Gibson F-9 Mandolin Vintage Brown

This is my fifth mandolin & I have been playing for several years. I've owned a Rover RM-75, RM-50, Michael Kelly Dragonfly III, and an Eastman MD-515. My new Gibson F-9 is obviously not broken in yet, but immediately I noted that it has a beautiful percussive sound on chop chords all the way up the neck. In terms of resonance, it does not yet have that bell-like ring that my Eastman MD-515 had.. not sure if it will develop this with continued playing or whether this is just the characteristic of the F-9. The Gibson F-9 is loud, and I would describe it has having a deep throated woody voice which is what I was looking for. I briefly played a Weber Big Sky a few weeks ago and my initial thoughts was that it had a brighter... bell-like ring to it... but then again this mando has been broken in (assuming it has tone bars vs. x-bracing). What was missing on the Weber, in my opinion, was the percussive, woody sound on the chop chords. I think the F-9 would have no problem cutting through a mix... and what appears to be its signature strength...in my opinion would be its throaty growl & percussiveness...not to ignore its fine mid to higher note sounds. As the F-9 uses tone bars... this machine still needs to open up. I rated this 4 vs. 5 stars for the following reasons: * I would have preferred a radiused fretboard & medium jumbo frets... however, I haven't actually determined that not having these features has negatively impacted my playing performance. * You're paying a premium for the Gibson name. If I was to buy a second mandolin as a backup...I'd definitely be looking to buy another Eastman MD-515. * I love the minimalist matte sunburst design * Lastly, this instrument inspires me to play and get better. If you're going to buy an instrument to play... buy one that entices you to pick it up and play.

This mandolin is one great instrument. It doesn't have all the fancy frills but it sure has the famous Gibson tone. If you want a great sounding mandolin, but you are on a budget, this is the one to get. It has great looks, sound, and playability. Your sure to fall in love with this mighty F-9.