I really like this Northfield-really really like this

[darylcrisp]

the F2-SB black top oval hole F

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x691vHh2rdg

anyone out there own one. this looks and sounds like what I have been searching for.

what is the neck width and profile shape of yours?

thanks
d

[pheffernan]

this looks and sounds like what I have been searching for.

Elderly has a new one for $2695 http://www.elderly.com/new_instrumen...--NFSS-F2S.htm, a shopworn one for $2549 http://www.elderly.com/new_instrumen...NFSS-F2SBG.htm, and would most likely be interested in your Pava on trade.

[darylcrisp]

Elderly has a new one for $2695 http://www.elderly.com/new_instrumen...--NFSS-F2S.htm, a shopworn one for $2549 http://www.elderly.com/new_instrumen...NFSS-F2SBG.htm, and would most likely be interested in your Pava on trade.

Thanks for that info P!

Hey, any chance you knew John Heffernan, or his son Paul?
John and I whitewater kayaked together from around 2000 thru 2004. He died on one of our local whitewater runs, the Russell Fork river(its nicknamed the 'beast of the east'). John was a great friend and one of my mentors in my early days of kayaking.

d

[pheffernan]

Hey, any chance you knew John Heffernan, or his son Paul?

My grandfather was a Paul Heffernan, and my uncle is a John Heffernan, but they're not the ones of which you speak. It's what I call the King of Queens effect . . . Heffernan is one of those Irish names that's just rare enough that you don't encounter it very often but common enough that you do run across it. If you go back 1100 years to the west coast or Ireland, County Clare, the city of Corofin, we were all there, most likely making music and trouble.

Patrick

P.S. I like those Northfields too, but preferably the A5 and used.

[darylcrisp]

Patrick

Thanks again for the thread to Elderlys. The video of the Northfield was nice to hear also-I've always liked how the NF sound. We've had opportunity to see MountainHeart and Ramsey is a great mandolin player and I like his NF.

I called Elderlys and spoke with Mel. Course I understand they have to make $ and keep the doors and bills paid. The best he could offer in a trade was $1000 for mine. If I wanted to do that I would offer it to a forum member here for a much reduced price.

Cotten Music has one of the blacktop Oval Northfields and we have a 4pm scheduled phone call to discuss a trade. I like those folks and I think I can work a trade there. No worries and no rush though-things will work out in due time.

Thanks again for your help.

d

[pheffernan]

The best he could offer in a trade was $1000 for mine.

My guess is that they try to keep the trade under 50% of new sale price so that they can list it for 70% ($1540) with some leeway for their time. That only makes sense from your perspective if they can do better than 5% off the shopworn Northfield. Buying new and selling used is a quick to make a thousand dollars disappear.

[Mandobar]

A friend of mine is a Northfield dealer. He has one of these in stock, as well as a F5 style. These are great mandolins for the money.

[Ivan Kelsall]

That's a great sounding mandolin,not to mention that it looks incredible as well. Emory Lester who was demo-ing it could make a cigar box sound great,so it's no surprise that it does sound so good - as it should.
Daryl - $1,000 as a trade in is ludicrous !. What they're offering is $1,020 US lower than the UK asking price for a new instrument. I sincerely hope somebody can do better than that,
Good luck - Ivan

[oldwest]

Tried an F-5 at Gryphon and was really impressed with what an outstanding instrument you could get in a Northfield for under $3000. They had an oval-hole F model, but I wasn’t interested in one of those (my Snakehead covers my oval-holed needs!) So I didn’t try it. Can’t imagine that it wouldn’t be a great instrument.

[Mandobar]

General rule of thumb is you take the original purchase price and multiply by 60%. if yours is the satin model that would be about $1300. I would think that a private trade or sale would net you a better deal, although there aren't enough of these out there for anyone to have one willing to trade, or at least the chances are pretty slim.

The problem is you are trading used to new, which leaves you at a disadvantage.

[darylcrisp]

Folks
thanks for the replies and thoughts-all of which are spot on for the market. Mel at Elderlys told me they would list it in the upper $1700-he also mentioned other options like consignment but I'm not in need or a rush for something like that-plus I can do better just on my own-always have with other instruments. Elderlys is a neat place, I've purchased many an item via mailorder but never an instrument, nor traded with them.

