Hello and Happy New Year!
I wanted to start off my saying I am not a fan of the word shootout because it gives the connotation that I am comparing these mandolins which isn't/wasn't my intention. All three of these mandolins have attributes that make them so much fun to play. I also like to view every mandolin build as being a piece of art made by the builder, so picking 'favorites' makes me cringe. Each builder has their own way of approaching the vast field of mandolin luthiery and it is AWESOME to hold in your hands all these years of research, education, and building. So let's view this video in the lens of getting to see the years of experience from three really talented builders. That being said, here is the video!
Here are some thoughts from my viewpoint. I wanted to wait until you watched to add my two cents (didn't want anyone to read what I said and listen for those things the first go around).
I have had the Nugget for the longest, I got it in 2017. Mike Kemnizter is one heck of a guy and has an insane amount of knowledge with mandolins. Anytime I get to chat is a treat, I always learn something new. This mandolin probably plays the easiest (for me) since it is has a radius fingerboard and has custom string spacing. The two other mandolins are flat fingerboards. I also haven't had the Gilchrist or Hogan for too terribly long so I am still learning how to approach them. The Nugget is extremely responsive up and down the fretboard for the player. Even when you keep climbing the fretboard it still keeps on giving no matter how hard you pick. And every note is crystal clear, which makes playing this thing fun and especially makes picking Bach pieces on this thing an absolute blast. It is really even throughout the whole fretboard which makes it a mandolin that I want.. no, have to pick up everyday. This is my daily driver mandolin.
The Gilchrist has this really cool sound that I hear in some of Gilchrist mandolins but don't hear in too many other builder's mandolins. I like to think of it as Tube Amp distortion. If anyone has ever had the pleasure of hearing a high end tube amp break up but in all the right ways, that's how I would think of the Gilchrist. And my goodness it is loud... What we like to call a thumper. That being said it sounds good up the neck like the Nugget. Wouldn't describe the tone as crystal clear, again I hear that distortion up the neck, but I kind of love it. Makes it such a different instrument than the Nugget. Cool to see two ridiculous builders build with similar materials and get waaaay different results.
The Hogan is a mandolin built by Adrian Minarovic of Slovakia. He is on the Cafe quite a bit and I love reading what he writes and adds to conversations. It might not be the same price range as the other two, but definitely the same attention to detail and clearly has the tone to hang out with the big dogs. This mandolin is extremely light in weight and has great sustain. I was amazed at his attention to detail, it truly is a work of art! A real powerhouse in the midrange/low end. And again, it has such a different sound than both the Nugget and Gil. It has a very Loar like presence to it, which is what Adrian is going for. He nails that vibe to me. Still getting used to the pesky small fretwire I'll just let the video do the talkin' for this mandolin.
I always to love to hear how people describe mandolin tone, what does thumpy or woody truly mean? Your thumpy and woody might be different than mine. Let me know what you think! Thanks y'all.
Jake
P.S. Be kind to the slow mo in this video. Need a new camera strap to get more steady shots... Also be nice to my playing, definitely made some mistakes but the sun was going down quickly!
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