grouper422
Apr-24-2004, 2:39am
i am in the market for a new mandolin and was wondering what brand is good for a bluegrass sound. money for the most part isnt a factor. any help will be useful. thanks.
Km1000seth
Apr-24-2004, 7:36am
Well,
I dont believe that there is a "BLuegrass" mandolin. To me its all in what this or that person likes, Im a diehard Kentucky 1000 fan, but Ive seen plenty of people whe cant stand em. Theres a lot of people who swear by Gibson, Personaly(i know ill get hounded for this) I cant stand em, I was looking hard at them before I bought my kentucky, But the quality(Im only talkin bout the new ones, I know that loars are most likely Very high on the quality list)To me the quality wasnt real bad, but there were things that I saw on them that made one wonder, Why they didnt spend an extra 30 minutes sanding this. Cause payin 3000-7000 grand, dangit I want a good mandolin. BUT all that being said, if Im not the one playing and Im Blindfolded, many of the gibsons have good tone. Theres another mandolin I really like, that I would suggest if it is possible for you to play one, that is a Grady. last time I cheked, I think Elderly still 2. But thier VERY nice sounding and Gorgeous, in my opinion. But still in all you could go to a music store, play a kentucky and want to smash it, play a Grady, and want to throw it, then pick up a Gibson, and fall in love with it. Its all in the tones, and the feel that you like. I would suggest to take as long as possible, and just start playin every mandolin you can get your hands on. Also, there a few, err, a bunch of Luthiers on this site that make some real NICE mandolins. But its all in what you want, oh one more thing, make sure to play a few mandolins with a radius neck, as well as with a flat neck, For me I didnt and after I had my kentucky for a year I played a radius, man!, I had to stop myself from buyin one, cause its very different, for me its more comfortable. ANYWAY, just play EVERYTHING
Seth
Grouper, what are you playing now?