Northfield S Series NFS-F2WN Wide Nut Mandolin – New

If you’ve been following Gryphon’s descriptions of the new mandolins we carry, you’ve probably noticed that we’re big fans of oval soundhole models. For one thing, some of us remember when you had a difficult time finding any new high-quality mandolins that didn’t have twin f holes, oval sound holes were associated with old instruments of yesteryear. Thankfully that has changed, and this S Series Northfield is a prime example of the recent not-everybody-is-Chris-Thile revelation. For starters, this Northfield has a wider, 1 3/16″ neck width at the nut, which makes it easier for those of us who don’t want to file down the fingertips of our left hand. And, it also has only 20 frets, which allows you to easily play further from the bridge and make use of the additional sweetness and warmth you can get thanks to that oval soundhole.

Northfield’s S Series is an attempt to bring the high quality woods and workmanship of their higher models to players on a somewhat tighter budget. Rather than use cheaper woods, work faster and cut corners on quality, they’ve instead simply eliminated some of the time-consuming cosmetic details that add nothing to the tone or playability of an instrument. This means no celluloid binding on the back edge, for instance, and a thin satin finish instead of hand-rubbed gloss. You’ll also notice less pearl inlay for the same reason.

Thanks to careful design choices, this S Series F2 has a classy appearance, and the black soundboard harkens back to Orville Gibson’s earliest models. Best of all, it plays and sounds like a Northfield.