Gibson F5 Custom. 4 Month Review
I bought a Gibson F5-Custom on Memorial Day of this year. I wanted to wait a few months before posting my review and I'm glad I did.
I'm going to try to make this as concise and to the point as possible.
Last December I went to Nashville for my bi-annual mandolin tasting and was blown away by the David Harvey Gibsons I tried out. I was also very impressed with the tone of a Northfield I played and it's tone complimented/counter-parted the '02 Collings MT2 I own. I was already planning on buying a Northfield and I feel like the one I played was an incredible example of the F5S. It was already open and sweet and had a great modern tone. The F5s opened up even more and was a heck of a mandolin, a truly beautiful tone, and a joy to play. The fit was great, but the finish was really soft and easily susceptible to scratches and dings. I bought it right before the price hike, and thought i might want to sell while it's still mint before I scratched it up. As mentioned, the tone was incredible.
In the following winter months, I loved playing the Northfield at home but in jams it just didn't cut as well as I needed it to, and with some unplanned unintended hard work I made some extra money and unexpectedly found myself in a conversation with The Mandolin Store and realized I could afford a brand new Gibson F5 Custom. I thought for a few days and finally decided I couldn't pass on their offer.
I traded my Northfield and sent a little cash and acquired what I hoped could be a lifetime Mandolin. I still loved my Collings, but I wanted an F style to gig with... (Bluegrass ya know...) and I had loved the tone of the Gibsons that Harvey was building. I figured the 2002 Collings MT2 and my Gibson could be decent stable mates to comprise the bulk of my arsenal.
Quick Stats:
Gibson F5 Custom
Basically an F5G but fully bound. Radiused fretboard and big frets.
Gotta admit I thought it was cool that it has a similar headstock to Thile, Monroe, Grisman...etc, etc, etc. Sound comes first, but it looked nice. Mine is really a dark burst.
Sitka Spruce, maple, you know the details I'm sure.
My FIRST impressions during the first few days:
Incredible definition between notes and highly complex and refined tone. A tiny bit closed in but wanting/yearning to open up. Not as brash or as loud as my Collings. Not as much sustain as my Collings. For some odd reason my primetone pics sounded better than my BlueChip CT55's in the first 2 months. The treble end cut in every way like I needed from the start, it had volume but not depth. It was a good representation of the brand, but not the strongest I'd ever heard. It was still very green though.
After several months:
WOWZA. This thing has come alive! I don't really want to believe in opening up, etc, but I've come to honestly hear some huge changes in my mandolins with time. This Gibson has opened up, it's louder, deeper, more resonant, has more sustain... it's simply more powerful and open. I can't describe what happens, but the entire mandolin has more depth, and my bluechip sounds best now. The mando has the strength now to take the BlueChip. It still has the really great note clarity and definition that it had originally but now it is also more depth to each note, and it rings loud and true. It's not muffled and it's turned into a loud beast, like the Collings, but the note clarity is better.
The fit,finish,detail work on the Collings is better. The note clarity on the Gibson is better.
One thing that really surprised me is how the upper register is really explosive now. Playing breaks on the upper register it is just so loud and PUNCHY. It POPS with each note, with top-notch note separation.
I'm really glad I held on to this for a few months, because it's ALREADY the mandolin I want it to be. I wouldn't be scared to sell it if I didn't love it, even though I made a big investment, because if you spend over $5k on a mandolin, you want to love it, and I really do now. It's just a gem. The bass courses are woody and punchy. The note separation on the low opening to something like Jerusalem Ridge just jump out with crisp deep brute force, and the tremolo on the treble rings like a bell, crisp and clean like a classic Gibson.
There are less overtones compared to the Collings, but that's because the notes contain more definition, precision and punch. tone that just explodes out, in tight little notes. That's not saying it's not complex, it just isn't as brash, but it's just as bold... hard to describe.
As always, the setup was perfect from TMS.
I'm pretty stoked on this thing.
These pics do the color justice. It's just as dark in person.
I noticed great improvements in tone with the EXP74CM.
I will try heavy EXP strings next.
Sorry... this ended being pretty rambling. hahaha. I can't do this justice with words, I wasn't blown away with this mandolin at first, and now, I can't put it down and it is a lifer... never letting go of it. Blown away.
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Originally Posted by Astro
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