Northfield NFO-EL2 Electric Octave Mandolin 2025, Amber

It’s a departure and a loop back to the origins at the same time. Made from solid spruce and red maple, it’s essentially what you’d expect in a mandolin’s make-up. Lightweight (chambered and 6 lbs or under) responsive and “chimey”, 8-strings, and a comfortable scale length, this thing feels and plays like a mandolin family instrument, not a mini electric novelty. And it growls. We’ve made this with the idea of enjoying the world that amplification and pedal effects reside in. Why should electric guitar players, or makers, get to have all the fun!?

Completely addicted to inspiring tones, we’ve settled on two different instrument setups. First, a single pickup version powered by a humbucking ‘Jazz Bass’ magnetic pickup—The Seymour Duncan Apollo II. That’s right, a bass pickup! Bold, warm, with lots of growl, and eight individual pole pieces for very balanced and tough-sounding output. 

The second combines that same JB pickup with our new in-house made piezo. We call it the Kapsule. A special multi-piezo design is centered at the end of the fingerboard extension and set in a chamber, carved between the spruce top and maple body. This piezo has a separate volume control making it possible to blend the different pickup tones. We call it a “depth knob” and think this piezo feature simulates adding body depth, typically associated with a deeper acoustic body. The string tones have a different timbre and sound more acoustic in nature. You get a kind of “chime” from the vibration inherent to the instrument’s design, coupled with the low-end sustain of the JB pickup. Unique and very flavorful. Both pickups are then run to a stereo jack (cable included, but also can be run mono with a standard cable) making it possible to split and send to different amps or the PA (to EQ) and then blend the tones together. This makes the instrument quite versatile for a variety of performance venues."