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).

2008 Duff F-5 Mike Compton demonstrates his F-5 mandolin built by Australian luthier Paul Duff. Read More

2004 Gilchrist Model 4 Mike Compton demonstrates his oval-soundhole, F-4-style Gilchrist. Read More

2009 Gilchrist Model 1 John Reischman demonstrates his round soundhole Gilchrist. Read More

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2000 Gilchrist F-5 Peghead Nation mandolin instructor Joe K. Walsh demonstrates his new Gilchrist mandolin, which was previously owned by Andrew Marlin and Aubrey Haynie. Read More

Maegen Wells A-Style Mandolin and 15-Inch Archtop Guitar Luthier Maegen Wells discusses two of her instruments in the Peghead Nation video studio. Read More

2007 Heiden Heritage F-5 Peghead Nation instructor John Reischman demonstrates his Michael Heiden F-Style mandolin. Read More

Nugget A-Style Standard Mandolin Joe K. Walsh demonstrates his 2016 Nugget, built by luthier Mike Kemnitzer. Read More

A. Lawrence Smart A-Style Mandola Joe K. Walsh demonstrates his go-to mandola. Read More