The Quickstep Mandola
For us, making instruments is like learning a complicated dance. Get the movements down, get the feel, and then listen close to the band....
We’re always listening. And while it might seem like it’s hard for us to slow down and get back to requests, we always keep them in mind and we always hope to accommodate. A mandola is something Northfielders and anglers alike have been asking us about for 15 years. The last time we seriously considered the project we turned our focus towards the octave mandolin and got swept out to sea for quite a while. Working on the mandola has brought us right into the middle of the zone we like to live in—the intersection of vintage and modern, classic and “new-age”, tradition and projection.
Price: From $3,495
That familiar voice: When played in a quartet the mandola (or viola) sometimes gets lost inside all registers between the mandolin (violin) and mandocello (cello). But if you’re really listening close … the lushness…the sneaking, growly, throaty character of its composition can capture you. The DOLA deserves more reverence.
As with all of our developments, we spent a lot of time asking artists what they were playing. What did they want in a mandola, or, what was it about current mandola offerings that they liked and/or disliked? While there were plenty of purists that hold to the standard specifications of the late teens and early 20s of the 20th century, there were plenty that were using the mandola for more contemporary musical styles. These folks wanted something that played and felt more modern. So we set out with some specific goals in mind. Easier playability with more room up the neck before the neck heel. A complex and resonant sound. A mid-range that kicks with a top-end that sparkles like it has its own reverb unit. A comfortable radiused fingerboard with larger frets. An elevated fingerboard. A slightly longer scale than the relics. Perfect intonation. Northfield’s low-end sustain and quick responsiveness.
We hope you’ll find that we checked every box and have produced something the world needs to keep the music, and the mandolin family, moving forward.
Accompaniment: Forget about the math. The transposing…. It’s not always about charts and orchestras. Your G chord is now a C. Your C is now the best-sounding 8-stringed, 2-fingered chord you can imagine. The rest of the chords you need to play that familiar song are right where you know they have to be. How many memorable tunes are in the key of C? Oh yeah… like all of them. Have fun getting to know them all over again.
Specs
Top: West Virginian Red Spruce
Back / Neck / Sides: Highly Figured Michigan Maple
Bridge / Fingerboard: Striped Ebony
Tuners: Gotoh
Scale Length: 16.5”
Tailpiece: Nickel-plated engraved Gilchrist/Northfield
Nut Width: 1 & 1/4 (32mm)
Fingerboard Radius: 5.33” (135.4mm) at nut, 7.95" (202mm) at Fingerboard end
Finish: Spirit Varnish
Color: Vintage Amber or Ox Amber with Tortoise or Dark Leatherburst with Ivoroid
Strings: Northfield Custom MED set, Phosphor Bronze, loop end: C (.052), G (.034), D (.024), A (.015)
Case: Gig Bag
Made 100% in our Marshall, MI shop.
Price: From $3,495
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