Orville Gibson invented the modern mandolin, and mandolins have been a part of Epiphone’s DNA since its earliest days. Company founder Anastasios Stathopoulo’s first (and only) patent, filed in 1909, was for a mandolin. Gibson Master Luthier Lloyd Loar designed the original F-5 mandolin in the early 1920s, and its eventual success even led to the creation of new musical genres, such as bluegrass. Now, Epiphone has collaborated with the Gibson Custom Shop on the new F-5G. Epiphone’s finest mandolin model to date, this exceptional Inspired by Gibson Custom Shop instrument is a faithful recreation of the time-honored original. It features all solid wood construction with a figured maple back and sides and a solid Sitka Spruce top. The figured maple neck has an ebony fretboard with a compound radius (10” at the nut, 12” at the end of the fretboard) and an F-style scroll headstock with vintage-style tuners with pearloid buttons. Ornate touches include the three-ply top binding, mother-of-pearl “The Epiphone” and flowerpot headstock inlays, and the rich Cremona Sunburst finish. Whether you’re playing rhythmic chops or lead lines, its tone is balanced, deep, and resonant, with great carrying power. A vintage-style rectangular hardshell case is also included.