Mary, thanks so much for that info I requested. That shop looks amazing-I especially like the workshop photo-you can just tell by the way things are written in description that the place is a true musicians shop-not just a place that sales instruments. I may very well speak with them at some point-nothing else, I can see a short sight seeing trip with that shop as a destination stop this summer.

I'm going to slooooow down and take some time because I really want to get this right this time. A few things I've figured out about myself over the years. My body is very very sensitive with instruments to not only the nut width-but the string spacing in regards to the nut width, along with scale and very very touchy on the profile of any neck. The body shape of the instrument definitely comes into play(ie, my quandary with A style vs F style and the use of the points). I remember for years I had would buy/sale/trade many wonderful guitars because I never could get that fit that just let me feel and play free. I met a man by the name of Howard Emerson, who is a performer and teacher of guitar. He told me in seconds what I needed to hear.

Went like this, " folks look at the guitar body shape or the nut width and blame everything on that, you must look at the whole package. you just don't play the body, you play the neck, the string spacing, the body shape, how the waist curve sits in accordance to your position-or misfits, it all works for or against how that guitar fits your body".

Now days i know how to look and play a guitar to instantly find out if it will work for me-the first area of concern is where the curve of the waist is and how deep it sits on my right thigh, then the scale and string spacing at the nut comes into play-the saddle string spacing is paramount also. It took me years to figure all this out, and now i have two guitars that fit great, i can play without thinking I'm holding an instrument as such. There is no tension in my body or arms, or hands. It makes such a huge difference. And since I've started on this mandolin trail, i think all this is even more important for me because its such a small instrument-with what i can see would be a lot of areas where i can build up tension and unease during my attempts to learn to play. I know there are folks out there who can pick up anything and be comfortable no matter what-I'm unfortunately not one of them.

Yesterday I took the two Weber F styles we have in the house, and the Pava and did some physical measurement of different things. What I found was not surprising. There is a lot of little things that are different between all three mandolins. The Webers actually have two very distinctly different neck profiles-although both are Gallatin models, but both fit me very well. There is a tad more string spacing offered on one weber due to the way the nut slots are cut in regards to the outside fretboard edge-and I do find that mando easier to use. The Webers have a less full shoulder with a more defined V profile, where the Pava has fuller shoulders and a more rounded V profile. Webers have a tad more longer scale length-hence an ever so slight wider fret spacing lengthwise-and the body of the webers are longer-but I attribute that to A and F style difference. None of this surprised me. But in the end it all adds up to making each one fit me different.

So, back on track with the OP, I am highly interested in the Northfield Oval because I find it very attractive. I think the sound difference would be neat to have. I do need to research the neck profile more. If anyone out there owns/has owned a Northfield at the same time you had a Weber or Pava, please post your thoughts on the neck profile for me.

I'm also interested to see if a wider nut width model might work for me-never played one so I don't know-a wide nut weber or collings might be the ticket, and having said that, I do want to try out a collings at some point.

Cotten Music in Nashville has a neat shop-visit the site, they carry a lot of different brands and they are heavy into music. They have not had a Pava come thru but have heard of them so of course they are interested. We are headed down in April to the NickelCreek concert and I may kinda hold off and go by and do some hands on. I have spoke with Kim over the weekend and we have a decent offer worked out-its really good on both sides-but i really want to do my homework and get a good correct fit.

And i have the opportunity to work something out with Dennis as well, those guys have been great. He has a wide nut Weber F that I've looked at more than once. And honestly, every time i play one of our Webers i just really enjoy it, so maybe if its not broke i don't need to try to fix it-eh!

but then there's that affliction................MAS..................... .and that oval hole black top F2 sure is a looker

okay, out the door to walk the 5 dogs-thanks again for the thoughts and such-and throw me out some opinions on the Northfield neck profiles if you have them(in regards to webers, Pava's )

d

[OldGus]

What you need is a tone guard that includes points and a scroll to turn your A5 into an A5 in the shell of an F5 shape.

[darylcrisp]

What you need is a tone guard that includes points and a scroll to turn your A5 into an A5 in the shell of an F5 shape.

