Dan