the hardest things to find in a custom mandolin are the even voicing between the registers. many of the mandolins that i have played by a variety of builders have a big bass and and absolutely no tone on the upper registers. i have played a few that had nice upper registers and mud for bass- the sound just completely goes "blat" on the bottom end.

the other thing is fit and finish; especially fretwork. there are a number of custom builders who really need to do a better job with their frets. it is so frustrating when you get a mandolin that you've been waiting for for quite a while and it is totally unplayable with buzzing all up and down the board.

the collings MF mandos which i've played seem a little weak on the low end, but have a piercing high end for cutting thru a bluegrass mix. have i just not played a really good collings F model? or maybe played F models that haven't opened up at all?

Marymary - I sent you a PM.

I was really tempted to get an Ellis myself. I like buying locally and Ellis is a Texas builder - and that's one of the reasons I like Collings guitars. But in the end I ended up ordering a Kimble F-5. It should be ready sometime the first part of next year. I've never played one - but then again I'd never played a Brentrup when I ordered my "A" from Hans. And it's a sweet mandolin - I'm very pleased with it. Sometimes when you order from a builder you just have to take a leap of faith and go for it.

I was at Greg Boyd's in Missoula a while back, & he had a Kimble 2 point that had a stunning sound. The Ellis' (2) I've heard have been recent ones, played by tremendous players, & I was sure impressed. I think if the 2 pt Kimble was either an A or an F it would be long gone.

Peter P,

call up Alex and tell him what you want sound wise. If you want more bass, what you may want is for Alex to pick out a "hard" maple back for you. Then tell your favorite Collings dealer what to order.

I would not recommend it however, if you have plaster walls...