Gus
I have thought exactly the same idea-I don't need or want the scroll, but I have thought to have two integrated "points" on a tonegard and that might just work-thanks for that thought.

In fact, today while driving, I thought I might make a temporary set of points for the bottom and see how they work out-I can cut/mold/shape some wood points easily and install them in a temporary manner. If that works, i'll then reprofile the neck shape slightly and leave it as a speed neck. I have a James tailpiece that i'll install-pimp it out so to speak!

d

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Daryl - What you're proposing to do might work very well,BUT,are you absolutely certain that the Northfield bug will be put to sleep ?. If you modify your Pava,then it might work for you,but not for a prospective buyer who might want the instrument 'as bought'.A bit of deep thought required here,before you do one thing & realise that you still want the other.You definitely need to play one of the Northfield's you have in mind,before you do anything - just my thoughts,
Ivan

[darylcrisp]

Hi Daryl - What you're proposing to do might work very well,BUT,are you absolutely certain that the Northfield bug will be put to sleep ?. If you modify your Pava,then it might work for you,but not for a prospective buyer who might want the instrument 'as bought'.A bit of deep thought required here,before you do one thing & realise that you still want the other.You definitely need to play one of the Northfield's you have in mind,before you do anything - just my thoughts,
Ivan

oh for sure deep thought before anything is touched. just thinking "out loud" what would be a fun project IMO. heading to Nashville in April to see Nickelcreek and the shop is close by, they actually have a couple I'm interested in-the Northfield F2 and they have a Spencer Strickland F5 I'd love to check out, both about the same price. I want to see these in hand before I touch any tools, or buy a special made tonegard.
d

[Nick Gellie]

So, back on track with the OP, I am highly interested in the Northfield Oval because I find it very attractive. I think the sound difference would be neat to have. I do need to research the neck profile more. If anyone out there owns/has owned a Northfield at the same time you had a Weber or Pava, please post your thoughts on the neck profile for me.

I'm also interested to see if a wider nut width model might work for me-never played one so I don't know-a wide nut weber or collings might be the ticket...

but then there's that affliction................MAS..................... .and that oval hole black top F2 sure is a looker

okay, out the door to walk the 5 dogs-thanks again for the thoughts and such-and throw me out some opinions on the Northfield neck profiles if you have them(in regards to webers, Pava's )

d

Daryl,

We have been having discussions in the builders' section about f2/f4 hybrids. You should take a look there and understand the differences in top an back graduations, x-bracing versus transverse braces. You will learn how an oval hole can be made to sound different because of the variations in these factors.

A modern F2/F4 oval hole hybrid can be made to sound pretty good and have a different tonality to your F5s. The Northfield is one option. I tried a Prucha F4 in Melbourne the other day. It was superb - costs a bit though. There is a video clip of it in the thread I mentioned.

[darylcrisp]

Daryl,

We have been having discussions in the builders' section about f2/f4 hybrids. You should take a look there and understand the differences in top an back graduations, x-bracing versus transverse braces. You will learn how an oval hole can be made to sound different because of the variations in these factors.

A modern F2/F4 oval hole hybrid can be made to sound pretty good and have a different tonality to your F5s. The Northfield is one option. I tried a Prucha F4 in Melbourne the other day. It was superb - costs a bit though. There is a video clip of it in the thread I mentioned.

thanks Nick
I will most definitely look into that thread
d

[darylcrisp]

Hi Daryl - What you're proposing to do might work very well,BUT,are you absolutely certain that the Northfield bug will be put to sleep ?. If you modify your Pava,then it might work for you,but not for a prospective buyer who might want the instrument 'as bought'.A bit of deep thought required here,before you do one thing & realise that you still want the other.You definitely need to play one of the Northfield's you have in mind,before you do anything - just my thoughts,
Ivan

Pava has been swept away as of this morning-so no pimping it out.

Onward to the NF F2!
d

[Ivan Kelsall]

That's good news Daryl.Personally,i didn't think it would be on sale for long before somebody spotted it & bought it. It's a seriously lovely instrument & i'm sure that the buyer is delighted with it,
Ivan

[OldGus]

Gus
I have thought exactly the same idea-

d

If you mentioned it earlier I probably saw it, I just didn't want to reread a bunch of post to check that before I posted.