2002 Gilchrist F-5

Mike Compton discusses and demos his primary mandolin, which was built to match the tone of Bill Monroe’s Gibson F-5.

Australia’s Stephen Gilchrist is widely regarded as the finest contemporary mandolin builder. Having spent several years living in the US and working at Gruhn Guitars in Nashville, Tennessee, Stephen made it his mission to understand Lloyd Loar–era Gibson F-5 mandolins, and he’s best known for building replicas of these iconic instruments.

Mike Compton bought the first Gilchrist F-5 sold in the United States in 1979, and he met Stephen shortly thereafter. Since then, he has owned four Gilchrist F-5s, and he says that this one, built in 2002 as an attempt to match what Bill Monroe’s 1923 Gibson F-5 mandolin would have sounded like when it was new, is his favorite. Built out of sugar maple (from a 450-year-old sugar maple tree from around Syracuse, New York) and red spruce, the mandolin captures the classic F-5 sound. In this video, Mike also talks about getting the right action for the mandolin and also about the kind of pick (stiff, about 1.5 mm) and strings (D’Addario EXPs) he prefers. He demonstrates the mandolin’s sound by playing Monroe’s “Whitehorse Breakdown.”

To study mandolin with Mike Compton, enroll in his course Monroe-Style Mandolin on Peghead Nation today!

Gilchrist instruments are represented in the US by Nashville’s Carter Vintage Guitars (cartervintage.com).

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