I just got off the phone with my sister, who's at Bonnaroo. She couldn't talk long (I was interrupting Animal Collective), but I just wanted the answer to one, important question: "have you seen a lot of Mandolins there?" Surprisingly, she hadn't. "I've only seen two guitars in the crowd," she relayed. Could it be? Have the new Gibson Jam Master Series Mandolins arrived during the waning of the mandolin's infatuation by the neo-hippy set?

Who cares? These mandos are sweet. The Jam Master Series include both an F-Style (left) and an A-Style (below, right) model, and both sport a tasteful, stripped-down appearance. The spartan Jam Masters* eschew body, neck, or f-hole binding, likewise fancy peghead inlay or even position markers. I absolutely love the finish on these mandolins: they look like mint-condition Victorian violins.

Granted, the F-Style still boasts an elegant lower-horn scroll and carved headstock -- and is also the more pricey of the two with its MSRP of $3,110 US. The A-Style, though, is priced well within reach of most gigging players at MSRP $1,999 US.

Both mandolins feature a top carved from solid spruce, and figured maple back and sides. The figured maple necks have the “rounded V” profile, with a 1 3/16" width at the nut. There's 20-frets on the neck, and 13 clear the body, with frets that are a little bigger than the traditional frets on vintage mandolins for additional playing comfort. The Jam Master Series' sound is bolstered by Gibson’s tone bar bracing, a radiused dovetail neck joint, and a genuine bone nut. The adjustable bridge and Grover tuners round out a pair of instruments that look a century old, but play like modern marvels.

The Gibson Jam Master Mandolins will come with a well-padded gig bag, and the first 100 to leave the Gibson factory will be hand-signed by master luthier David Harvey.

*Spartan Jam Masters -- great jam band name.