Northfield Big Mon Mandolin

The Northfield Big Mon Mandolin at first glance may appear to be just another Lloyd Loar/Gibson styled instrument but there is a lot more going on than the eye cannot detect.

The Big Mon body is just slightly different from the standard size F-5. The width of the body has been enlarged at its widest point, by 5mm and there is also an adjustment in the depth/width of the sides a little in a few places.

This is all done in proportion to these changes, so it results in a slightly larger body overall. It’s not very noticeable until you compare it side by side to another standard mandolin by lining them up back to back. The change is subtle but important.

So what did all these subtle changes do?
Overall, the result in sound is very throaty and growly mid tones. The D strings have a very airy and woody tone. When you play the courses together like the G and D  or the D and A together, you do get that woody pop—and it doesn’t go away as you up into much higher positions. One of the main advantages with a Big Mon is the volume it produces and how easy it does it. The end result is a mandolin that is really nice to plays

Northfield says it’s a tribute to those who push the boundarys but still maintain a tradition which sums up the Big Mon and Monroe to a tee.

The legendary Gibson F-5 style mandolin that Bill played has become the heart and soul of Bluegrass music and without that powerful “rhythm chop” it can never truly be Bluegrass music. Bluegrass music aside, these mandolins will rock a mandolin players socks off.

Our Big Mon also has a 30mm nut which gives more space on the fingerboard. Possibly the one issue many players find with the old Gibsons was the very slim neck that had.

The mandolin was after all sometimes marketed as a ladies parlour ensemble instrument by the Gibson company. Bill Monroe at that time hadn’t got his hands on one.

We are very happy to become the Australian dealer for these mandolins.

All Northfield mandolins can be taylored to your particular requirements a choice of timbers, bracing, sunbursts and neck widths are all available on request with a wait time of roughly six months.

For more information and demo videos just click on the link below.

https://www.northfieldinstruments.com/big-mon

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