New Mando Player.

[Ovation_Mando24]

Hey Guys. I am BRAND new the Mandolin and need some advice.

Ive been playing Guitar for over 4 years, so I know a thing or two about music. I've decided to try something diffrent(Listening to Nicel Creek for so long kinda got me interested). Mandolin seemed like just the thing i was looking for.

Ive been looking into Fender and Epiphone mostly. How is their quality, playability...etc? Is there any particuler mandolin you recomend getting? Are there others that are nice quality?

And also, are there any other good websites that you know of that i can go to, to get further information on how to play, theory..etc...?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated! Thanks again!

Ovation_Mando24 (age 16)


http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Bobby Brite]

Kentucky mandos are the best for the money IMHO. Fender and Epiphone are ok But are a little on the cheaper materials side .

[magnumgray]

Check out my dean bsfs in the classifieds ... a great playing mando with a low action and beautiful finish ... it will alaways be worth the price you pay $375 ... I made a move up to a handmade model ... or I would still be playing it

[Dru Lee Parsec]

The inexpensive Johnson mandolins tend to have a lot of setup problems. You will find yourself fighting the instrument more than you would like. They can be setup correctly (frets leveled, bridge fitted, nut reshaped, action set, strings changed) but you'll still have a cheap mandolin that plays better than it use to instead of a good mandolin.

The fenders I've played were set up so badly (off my at least one semitone at the 12th fret) that it's difficult for me to know how good they are. Out of frustration I loosened the strings on one at my local music store and set the bridge position correctly. It played fine, but the tone didn'nt thrill me.

I've heard that the Tacoma M1 is a nice instrument in the $600 price range. The Kentucky mandolins seem to have a following as well. The Michael Kelly mandolins all seem to be decent instruments in the $500 to $700 price range.

I play a Breedlove that was about $1000 (used) and I love it. The tone and feel are wonderful. I've played a Breedlove A style and it also had an amazing tone.

So my experience would say that the $60 Johnson mandolins are ok if you just want to have an instrument and have no money, but you'll reach the limit of what they will allow you to do fairly quickly. The Fenders might be fine, but the stores out here on the west coast don't seem to care about setting them up. The Kentucky and Michael Kelly mandolins have a good reputation. I've played a few MKs and they do sound and feel nice. I played a Tacoma M1 (in a noisey room) and it played well but I personally didn't like the tone of that particular instrument. Beyond that you start to move into the $1000 and up range. In that range just about anything will be decent. Your best bet is to find a store that has several mandolins ( Like our local store (http://www.buffalobrosguitars.com/mandopix.htm) ) and try out several instruments. Learn a two finger G, C and D chord and just see which ones "speak" to you.

Good luck and have fun.

[Coy Wylie]

I started with a Kentucky but quicly decided I wanted something better. Maybe I had a poor quality one, I don't know, but the second mando, a Michael Kelly blew it away with tone and volume. I've moved on to Weber now but I still have the MK and highly recommend them above most of the entry-level store brands.

[mandolinquent]

I'm a guitarist turned mandolinist as well and I bought a fender once, just about 4 months ago. It went back to the store within a week of having it. It was just awful, IMHO. I decided to take it back and have a BRW made for me, but on my way to visit Ben about a mandolin for me, I saw a little music store and had to stop in. I played a Kentucky A-style (dont know model) that I LOVED! I think I paid about $500 for that Fender and this Kentucky was only $200! If I wasnt on my way to see a mando builder (and therefore outta $), I woulda laid down the $200 right there!

[onlyagibsonisgoodenuff]

I'm sure there will be a lot of different opinions on this, but I believe you should always buy the very best instrument you can afford. There are two good reasons for that. One, is you'll learn so much faster, as you'll never put the darn thing down, plus, if you decide for whatever reason to give it up, it will be easier to resell. When I learned to play the banjo many years ago, I went to the bank and borrowed enough money to but a pre-war Mastertone. Not only did I learn to play pretty well, but I tripled my investment (including the interest I paid on the bank loan) when I decided to trade it for a Monteleone mandolin!

[tnpathfinder]

Great advice Dru Lee Parsec.
My search lead me to a Kentucky 380s. I was completely disapointed with untill a proper set-up was done. I'm pretty happy with it now, It will do till my skills can justify spending the cheese on a nice 1K+ mando.
Also, don't expect much customer service Kentucky (Saga Music) they just buy them from China! They could care less how they sound.
Just my thoughts!

[John Zimm]

As the owner of an MK Firefly Flame, I can attest to the quality of those mandos. I really love my Mk and only the unexplained MAS phenomenon keeps me wanting another mandolin. The MK Firefly is a bit pricy for a beginner mando though, so you may want to try one of their less expensive models. Play a lot of them though, because they really tend to very in quality. I happened to get a great one but you can end up with a dud if you aren't careful.

Otherwise, my two cents, get an A-style, and buy one used. If you got a used a-style you can end up with a pretty good mandolin under $1,000.

-John.

[BostonPops]

I'm sure there will be a lot of different opinions on this, but I believe you should always buy the very best instrument you can afford. There are two good reasons for that. One, is you'll learn so much faster, as you'll never put the darn thing down, plus, if you decide for whatever reason to give it up, it will be easier to resell. When I learned to play the banjo many years ago, I went to the bank and borrowed enough money to but a pre-war Mastertone. Not only did I learn to play pretty well, but I tripled my investment (including the interest I paid on the bank loan) when I decided to trade it for a Monteleone mandolin!
I agree. Musical instruments aren't like other consumer products in that they won't (or shouldn't) depreciate to the point of being worthless. I always buy the most instrument I can afford knowing that the depreciation is the real cost of the instrument. My first mando is a nice one. I may buy another one some day (MAS), but I'll never need to buy another one.