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Thread: A style vs F style performance

  1. #26
    My Florida is scooped pheffernan's Avatar
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    Default Re: A style vs F style performance

    Quote Originally Posted by Ivan Kelsall View Post
    Joe's "A" style Gil.is very highly regarded sound wise & it's hard to see that he'd give it up for ANY other mandolin
    If not "give it up," perhaps "put it down?"

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  2. #27
    Registered User Tom Sanderson's Avatar
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    Default Re: A style vs F style performance

    Quote Originally Posted by Ivan Kelsall View Post
    Hi Tom - Are you sure you're not meaning the Black top Gilchrist "A" style that Joe Walsh has been playing for a while now ?. That's the mandolin that i was referring to in my last post. It does look similar to a Tim O'Brien 'Nugget'' "A" style. Joe's "A" style Gil.is very highly regarded sound wise & it's hard to see that he'd give it up for ANY other mandolin,
    Ivan
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    Ivan,
    I am positive. He took delivery of it early this year (February I think). About 3 years ago, maybe 4, I was at Merlefest with Mike Kemnitzer when Joe and Mike met. I had my Nugget Ajr #377 with me and Joe played it and really liked it. Later that year at Wheatland festival in Michigan, Joe was there playing with the Gibson Brothers. I had to leave the festival early, I left my Nugget Ajr (same one) with Mike. Joe played it during a workshop and on stage. Shortly after that he ordered His Nugget. Here is a video with Joe talking about it shortly after he got it.

    Joe K. Walsh demonstrates his 2016 Nugget, built by luthier Mike Kemnitzer.

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    Last edited by Tom Sanderson; Jul-11-2016 at 6:20am.

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  4. #28
    Registered User chris.burcher's Avatar
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    Default Re: A style vs F style performance

    having just gone through the process of making a significant upgrade I can attest that you can get a lot more mandolin if you buy an equivalent A vs. an F. I did a lot of side by side comparisons and played over a 100 mandolins in the $2-$10k range. It was difficult for me to release myself from the scroll envy as I really prefer the aesthetics of an F but, in the end, I simply could not get the F shape with the equivalent tonal properties of an A - for the money. I was looking for f hole mandolins.

    Sure, I still want an F for the looks but I am very satisfied for what i paid with the tonal properties and 'playability' that I got for much fewer $$.

    I don't think it's as much about the shape as it is about the build, and all mandolins will vary to some degree in how they sound and feel to an individual player. I'm just really happy I got what I got for what I spent. A used Duff A5, btw, for less than half the cost of a new Duff F5.

    Plus, A5s are also very cool looking, just different.

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  6. #29
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    Default Re: A style vs F style performance

    The real revelation about A and F, which I have only recently come to realize, is that having F-holes changes where the bridge is placed, and that changes where the frets come into the body. I like to go up the fret board a lot. Lotta good double-stops up there. And you can usually get further up with F-holes than with round holes. That said, the "F-Style" is to me about extensions on the body that add weight and don't contribute to sound. I haven't figured out what the point is yet. But, "F-holes" that is a whole other thing. I do love the way it makes the upper frets available for playing.

  7. #30
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    Default Re: A style vs F style performance

    Round holes do have "shorter" necks but comparing them to F5s is comparing apples to oranges. Those round (oval) hole A's compare to F 2 or F 4's. The F5 compares to modern A5's

  8. #31
    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: A style vs F style performance

    Hi Tom - Many thanks for the info. I've heard mention of Joe's Gil.many times on the Cafe,so it was a real surprise to hear that he was playing a Nugget mandolin.I do know just how good the Nugget mandolns are - at least i know how good Tim O'Brien's Nugget is,having heard it close up. I'm assuming that Joe still has his Gil.(?)
    It's was interesting to hear the differences in Joe's Gil.compared to the Nugget. The Nugget seems,as Joe says ''very lively'' compared to the sweeter,more rounded tone of the Gil. (for me that is). I'd have any one of them to partner my Ellis "A" style which to my ears,sounds as good,but again,different,
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  9. #32
    fishing with my mando darrylicshon's Avatar
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    Default Re: A style vs F style performance

    I guess no one likes two pointers anymore except me
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  10. #33
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: A style vs F style performance

    Generalizations based on body style are of limited value, as compared with the wide range of variation among individual instruments. I realize that's what the OP asked about, and I think the consensus here is that we can't ID a definite sound differential, based solely on A vs. F body style.

    A-model, F-model, two-point instruments, with a "flat" back and a carved, arched top, will have sounds that are similar if not identical. The size and shape of soundholes, the materials used to build the body, and the overall body dimensions will have much more effect on the sound, than the presence or absence of scroll and points on the rims.

    No wonder that this is frequently-raised topic: we continue to ask, "Why do some mandolins have those protuberances on their edges, while others don't?" Must be a reason for it... Well the reason, honestly, is the esthetics of ornamentation, not a significant acoustic advantage of one style or the other.

    IMHO, of course.
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  12. #34
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    Default Re: A style vs F style performance

    I have 7-8 A-style mandolins (I'm admitting I'm not 100% sure of the exact number!), both vintage and newer, oval hole and f-hole. I guess I love the symmetry of the shape, and I don't foresee ever having an F-style instrument.

    What is spent on one, or multiple mandolins doesn't deserve to be the main issue, but I look at A-styles as coming in ahead in terms of value/cost. The brand X F-style costs ~50% more than its same-model quality A-style. This is not to say you won't be as happy or happier with one or the other, but if the same $1000, let's say, that you have to spend buys notch or two better quality A-style instrument, that is well worth considering.
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