Today's Gryphon visit

**Br1ck** · Dec-04-2018, 1:57am

Today's Gryphon visit was, as always, informative.

I swung buy to play the torrified top MT. It didn't blow me away. It was different, but better would be subjective, and given they had a gloss black top MT next to it that was part of their 49th anniversary sale, HEAVILY discounted, I would not have taken the cooked one home.

There was an MF that smoked both those As. And as usual, the Northfield F 5S in a lovely honey color, really impressed me. But the A Special really was. Loud and rich that one was.

The sleeper of the day was an Eastman 315. Not the quality of rich tone as Collings or Northfield, but way better than I remember the last one I played, and better looking too. Really a mandolin you can be glad to own.

But I have not been to Gryphon since I completed my Arches kit. It can hang with the big boys, so I'm happy. Bought the EJ 75 set to try for the 11.5 e strings.

Primetone 1.5 picks came home to favorable reviews. Time will tell, but I can see why they have many fans.

**Doug Brock** · Dec-05-2018, 10:14am

Originally Posted by Br1ck

Today's Gryphon visit was, as always, informative.

The sleeper of the day was an Eastman 315. Not the quality of rich tone as Collings or Northfield, but way better than I remember the last one I played, and better looking too. Really a mandolin you can be glad to own.

Envious of your visit!

I briefly played an Eastman MD-315 at a small Missouri music store a few months ago and I definitely was impressed. (My response was, "Whoa! That sounds good!" The salesman smiled happily and nodded his agreement.) The MD-315 had dark, woody sound that I would never have expected from such a relatively inexpensive instrument. At the time I was focusing on a couple of used Kentucky 600 series instruments, but I wish I had spent more time with the 315.

**Bob Buckingham** · Dec-05-2018, 11:50am

I've got a 315 that I hot rodded with medium frets, an Allen tailpiece and Grover 309 tuners. The peghead was broken like Bill Monroe's and I got it cheap. Here is a link. https://www.facebook.com/5thStringMu...9358972294862/

**kurth83** · Dec-05-2018, 1:28pm

Originally Posted by RobBob

I've got a 315 that I hot rodded with medium frets, an Allen tailpiece and Grover 309 tuners. The peghead was broken like Bill Monroe's and I got it cheap. Here is a link. https://www.facebook.com/5thStringMu...9358972294862/

I did almost the same with my eastmans, taller frets, Grover 309's, and the 605 came with a cast tailpiece, it's a lot nicer to play on now.

I need to go back to gryphon soon. :-)

**lflngpicker** · Dec-05-2018, 5:45pm

Originally Posted by Br1ck

Today's Gryphon visit was, as always, informative.

I swung buy to play the torrified top MT. It didn't blow me away. It was different, but better would be subjective, and given they had a gloss black top MT next to it that was part of their 49th anniversary sale, HEAVILY discounted, I would not have taken the cooked one home.

There was an MF that smoked both those As. And as usual, the Northfield F 5S in a lovely honey color, really impressed me. But the A Special really was. Loud and rich that one was.

The sleeper of the day was an Eastman 315. Not the quality of rich tone as Collings or Northfield, but way better than I remember the last one I played, and better looking too. Really a mandolin you can be glad to own.

But I have not been to Gryphon since I completed my Arches kit. It can hang with the big boys, so I'm happy. Bought the EJ 75 set to try for the 11.5 e strings.

Primetone 1.5 picks came home to favorable reviews. Time will tell, but I can see why they have many fans.

Br1ck, Do you mean the 513 Triangle shape? If so, I have to say, after reading this I was playing it side by side with the Blue Chip CT pick (same shape and slightly less thick as you know) and the Primetone was releasing the strings more easily and thus I was getting a smoother attack when trying to play intricate parts that require quick up and down strokes. It literally felt as thought it glided over the strings better than the Blue Chip. I hadn't played the Primetone 1.5 for several years and was really pleased to see how they perform. Thanks!

**Louise NM** · Dec-05-2018, 11:39pm

Originally Posted by Br1ck

Today's Gryphon visit was, as always, informative.

I swung buy to play . . .

May I nominate this typo for the Freudian slip of the week?

**Br1ck** · Dec-06-2018, 1:48pm

It was the large pick with grippy lettering. Not sure what the correct number is. After some playing the last few days it hasn't replaced my BC, but is is certainly a contender to be added to the BC, Wegen, rotation.

It strikes me as odd that I like large picks since I have barely enough to pick showing to pluck the strings.

**lflngpicker** · Dec-06-2018, 5:36pm

Very true, Br1ck, I too have just a small portion showing to contact the strings! I have some of the guitar shaped Primetones with raised lettering and they are very nice for the money, too. The triangle Primetones I have are the smooth variety. I could live with these for gigging if needed. The blue chip only has a slight edge with the warm, full tone. It is true that when I tested them yesterday, the Primetones did release the string more easily than the BC CT.