Mowry F5 - My Last Mandolin
About nine months ago, I was lucky enough to get a spot in a batch that Andrew was just starting on. For those who don’t know, Andrew Mowry builds out of Bend, Oregon, and he is making some of the absolute finest instruments available.
I had just purchased one of his A5’s from Carters and was so blown away by it, I knew I wanted to commission something from Andrew. Well, that ended up being this F5. This is what I think represents the absolute pinnacle of mandolin design and craftsmanship. I furnished Andrew a picture of the Loar burst I was going after, picked out the wood, and less than a year later, this beauty arrived.
It did make a short stop along the way to be reviewed for an upcoming issue of Bluegrass Unlimited. I think it will be the June or July issue.
I could talk all day about this instrument, but I’ll try to be brief here. It’s tone is sublime-it’s incredibly strong (the reviewer said the banjos will be asking me to hold back in a couple years), it has great midrange and an incredibly detailed top-end. I asked Andrew to use a stiff piece of Engelmann, and it gave me just what I wanted. The top wood gives a sweetness to notes all over the fretboard, but if I dig in, they can still cut your head off. I can’t emphasize enough how strong and clear the notes are to the very last fret. I’m sure a lot of this is due to Andrew’s superb setup work. The reviewer noted this as well, saying many top builders can craft a great instrument, but then send it out with a terrible setup. Not Andrew-his incredible attention to detail extends from the construction all the way to the final setup.
And the construction... almost no words for this. It is truly flawless. I asked Andrew to do an oil varnish with French polish, and it is wonderfully executed. There is a glow and warmth to it that I know will only get better with age.
I’ll close by saying that, the second I picked this instrument up, it felt alive. And I knew that this would be a companion for life. I’m just glad I was able to get mine now - I hope I’ll be able to put 50 years of playing into it before hopefully passing it to my daughter or son (he’ll be joining the world in September).
With all that said, I would recommend getting on Andrew’s waitlist now. I see him becoming the next Gilchrist. If you read this, thanks again, Andrew!
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Originally Posted by Don Grieser
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