Tunes by Tom Kimber on the NK Forster "Celtic F" mandolin

[nkforster]

Tom Kimber is one of my favourite players, and here he is putting a recent "Celtic F" mandolin through it's paces. I designed the mandolin to have more cut and projection than your average Celtic mandolin, and that it has. I've also brought in a little of that woody bottom end which I love in American mandolins to blend with that sparkly "Celtic" treble.



You can read more about the mandolin on my site.

Regards,

Nigel
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/instruments/mandolin/

[MichaelW]

Lovely sound! And a nice performance too. Does it have a flat top?

[nkforster]

No, it's carved - European spruce in this case. The back is carved too - American maple.

n

[loess]

Beautiful. Sounds remarkably like a Gibson A oval hole, so much so that it kinda scrambled the aural and visual processing in my mind for a moment, hearing shapes and textures that my brain doesn't typically associate with the experience of seeing F holes on an instrument. Especially when Tom gets into those round and buttery bass courses at ~1:45 into the video.

Always impressed by your thoughtful innovations and craftsmanship, Nigel.

[nkforster]

Beautiful. Sounds remarkably like a Gibson A oval hole, so much so that it kinda scrambled the aural and visual processing in my mind for a moment, hearing shapes and textures that my brain doesn't typically associate with the experience of seeing F holes on an instrument. Especially when Tom gets into those round and buttery bass courses at ~1:45 into the video.

Always impressed by your thoughtful innovations and craftsmanship, Nigel.

Funny that. I'll have to get one of the oval hole ones ready for a video to compare them. Some time in 2018 hopefully...Buttery basses - oh I like that, can I use that in me website description?

n
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/instruments/mandolin/

[MichaelW]

Beautiful. Sounds remarkably like a Gibson A oval hole, so much so that it kinda scrambled the aural and visual processing in my mind for a moment, hearing shapes and textures that my brain doesn't typically associate with the experience of seeing F holes on an instrument. Especially when Tom gets into those round and buttery bass courses at ~1:45 into the video.

Always impressed by your thoughtful innovations and craftsmanship, Nigel.

I completely agree.

[loess]

Funny that. I'll have to get one of the oval hole ones ready for a video to compare them. Some time in 2018 hopefully...Buttery basses - oh I like that, can I use that in me website description?

n
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/instruments/mandolin/

Certainly! And perhaps a selection of German pastries in the background of such a video would really highlight those buttery tones

[Eric F.]

Oh my.

[Jill McAuley]

Gorgeous instrument and gorgeous sound - top playing from Tom Kimber as always too!

[nkforster]

Gorgeous instrument and gorgeous sound - top playing from Tom Kimber as always too!

He's a talented lad. I've been trying to convince him to make some tutorials to sell, but he's not got around to it yet.

I've another video of the same mandolin but being played by Ian Stephenson - he has a totally different style and the mandolin sound quite different. I'll post it soon.

n
http://www.nkforsterguitars.com/instruments/mandolin/

[Justus True Waldron]

Nigel -

Just wanted to say I've been following along with your youtube videos for several years now and always enjoy the sound of your instruments and the folks you get to play them. This new video with Tom is no exception! I do find it interesting that you designed an F hole celtic style mandolin and then demoed it with an American Old Time tune (the Squirrel Hunter) (: Lovely rendition by Tom though, I'm only jesting.

On a semi-related note, having F holes for projections in sessions seems like a sound idea. I'm no master of Irish Trad being mostly a bluegrass and old time player, but I recently spent a week playing in some sessions around County Clare with my A style F hole mandolin. Nobody gave me any weird looks or acted as if the sound was out of place, and I believe it blended in quite well while still letting me hear myself just as I would in any other setting. A fine man from Galway actually tried it out for a few tunes in a particularly large session and commented on how great the sound was.

Looking forward to the video of Ian playing the new mandolin.

[nkforster]

Nigel -
I do find it interesting that you designed an F hole celtic style mandolin and then demoed it with an American Old Time tune (the Squirrel Hunter) (: Lovely rendition by Tom though, I'm only jesting.

The only thing I said to Ian (who was recording the session) was "make sure he is in tune this time!" As the last two videos, he isn't. Tom can play whetever he likes. I want the musicians playing well, playing something they enjoy or have been working on or want to promote.

The whole "what is a Celtic mandolin" question is a bottomless pit. In the end, I designed this mandolin to sound one way and look another. Then players can have what I feel is a better sound and have it look the way they think it should. Win-win. Because in general, I find "Celtic" mandolins rather dissapointing compared to their trans-Atlantic cousins. But my customers tend to want to buy ones which are onion shaped, rather than shallot-like.



Nigel

www.nkforsterguitars.com