Click On Photos To View Full Size   (scroll down to view more photos)   The J-5+2! My most unique mandolin, by far. Conceived by my newfound fascination with Jazz music, the thought occurred to me one day, that if the mandolin were tuned a full step lower (F/C/G/D, low to high), it would be a perfect jazz instrument, as the keys of Bb, F, Eb would now be natural keys, as well as G and C now being the easier keys for fiddle type tunes, putting the mandolin in the same register as the banjo and guitar. That means that in a small setting, the guitar and banjo no longer have to capo up to the mandolin's fiddle tune keys of A or D. And of course, Bb and F are now open, natural keys. Other keys now lend themselves to otherwise never before available lower voicings. To accomplish this without compromising the mandolin's voice, range and usefulness, I added two extra frets on the low end, or the nut end, if you wish. What it boils down to is that if we capo the mandolin at the 2nd fret, we have a perfectly normal, no compromise mandolin that plays just like every other mandolin. Yet remove the capo, and it's entire range has been lowered a full step! A new instrument, without compromising the old. To further aid this, I built-in a small capo that screws-in at the 2nd fret position, so that no capo gets in the way of our fretting hand. The capo stores readily on the back of the headstock, via a hidden, strong magnet. Also seen here is a soundport and door, though this is completely optional, as is the built-in capo. These 2 extra frets can be added to any of our mandolins, by asking for the "+2" option, but it really lends itself to the "jazzier" design of the J-5! Feel free to call or write me if any of this needs clarification.

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