| 1984 F5 Artist |
Wonderful condition and sound. The bridge is very low which I was surprised at and the tailpiece is not original. Otherwise a great mandolin I'd heard quite a bit about The Flatiron early F5s but never had one in the flesh. This one came up (with original very hard rock case) in Cumbria UK and was bought new in 1984 from Mandolin Brothers. The original owner said he'd never done a thing to it except change the tailpiece but somewhere along the road someone has because it came with gold tuners but nickel wheels on the adjustable bridge. I don't think it was like that when new. Can't imagine what happened here. The original tailpiece is there and looks nickel as well so maybe it was the tuners which were replaced. They are reverse tuners which I don't like but I hardly need to touch them so can't see the point in changing them. However what I must say is that this mandolin looks like it was made three months ago. It is in virtual mint condition and plays and sounds absolutely great. As I said before, it just says F5 but it has the appointments of an F5 Artist as it is triple bound all round. By that I mean the top just has the ivoroid cream but round the side there is a fine black line and then a fine ivoroid line so I suppose that's what Triple bound is unless I'm wrong. The neck is chunky but I don't mind that. May be the reason why is has a warm sound. The volume and tone are great. It has been much admired since I got it. Great balance and intonation. The only unusual thing about this mandolin is that the bridge is low. When I first went to see it I wondered if there was some issue with the bridge but I don't think so and again, this low bridge may be a contributing factor to the wonderful tone. A normal adjustable bridge would be far too high for this mandolin. I'd be quite interested to know if anyone else has the same low bridge or indeed if they had nickel hardware or gold on these 1984 F5s. Signed by Steve Carlson and the F5 is in printed block capitals. |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Jimmy Powells from the UK sends us this gem with many thanks from us ..... and as usual, sorry for the delay in posting it! : |