A Style Choice of two

[Rich Benson]

Here's a question for you-Assuming the price and condition were the same, on general principles would you prefer a used Northfield Model M or a Weber Bitterroot (made by Bruce)?

[Josh Levine]

Ya know you can get such a better value if you get an F style... wait

[UsuallyPickin]

The Weber will likely hold it's value better than the Northfield. Both are very good instruments. But really the tone is quite probably a good bit different. So it depends largely on what kind of tone you as a player prefer to hear as the playability of both will be good or can be made so …… it's a Gibson Martin Collings Taylor kind of question guitar lovers like to ask. Good luck. R/

[yankees1]

Weber

[Br1ck]

Over the ten months it took me to build my Arches kit, I was mentally preparing for the event that my Arches wouldn't be what I would consider a bonafide quality sounding mandolin. In that event, I was pre shopping for an F style mandolin. Thankfully, the Arches build exceeded my wildest dreams, so bullet dodged, and I can hunt for an old Gibson oval instead.

I played quite a few mandolins, and never bonded with a Weber. Truely a Martin/Taylor/ Gibson scenario. I liked pretty much every Northfield I played, consider the F5S a best buy, the Big Mons a better mandolin, and Collings has completely turned me around. If I were strictly a bluegrass player, there is just something about the Gibson chop that I would not be able to live without.

But what has captivated my soul beyond any rational explanation is a scroll. I found myself willing to buy an F5S over something like a Collings MT2. I just had to have a good F style, and there was no use conning myself.

Reminds me of a couple I friended in Gryphon one day. They were buying a mandolin for her daughter who wanted to play with her boyfriend. They asked me the sound difference between an A and an F. I said none. They asked me why anyone would buy an F because they were so much more expensive. The best answer I could come up with was , just because. Turned out the BF played bluegrass. That sealed the deal and they walked out buying a used Eastman 815.

[Michael Neverisky]

... it's a Gibson Martin Collings Taylor kind of question guitar lovers like to ask. /

BTW, for our readers at home, the correct answer is Martin.
8-)