It is still hard to believe that, throughout the glorious run of mandolins to come off the line at Gibson in the early 1920s, Lloyd Loar would affix his signature to only a single A model, known as the "Griffith" mandolin, for the woman who commissioned its build. Likely you have heard it before, when David Grisman featured it on Tone Poems, his classic collaboration with Tony Rice and homage to timeless tone.

Enter Max and Lauri Girouard, whose labor of love researching the original instrument and its history has led to the creation of this Girouard "Griffith Tribute" A5 model. A remarkable mandolin, it is perhaps the closest any luthier has ever come to capturing the unique features, contours, and sonic characteristics of this unicorn of teardrop mandolins. Essentially an F-5 model without the scroll and points—note the high F holes and bridge location—the sound is springy, throaty and full, with absolutely best-in-class midrange. As in all Girouard's builds, the fit and finish is top shelf. One of the more unique mandolins we've had the pleasure of hosting here, and a compelling complement to Girouard's usual, slightly more modern mandolin voicing, the Griffith will be a very limited-production model going forward.

Priced with rectangular hard shell case.

• Spruce top
  
• Maple back and sides
  
• Varnish finish
• James tailpiece