Recommendation for a Jazz Mandolin

[Darwin Gaston]

I would like to get a mandolin that has a nice warm sound for playing Jazz and easy to play. Would an Engelmann top with Big Red Maple back and sides be the best choice of woods for a nice warm sound?

Also would you recommend getting an A model or a Two Point mandolin? I know the best advice is try before you buy, but in my case there are no mandolin stores around where I live and I always have to buy off the internet.

I have been looking at the following different mandolins listed below. However, are there others mandolins that you would recommend that I should be looking at?
Clark A5 or Two Point
Givens A5 or A6
Heiden A5
Kimble A5

Your recommendations are greatly appreciated. What I don't want to do is ending up buying a mandolin and realize afterwards I went in the wrong direction which happens so many times when we purchase instruments. With all the experience and knowledge on the Mandolin Café I was hoping for some good advice on to look for when buying a nice sounding Jazz mandolin.

Thanks
Darwin

[Jim Garber]

I love the sound of Tim Connell's Arrow G-Style Mandolin (Paul Lestock). That would be my ideal.

Mandolin comes in around 1:00:



More!



He talks about it in detail on Peghead Nation. (I can't figure out to embed the video here)

[colorado_al]

I played a bunch of Austin Clark mandolins at his shop in Boise this summer. I play mostly gypsy and swing and I thought they were well suited to it. A particular A model he had, I thought was amazing! He's a jazz player and I think if you contact him and tell him what you're looking for, he'll have something or could build something that fits the bill.
Someone I play with from time to time has a Clark 5 string mini guitar bodied acoustic electric mandolin/mandola that is also really terrific! 10 pole humbucker at the end of the fretboard for great electric sound, and a deep resonance and sustain acoustic. It's called the JM5
http://www.clarkmandolins.com/jm-5-string-.html
Check it out

http://jazzmando.com/clark_jm5_acous...mandolin.shtml

[Darwin Gaston]

Thanks for letting me know about Austin Clark A model mandolins! Its nice to hear from someone who has played his instruments. Did you get to play one of his two point mandolins while you were in his shop?

[colorado_al]

He didn't have a 2 point at the time. I wouldn't expect it to be much different sounding though. I'd get in touch with him and tell him what you're looking for and I'm sure he'll be able to deliver.
I did play a guitar bodied OM he had and it was also sweet!
Here's jazzmando's review of the JM 2 point they commissioned:

http://jazzmando.com/clark_jm_twopoint.shtml

[Ron McMillan]

I love the idea of two-point, and Steve Sorensen's have been calling me for a while.



I see Steve has a two-point for sale now. In the two video clips on this page, Young Liam Purcell shows how sweet the two-point sounds when played with a light touch.

[lenf12]

I lust after one of these, a Rigel Jethro model...



Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[CES]

The Givens, Heiden, and Kimbles I’ve heard have all been very versatile and exceptional sounding mandolins, but they were definitely bluegrass boxes. You could certainly play jazz on all of them and sound good, but I don’t know that they were built with that genre in mind. I’m sure Heiden and Kimble could voice one with jazz in mind given their immense talent, and I know I’ve seen a couple of Kimble 2 points for sale in the past year.

In theory, 2 points and F styles shouldn’t sound any differently than a maker’s A styles, assuming similar woods, graduations, and holes.

The only mandolins I’ve played that I knew were Engleman topped have been Collings MTs, which tend to be brighter rather than warmer sounding to my ears, but that probably has as much to do with their build specs than the top wood. Good luck in your search! You’ve got some awesome mandolins on your list, and some great suggestions above. FWIW, I played a Weber Bighorn earlier this week that would be an excellent jazz box. It has slightly different build specs than their typical F and A styles, and lacked some of the e string shrillness that some mandolins can have...

[Bill McCall]

My buddy and I each have Clark 2 points. Folks often comment on the tone I can pull. But I also regularly play with folks on Arrow instruments (Paul Lestock) and they are very sweet as well. His 5 string electric mandolins are pretty special to me. MAS inducing

[Bob Clark]

Why not talk to Jenny up at Phoenix mandolins. Their Jazz model is really nice.

[yankees1]

Take a look at a Griouard oval A !

[Pete Martin]

I like oval hole instruments for jazz.

[Bob A]

Hodson Djangolin?

[O. Apitius]

[Darwin Gaston]

Why not talk to Jenny up at Phoenix mandolins. Their Jazz model is really nice.

Does anyone one here on the Mandolin Cafe currently have or has a Phoenix Jazz mandolin? I would really like to like to here your comments on their Jazz model.

[Darwin Gaston]

I like oval hole instruments for jazz.

Would that be the case with any oval hole mandolin or certain makers like Gibson, Griouard, Kimble and Collings?

[Bob Clark]

Does anyone one here on the Mandolin Cafe currently have or has a Phoenix Jazz mandolin? I would really like to like to here your comments on their Jazz model.

Hi MT2,

My Phoenix is a Neoclassical, which I'd be happy to tell you about, but I am sure someone will weigh in on the Jazz. Also, have a look on Jazzmando.com. Here's a link to a review they did on the Jazz model a while back:
http://jazzmando.com/rolfe_gerhardt.shtml

Best wishes,

Bob

[Barry Canada]

Hi MT2,
I posted this a couple of years ago. I have no financial interest.
I hope it gives you at least some useful information.
Best, Barry
https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...hlight=Phoenix

[Dave Bradford]

Have you considered a DeCava? http://decava.com/jazz_mandolin.htm

[Jim Garber]

Take a look at a Griouard oval A !

Would that be the case with any oval hole mandolin or certain makers like Gibson, Griouard, Kimble and Collings?

Respect for the maker with a difficult name to spell: correct spelling is Girouard.

[yankees1]

G i r o u a r d !!!

[Alfons]

Probably depends more on whether you like the sound of the instrument than who made it, but some great jazz players have made fine music on Gibson ovals. Check out Jethro Burns (of course!) and Will Patton (the mandolin player, not the actor). I love the sounds from both of those guys. I also think the Collings MT2-O really captures that oval hole sound, with sort of a modern twist. Great sounding instrument.

[Mike Snyder]

Dawg has played some jazz on F5’s, unless I am mistaken. Seems to me that the style of the instrument is less important than the style of the player. The one that rides easily as your old bicycle is the one to stretch out with. Starting from scratch, I’d think a nice guitar bodied mandolin would be cool.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I always thought that one of these Weber mandolins would be ideal for Jazz - a Weber ''Yellowstone'' cutaway. They have the 'look' of a Jazz instrument & rigged with a pickup could be superb,
Ivan

[Chris Pritchett]

I build mandolins largely to suit my own jazz and swing playing. Not sure if timber choice is the biggest issue. I've used both Engelmann and European spruce, the key for me is to get an even response across the strings and up and down the fretboard for those more complex chord voicings. I prefer a wider, flat fingerboard and the two-point shape really works for me.