Hello all,
I am a bit late posting this as the mandolin arrived last Thursday, but I just wanted to spend some time getting to know it and hadn't taken any pics.
After recently selling two mandolins, I found myself with a serious problem. ONLY ONE MANDOLIN!! So I had to fix that problem pretty quickly.
Was not in a hurry, but I saw a couple posts from Glassweb here on the Café about this beautiful Northfield F5S (according to the label, NFS-F5E technically). I drooled over it for a week or so waiting on someone else to snatch it up, but alas, I gave in and the nice folks at Dusty Strings had it shipped to North Carolina from Seattle.
Out in the sun or with bright light it looks more blonde and indoors it is more of a dark amber. The two things that appealed to me on this one were the different look and the Engelmann top since I have the 4th Gen with the traditional burst and Red Spruce. I was hoping they would be different and they definitely are. I also didn't need to spend north of $5k on a secondary mandolin.
The F5S has more of a "hollow" sound to the low end with plenty of power there. The high strings I would say don't cut as well as the 4th Gen, but hey, we are talking half the price here. I love the F5S' tone on the "prettier" stuff like waltzes, Bach, etc. This is absolutely the best F style under $4k I have ever played.
I added the Tone Gard purchased through Banjo Ben, a Northfield/Harrison strap, and as soon as I wear out this set of strings I will be changing out this tailpiece for the Gilchrist style and adding an armrest.
I hope to do some quick videos with both mandolins soon for a little comparison.
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