Elegantly carved from our most striking materials to produce the finest aesthetics ever found in a Northfield mandolin. The result is several dynamic variations that exhibit consistently powerful and uniquely expressive voices. Designed to work for and rigorously tested by one of the most discerning genre-hopping mandolinists of our time, Mike Marshall. Simply put, the Northfield Artist Series mandolins are our best yet.
Since 2007 our team has been working on design improvements for our highest-level mandolins. We have evaluated and tested our own instruments through years of use on the road. We have extensively studied some of the most impressive modern day instruments. We have taken field trips to play and listen to exceptional mandolins, working with some of the finest musicians and luthiers in the world. We have spent many hours handling some of the very best vintage examples—peering inside them with sophisticated tools used for modeling construction and collecting acoustical data. This research has inspired and led us to reimagine and refine ourselves in the Artist Series.
Ultimately, we know that a mandolin's voice is subjective—artistry and musicality, not laboratory hours, matter most in the end. We have not forgotten that the link between builders and players is where the soul of the instrument is born. We've done extensive live and recorded listening tests, developing a vocabulary to define what we're after in the tone of a mandolin, but we haven’t done this alone. Apparent in the name Artist Series, we’ve had a lot of help from very discerning professionals—incredibly, some of the most amazing mandolin players in the world.
Specs
Top: Carved Engelmann Sides / Back / Neck: Carved Sugar Maple Tailpiece: Nickel-plated engraved Bill James Pick Guard: Bound Ebony Bridge / Fingerboard Material: Premium Ebony Nut Width: 1-1/8" String Spacing: 1.5" Neck Shape: Soft V Fingerboard Radius: 5.7" at nut, 7.7" at 20th fret Tuners: Gotoh (Standard) Finish Material: French Polished Spirit Varnish Finish Color: Sunburst Tone Bar Construction: 2 Bar Scale Length: 13-7/8" (front edge of E string) Case: Airloom "Deluxe" Case
2-Bar Bracing Style
This Artist mandolin features Northfield's "Variation 2" 2-bar bracing system.
Strong fundamental
Cutting high-end power
Focused projection
All materials from North America, seasoned and matched in our Marshall, MI shop. Assembled and varnished in our Qingdao shop. Set up and final inspected in our Marshall, MI shop.
