My guitar collection - Acoustics
When one would ask people what a mandolin looks like, in all likelihood they will not describe an A-style mandolin. Rather, when talking mandolin, one will think F-style, with its curl on the upper bass side of the body and frequent adornments on the headstock. These are most regularly used in bluegrass band because of their distinct “chuck” where the mandolin almost acts as a percussion instrument to provide the rhythmic foundation under a tune. Of course, Collings excels at building this version too, an endeavor Bill Collings started in 2002 as per the list of F-style serial numbers on this archived Mandolin FAQ webpage (2016). In terms of dimensions, there is no basic difference between A-style (MT) and F-style (MF) models. Both have a body width of 12⅞”, body length of 195⁄16”, depth of 113⁄16”, and same 13⅞” scale length. An MF is just a tad longer than an MT: 277⁄16“ vs. 26⅜“, respectively. The same similarity holds for the materials used. The Adirondack spruce top has tone bars bracing and 2 f-holes. But appointments are much more ornate on an MF5 compared to the relatively austere MF, certainly when an instrument has certain customizations as for this mandolin. The ‘-H’ in the model designation stands for hard maple, aka sugar maple, rock maple, and/or Bird’s Eye maple (BEM), as is visible on the back, sides, and neck on this exemplar. The back is even 1-piece! The full body binding consists of ivoroid with B/W side purfling. As on the MT, the ebony bridge has 2 adjustable posts for height adjustment and can be moved for proper intonation. The custom tailpiece is part of the all gold hardware. The hard maple (BEM) neck has the rounded-V profile and a bound (ivoroid with B/W purfling) ebony fingerboard with a 5½”-11⅝” compound radius, Mother-of-Pearl (MOP) dot position markers, and a 1⅛“ nut. In contrast to the MT, the bound (ivoroid with B/W purfling) headstock has a scroll shape, ebony veneer with inlaid MOP Collings logo and MOP early (pre-2012?) Flourish, and upgraded Waverly tuning machines with ivoroid buttons. The full instrument has a Sunburst finish under a high-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer. Mandolins are still in regular production, with on average 100 F-style mandolins being built per year (I used S/N 2352 for a 2025 MF Deluxe as a marker). More info on the “standard” MF5 can be found here:
Collings MF5-h
The story behind this mandolin
Ship date:
Serial number:
Customizations:
Strings:
From the first year for Collings’ F-style mandolins (2002), this one has my lucky number as its serial. I had been eying it on Reverb for a while, wrecking my brain what the ‘-H’ might stand for. It wasn’t for Herringbone as in Collings acoustics, that was for sure. But it added some mystique to it all. When the price was reduced in the first week of 2026, it felt like it was meant to be. I contacted Kevin Douglas of Mando Mutt in Graham, NC, and we hashed out a fair deal. My third mandolin, it effectively upgrades my Tacoma M3ESB, their interpretation of an F-style mandolin, although it should be noted it has a flattop body, i.e. the top and back are not carved, each consisting of 2 pieces of bookmatched tonewood. That instrument sounds great but I was always curious how different a “real” F-style mandolin would sound. A little different would be an understatement. The construction gives the sound a lot of volume and girth. How does it compare the MT Gloss Top you may ask? There the differences are much more subtle. The F-style construction, in particular the scroll and the fact it is a bit heavier, add a punchiness and a tad more brightness to the sound. As reported above, the ‘-H’ was solved by Collings Customer Support after receipt of the instrument. And that, even though their records did not contain an entry for #11. Thank you, Brett! So I have it reported as being shipped in 2002 since that matches the entries is the F-style serial number table on the archived FAQ page referenced above. But in reality that might not be true and the mandolin may be (much?) older.
The story behind this guitar
2002 (no exact shipping date available due to lack of record)
F011
1-piece hard maple back, hard maple sides and neck, gold tuners
D’Addario EJ74 Mandolin Strings Phosphor Bronze Medium (11-40)
