Hi all, I'm seeking direction/recommendations for a different mandolin in my life.
For the longest time, I played a used Gibson F9 in my band (mostly folk-rock stuff). Having started out on a Kentucky mando, the F9 bowled me over and was the love of my life for a few years.
Then I branched out a couple years ago. In a rare move, I bought both a 1922 Gibson A2 (lovely, but not great for gigging, at least in this band) as well as a used National RM1. Both completely blew my mind. I've gigged ever since with the National -- I've got the model with the Hot Plate pickup. Since I play a Tele at my band's show as well, I run both instruments through my pedalboard and amp. Not a traditional sound of course, but it's really worked well for me and for our music. I find the National extremely comfortable to play -- possibly due to the radiused fingerboard, which the F9 and A2 don't have.
As much as a love the sound of the resonator mandolin, I've been gravitating back to the sound of the F9 recently. I absolutely adore that chunky, woody tone. But I don't love the feel of the F9 itself. Perhaps I've grown too accustomed to the wider string spacing on the National, but the F9 fingerboard makes my hand feel pretty bunched up. And I do think having a radiused fingerboard would make things easier. This wouldn't be for my band per se, but for other folksier/bluegrassier projects.
I'd love to get some recommendations for an f-hole, "bluegrassy" mandolin, with a somewhat more "modern" design than the F9. I'm not sure that a wide-nut model is exactly what I need (maybe I just need to retrain my left hand a little), but it's something I'd consider.
The first brand that came to mind from my days of shopping for my F9 is Collings. But I've been a little out of the mando loop, and would love to hear any and all thoughts. Many thanks in advance!
Bookmarks