Siminoff F5 Kit

[Lane Pryce]

Have any of you builders completed one of the Siminoff F5 kits? Comments on the quality of the components and tone of the finished mandolin would be appreciated. I know Ratliff offered a kit at on time. Do you know if it is still avaliable? All the best. Lp

[Yonkle]

I made a Siminoff F5 last year. Over all it is a good kit. I upgraded to a adirondak top and a 1 piece back. I have built 3 mandolins from kits, 2 stewmacs and one Siminoff. I think the StewMac is a bit more easy to build (rim already assembled) other than that I like my Siminoff the best. Siminoff looks and sounds the best, but I learned a few thing from building one and two, and of course made a whole new set of mistakes on #3 but it came out well. JD

[Lane Pryce]

JD thanks for the info. I too think the Sim kit is a bit more refined just based on what I have read. The plates that come with the kits, do they require much more carving or are they fairly close to acceptable graduations? Lp

[halendex]

JD thanks for the info. I too think the Sim kit is a bit more refined just based on what I have read. The plates that come with the kits, do they require much more carving or are they fairly close to acceptable graduations? Lp

An old thread I know. I have a Siminoff kit I traded Tom Rozum for in the 70s. It has a douglas fir top and a one piece maple back. I have hauled it around since 1975 I think it was. I got it out today to start it as I'm now retired. I've built several other kits, the SAGA kits and they turned out pretty decent. I use HHG and varnish finish. I have a set of Tom Morgan plans (from Dayton, TN) that are quite accurate as far as thickness of the top and back. He had a Loar apart and measured everything. We shall see if I make a wall hanging or not. I liked Mr. Siminoff's information. His article on rebuilding of Bill Monroe's mandolin war fascinating.

[Martian]

I bought a stew mac kit, and messed up so many things that i just used it for templates. I have made one A, and 3 F's from scratch but still use rogers book as my reference