NMD Elkhorn A-5 Deluxe

[Bob Buckingham]

I recently took delivery on what is an amazing mandolin. A good friend of mine extolled the virtues of handmade, varnish finish mandolins and he is correct. Ironically he owns a Heiden which is a great mandolin but he was full of respect and awe as he tried out my new Elkhorn A-5 Deluxe. He noted correctly it had all of the right stuff. Evo gold frets, James Tailpiece, Cumberland Acoustics bridge, ebony pickguard and Waverly tuning machines. More than that this mandolin has superb workmanship, great quality woods including a once piece big leaf maple back and red spruce top.

The radiuses neck feels a tad wider but the cut of it makes it easy to play. The chop never runs out and the tone just keeps coming. When you lean into to it it the volume just keeps ramping up with great head room.

I first noticed #53, the quality looked goodie the photos on the Elkhorn website

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http://www.elkhornmandolins.com/instruments.htm .

I emailed Robb about it and mentioned that I liked nickel more than gold hardware. Then #55, the Deluxe A-5 mandolin showed up. To make a long story short the stars aligned and I got this mandolin that I had watched for months like a kid looking at Sears catalog.

Well last night I got to play it in a jam situation. Not only does thing carry, the tone is rich and another mandolin player with a very nice 20+ year old Flatiron said it made his sound thin. I am very pleased with this mandolin. And the way it came to me is a bit of providence IMHO.

[Roda]

Jealous! Happy NMD!

[Trey Young]

Congrats on joining the Elkhorn community! Robb makes a mighty fine mandolin for sure!

[Charles E.]

Congratulations on a beautiful mandolin! I have always admired his exotic wood builds too.

[Zach Wilson]

Congrats and happy picking!

[Demetrius]

Post some pics!

[Charles E.]

Robs link to Elkhorn mandolins was not working so I hope he does not mind if I post this......

http://www.elkhornmandolins.com/instruments.html

Rob's is # 55

[lflngpicker]

Congrats Rob-- play on brutha!

[Elkhorn1]

Glad you're loving that mandolin...it's really good! Thanks for all the nice comments; much appreciated!

[Bob Buckingham]

The neck feels very similar to Webers I have played. Had it out last night and the banjo player commented on how good it sounded. He could hear it! Actually he is one of my favorites in that he does listen to others. Another friend looked it over and gave his approval. He is kind of a mandolin wheeler and dealer and always has a mandolin for sale and he was impressed.

[Astro]

Those mandos are serious eye candy. Get me drooling every time I see a picture of one. He should change the name to Elkporn. They probably should be made illegal. Maybe used for medicinal purposes but certainly not recreational. There no good tests for playing under the influence. its a public safety issue. Have fun !

[DocT]

Wow, that is a gorgeous A-5. I had never heard of Elkhorn. I learn something new, here, everyday.

[Charles E.]

Those mandos are serious eye candy. Get me drooling every time I see a picture of one. He should change the name to Elkporn.

Great, you made coffee come out my nose.