the winner? Summit Artist

[johnsoba]

One of the best times I’ve had in recent years was mandolin shopping last week with my brother, David Johnson, in his hometown of Nashville, TN. I had just come from looking at the fabulous herd of Givens at The Parlour in Knoxville. If you can get there to play them, you’re in for a treat; especially wonderful—bell highs and woofing lows-- was the near mint 90s A-6. I got very close to buying before my wife, Ann, reminded me that Nashville might have a few mandos to play, too.
David and I A/B’d (even using the same kind of picks) most everything under $ 10,000 at Gruhn, Cotten, The Corner, Two Old Hippies, etc. We also looked through Craigslist, and paid a visit to the gracious Andy May. Makes we played include Givens A &F’s, Kimble F, Collings A’s, Bulldog F, Parsons A, Rattlesnake F, Gibson F’s, Summit F’s, Ellis F (the week before at a festival), Eastman Giacomel, Cross A & F, Breedloves, Rigel, and a Hicks F (and probably some I’ve forgotten). I kept notes and thought that the Mandolin Café folks might be interested. Everything below is my opinion and taste, of course, and I have no financial interest in any of the businesses. (Oh, and A or F style wasn’t a factor for me and not looks, or money under $10,000, only sound.)
Most bang for the buck: the Parsons A at Gruhn was a complete surprise for the money, $1500 I think. Great volume and balance and a complex, played-in tone.
Most disappointing: a Weber signed 90s Gibson F (I won’t say stores’ names if I’m negative). Thin sound.
Most consistent sound: the Collings A’s at Gruhn were uniformly good, just a little too much treble B
Most cool: the Givens A-6 at The Parlour I mention above with the very high serial number—one of Givens last and it looks unplayed but sure didn’t sound unplayed. I think I’m partial to Givens wide-open, but nicely colored sound.
Best looking: the Kimble at Cotton, which is an EXCELLENT instrument tonally
Runners-up: that Givens A-6 at The Parlour, and the Kimble at Cotton
Best lunch in Nashville: that Indian buffet right down town
What I bought: the winner at the end of the search (and I wasn’t determined to buy one on this trip since my mom lives on the same lake as Lloyd LaPlant, and my son lives in the same town as Greg Boyd, and we’re visiting them both this summer) was at Gruhn, a lacquer Summit Artist made in 2011. Big volume, well balanced, smooth action, and good (sharp) neck angle with lots of room on the bridge for adjustment. Tone was there already but I intend to play this mando ‘til I die, so I hope it just gets better. I didn’t know anything about Paul Schneider ‘til I had decided on this mandolin and looked him up on the web. Nice pedigree! And his shop turned out to be kind of on our way home to Virginia, so I called and he invited us to stop by. True one-man shop with everything done there. He showed us around and went into the details of his building, showing us his method of selecting tops, securing the neck, et al. Impressive.
Thanks: my great brother, David Johnson, and my indulgent wife, Ann.

[johnsoba]

sorry!--posted earlier under different title

[Ivan Kelsall]

Paul Schneider's 'Summit' mandolins are one of the best bargains out there IMHO. I've played 2,both 'Artist' models & they were excellent.The one i played that belonged to a friend of mine (he quit mandolin playing a while ago) was almost identical tonally to my Weber Fern & at quite a bit less cash. Paul Schneider & Bruce Weber worked tohether at one point in time,& both makers use bolts
at the neck joint to precisely set the neck angle prior to fixing them permanently. You bought a great mandolin - enjoy it,
Ivan

[Gerry Hastie]

I've had my Summit F200S for just over a year. It was 8 years old and seemed barely played when I got it. I love it. It's my first 'high end' mandolin (high end as far as my and I'm sure most folks budget is concerned!). It has a good full tone with low end and plenty of volume. The chop is awesome with a great 'pop' especially with Bb, B and C 'G shape' chops. When I got it I had narrowed the choice down to the Summit and a Clark A style. The Summit won out due to having a darker tone and being louder. I must also acknowledge the support of fellow cafe member Ivan Kelsall during my purchase! I hope you get as much pleasure form your Summit as I have had.

[Ben Milne]

Nice to read of a happy ending to what seems like a very thoroughly executed mission, great to get opinions of the other contenders too.

Does the Indian buffet do Kashmiri naan?

[Kevin K]

From a Summit owner for over 10 years to a new owner, congrats and enjoy.

[johnsoba]

whoops==it's a varnish finish. not lacquer. my bad==NO! My good! (Is Kasmiri naan different from regular naan? we ate a bunch of naan)

[fatt-dad]

I feel my Flatiron A5-1 is connected to Paul Schneider's instruments as he likely made it (or involved in its creation) in '84. I've never played a Summit, but I'd think it'd have a similar appeal to me.

Congratulations on finding a new mandolin!

f-d

[Ivan Kelsall]

From my observations on the 'Cafe,i've seen far more comments on Weber than Summit instruments.Considering that the build quality of Webers is a by-word for excellence,& as the Summit instruments that i've seen have been every bit as good build-wise,i feel that maybe Paul Schneider is the most under-exposed 'quality' builder out there. I think that if Trevor at TAMCO had sold Summit mandolins at the time i was looking for a top class instrument,i'd now be playing a Summit "Artist" instead of my Weber "Fern".Superb instruments & superb value for the money,
Ivan

[johnsoba]

f-d, that is cool; glad we're realted now. And I agree with Ivan above. I bought the mando never having heard the name Paul Schneider, although the name Summit was familiar. He deserves some recognition. Anyone doing a history of the mandolin since 1980? I'd love to hear the stories of the builders' interconnections.

[David]

Congrats! This is my 2011 Summit Artist that I bought a few months ago, upgraded from my Summit F100 that I played for three years. It has a vintage brown color and satin finish that is unusual for most of Paul's production models. I love it!

[Elliot Luber]

Sweet looking instrument. Let's hear it some time! Enjoy it in good health.

[Kevin K]

Do you know your top wood?

[David]

Kevin, if you're asking about my mandolin then no, I don't know the specific variety. I asked Paul in an email and if I remember right all he could say was it's "probably Englemann."

[David]

Here are a few more shots of it. One thing I always pay attention to is the quality of the binding work, esp. around the scroll. I've seen a lot of less-than-perfect work on a lot of high-end mandos but Paul's is always immaculate.

[Dave Schimming]

I have a Summit F100 and based on my experience you are going to be quite happy with your purchase. Summits have got to be one of the best quality buys out there.