Northfield Archtops

[Joe Dodson]

I hope y'all will forgive me if these have been done to death here, but I've been window shopping them for a little while now. They're absolutely beautiful instruments in my book, but I haven't had a chance to play one. I'd love to hear what you folks think about them in general, and in response to the the following questions/discussion prompts ...

1) The scale length is only an inch shorter than my Pono MN. Would a one-inch difference in scale length be noticeable?

2) Any concerns about the Chinese manufacture? All things being equal, I'd much prefer to buy from a US Luther. I haven't heard any complaints about the build quality though.

3) I'm pretty new to Octaves. I picked up my Pono in a trade last year on sort of a whim, and it sounds amazing. (Thansks Fiddler's Green!) Tonally, that may be all the octave I will ever need, no matter how pretty the Northfield's are. I guess that's not really a question. It's more of an expression of gratitude for what I've got. Still, those Northfields sure are pretty.

4) Maple or Mahogany? Show your work.

Anyway, I'd love to get y'all's thoughts on this. Or the weather. Or whatever.

[thecelloronin]

Beautiful indeed. Wouldn't baulk too hard at the Chinese manufacturer. In the orchestral world, higher-end Chinese violins, violas, and cellos draw regular praise for being on par with Western standards for a significant discount. It looks like the cats at Northfield are following suit, to great effect unless my eyes deceive me.

[ChesterJones]

The Northfield octave is a really lively and resonant instrument. I have the mahogany model and it has a bell like quality and great sustain in all registers. Picking near the bridge you can even bring out a sweet resonator tone, and picking near the neck it is warm and full. It is a joy to play, tho quite unforgiving. Pick noise and string scratching/squeaking also become very resonant if you are not careful! But it makes you aware of any sloppiness in your technique, which is a good thing, i believe. For the best tone it seems essential for me to grip my pick tighter than usual and to fret the note very accurately right behind the fret. Otherwise things can get noisy. But your efforts are paid back well with beautiful tone.

[Chuck Leyda]

2) Any concerns about the Chinese manufacture? All things being equal, I'd much prefer to buy from a US Luther. I haven't heard any complaints about the build quality though.

Northfield is a small employee owned company. From what I can tell the Northfield workshop probably looks a lot like the Weber or Collings shop.

[doc holiday]

I'd hazard a guess that the Northfield shop looks nothing like the Collings shop (been there many times). Collings is set up to make Waterloo acoustics, Collings acoustics, A & F style mandolins, solid body electrics, hollow body electrics & cases....oh and room for Bill's vintage hotrod obsession... On a scale of square footage alone needed to produce that array of instruments alone i can't imagine Northfield to be anywhere in the ballpark....

[Glassweb]

Northfield make fantastic mandolins and mandolin related products... PERIOD.

Their NFF5s and their iconic Big Mon models are unequaled by anything in their price range. Their A5 special is also extraordinary. Oh yes, Adrian Bagale is one of most customer-friendly business owners you could ever meet/talk to.

Northfield is just a stellar operation all the way around...

[doc holiday]

Absolutely agreed!

[Chuck Leyda]

I'd hazard a guess that the Northfield shop looks nothing like the Collings shop (been there many times). Collings is set up to make Waterloo acoustics, Collings acoustics, A & F style mandolins, solid body electrics, hollow body electrics & cases....oh and room for Bill's vintage hotrod obsession... On a scale of square footage alone needed to produce that array of instruments alone i can't imagine Northfield to be anywhere in the ballpark....

Yeah I guess I was (rather unsuccessfully) trying to push back on the idea that Northfield is some Pac Rim large factory operation. I don't know exactly what is in the Collings shop.

[Joe Dodson]

Yeah I guess I was (rather unsuccessfully) trying to push back on the idea that Northfield is some Pac Rim large factory operation. I don't know exactly what is in the Collings shop.

Thanks y'all for the great information. Great to hear nothing but good things about that shop. Those arch tops really seem like something unique on the market, regardless of where they're built. I don't think I've ever encountered a Northfield of any shape or size in the wild, so I really appreciate the feedback.