• DO NOT BUY

  
  As reviewed by jaguarxj220 on 8/13/2007

  this thing is awful, not to mention the outrageous price. yes sure the quality is amazing and i looks beautiful, but the important thing is the sound it produces, and believe me this one receives a thumbs down. the pros I can see in this mandolin are: the quality is top class. the features it has are not bad at all. the cons I can see are: the sound quality for an instrument at this price are supposed to be great, well this is an exception, it sounds good but not for this price. also, it is very uncomfortable to play because of the neck and the body it self. what I'm getting at (as the title says) do not buy this mandolin, if you have this kind of money buy yourself: a yngwie malmsteen stratocaster, a zakk wylde les paul, or how about a used car. But if your rich and want to waste your money on a $17,000 mandolin go ahead.

  49 of 69 people found this review helpful.
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• For this kind of investment it falls short!!

  
  As reviewed by neckman on 9/18/2007

  I always wanted to take the plunge and thanks to a VERY GENEROUS friend I avoided it. I was lent his for a week, PLENTY LONG ENOUGH!!! For the Sticker price it should sound and feel MUCH better than it does. I tried to convince myself that this was worth the money. Sound wise it falls short. The tonal quality is NOT what I expected from this instrament. Save your money and go with a less expensive model and get better sound, feel and return if you decide to re-sell. Live this Mandolin just does not project the full tonal dynamic range that the price should supply. Only my humble opinion and experience with this Mandolin. Go less expensive, get a better bang or should I say strum for your buck.

  47 of 55 people found this review helpful.
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• Gibson F-5 MM -- They are not all created equal !!

  
  As reviewed by ipmala ipmala on 12/7/2012

  The high sticker price aside...the F-5 Master Models vary greatly in tone. Some 'bark' and some don't. Most sound really good, and some are duds--but, some are really exceptional. And then....there is that one or two that are absolute "killers" that are even beyond exceptional. I've got one of those--it was 'cherry picked' by the people at Gibson in Nashville--handpicked from the last production run in 2005. I purchased it directly from Gibson and had to pay LIST PRICE to get it. I told them on the phone... "don't call me unless you can find me a real cannon". I never expected to hear from them again. Then, about one month later...I get a phone call. They say, "this is the one you're looking for--an absolute cannon". Handpicked by Charlie Derrington, Jackie Miller, Dave Harvey, and Big Joe. It's so LOUD, I have to wear ear plugs when I play it. My only advice is....the Master Models are 5 stars for their quality--but for SOUND...they vary greatly. I have no real explanation for that.

  2 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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