2006 Sumi F5 Custom "Lonesome" Mandolin
(Serial No. 06437) Near mint condition, sunburst finish. Looking for a hand built professional grade F5 mandolin? This is one of three mandolins built by Sumi for Andy Ownens of IBMA and called the "Lonesome" series. Andy and his son play two of them. As Sumi and Andy are friends, you would expect this mandolin has a bit of extra attention in the build. It has a hand carved 500 year old Japanese red spruce top, beautiful birdseye maple back and sides, nickle hardware, custom tortoise shell truss rod cover, thin varnish finish, and a flat 1 1/8 nut on the ebony fingerboard. Neck has a v profile. Double bound on both the sides and top/back with triple binding, triple bound headstock, pearl logo and custom sea turtle peghead inlay, and there is an inlay of Lonesome on the 12th fret. The fretboard is scooped on the end to eliminate pick click, but in true attention to detail the last 7 frets are inlaid flush to maintain the overall appearance of the instrument. Sumi is the master luthier that built the famous 1980s Kentucky KM-1500 and Dawg mandolins. He has continued to build under his own name since 1993. Very clear tone - the bass is strong, powerful and not muddy, and the trebles are clear and open. Good chop and bark, strong volume and nice action as it was just set up by my luthier. This is a strong professional instrument built for a master player. Very clean mandolin showing no sign of playing. Comes with a nice hardshell case.
Click for price or to return the main page
