Looking for a mandolin

[irish_admiral]

Ok, if i'm looking for a mandolin to pick up (used or new - not fussed), what's a decent workmanlike one to look out for?

I've got little idea what's good and what's not, and what sort of budget I should be thinking of.

[Jondog]

I've only looked but the Epiphone ones seem decent for the price, go for the Mandobird!. Had an Epiphone banjo that was nice.

[RickenBangler]

Yeah - that mini Epibird-mando is neato - you may also want to check out the Eastwood Mandola

[bclaire]

Fender has reissued the Fender electric Mandolin as a Mando-Strat for pretty cheap. It's four string though...

Are you thinking more traditional acoustic type mandolin?

[Dunky]

Hi,
Not posted in a while because....... I bought a mandolin. Long story but my daughter gets married this year and wants to walk down the aisle to Battle of Evermore, now the typical daughter part. NOT the record, an instrumental version. Looked aground and one doesn't exist so... Dad's got a mandolin, auria recording app for ipad and spent weeks practicing.

Any way, I'd say it depends on what you want as with anything. The Stagg ones are around 100 notes and really pretty good, solid top sounded better than laminate top. Do you want piezo or all acoustic?
I ended up with a Washburn, again a little bit more than the Stagg but sounded a little smoother.
I found it best to let the mandolin guy in the shop play as being a few feet away really opened the sound up.

Thing is they are really addictive, I keep hearing stuff and thinking.... That needs some mandolin

I tried a mondola as well, bigger build and easier to adapt from guitar but is an octave lower and sounds almost but not quite mandolin like.

[Wendigo]

I really like the acoustic ones made by Fender for the price:


Affordable:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_fm_101_mandoline.htm

Not as affordable:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_fm63s_mandolin.htm

[irish_admiral]

Thanks guys. Was thinking acoustic so I could play unplugged, but with scope for adding a pickup - probably a soundboard transducer so it still sounds like a mandolin (more so than those with an e.guitar pickup). Happy to fit the SBT myself.

I'm happy to spend up to £200 for a decent unflashy model... Someone else suggested a Kentucky km 150, and reading up on them, they look decent for the money.

[itstooloudmike]

Spend a little more money and get an entry level Eastman. You will be glad you did. The playability and tone are far better than the cheaper Kentucky, Fender, Epiphone, Morgan Monroe, (etc) mandolins. The Eastman mandolins are all solid wood, hand-built in China. They sound like much more expensive mandolins, and play very well when properly set up. I've owned cheaper mandolins (Kentucky), and much more expensive mandolins (Gibson, Weber), but have stayed with my Eastman. Great bang for the buck.

[irish_admiral]

Thanks Mike.

The KM150 is all solid woods (unlike some of the cheaper Kentuckys) and seems to have been pretty well reviewed for a basic model.

What Eastman model would you suggest I look out for?

[irish_admiral]

Whoa... they look pricey...

[itstooloudmike]

Joe,

You can get the Eastman MD305-A brand new for under $500, and used for probably $350. That's not a lot of money for a good mandolin. Coming from a guitar perspective, it takes a while to get "acquainted" with mandolin prices. But having gone through this journey, I can tell you that there are reasons why good mandolins cost so much, and it's pretty much about tone. Many of the sub-$500 mandolins sound like a tin can with wires compared to the tone of more expensive mandolins. You really notice it when you listen to a great mandolin player in a recording, and come to the conclusion that the mandolin you are playing just doesn't sound like that. To get a woody, throaty, full sound from a mandolin, and some "bark", you will want a better made mandolin. Chasing this level of tone, with really good playability, is why people pay $7K or more for a Gibson F5 or a Weber Fern. But most of us "learners" don't need to invest that much in our quest to get at least "decent" tone. You just have to be selective. This is where Eastman comes in. Their mandolins are hand-made with high quality materials, like the really expensive ones. But they are made in China, with the lower labor costs. Many other Pacific-rim mandolins are made in factories with lots of automation, and no individual tuning of the top bracing. Therefore, they look OK, and can be made to play OK, but sound like toys. Eastman mandolins are made by people who know what they are doing. These are people who also make hand-made violins and archtop jazz guitars. I have an Eastman 815 F-style, which is roughly a $1500 mandolin, and it sounds/plays as good as the Weber I had which costs more that twice the amount. If you really want to stay interested in mandolin, get one that doesn't sound like a toy.

[irish_admiral]

Not disputing that at all... as with any of these things, i'm loath to shell out bigger bucks until I know I was going to stick with it! But the budget always seems to go up and up... unfortunately, for anything not made in the UK or EU, you can take the dollar price and stick a £ in front of it, so we end up paying about half as much again. A new 305 costs about £420 in the UK.

Would you recommend the MD305 as a good starter model?

[itstooloudmike]

Joe,

The MD-305 would be an excellent starter mandolin, in my opinion.

[irish_admiral]

Cheers... Will see if I can find one used then!

[Eddie]

My wife got me a Kentucky KM1000 as a gift when I retired from the Air Force. I absolutely adore it and use it for a few songs live. It's very addicting!