Looking to buy a new one..

[JoeGamble]

I have been playing for almost a year now, and I feel like I would benefit from moving up to a nicer instrument. Currently I am playing on a samick that I believe was about 2-300 dollars.

I am looking at a price range of maybe 1-1400 dollars, and was just wondering if anyone had advice, specifically on one type of wood vs. another and etc. -- I wanted to make a highly educated decision, as this will probably be the mandolin I play on for the rest of my life, unless of course that is, I become suddenly extraordinary, and have need of a nice custom Collings or Dudenbostel =)

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[Walter Newton]

Assuming you're looking for a bluegrass mando, in that price range I think your best bet is a used American made A style - Gibson A9, Flatiron, Weber Absaroka, Collings MT, etc. - you'll enjoy a big step up from what you're playing now. You get more bang for the buck buying an A, and if you go used you will likely be able to get back what you've put into it if you choose to sell down the road. As far as woods all of the above will be solid, carved spruce top and maple back/sides. Keep an eye on the classifieds...

[Andrew DeMarco]

Can we compare and contrast these 4 mandolins you mentioned:

Absaroka
Collings MT
Gibson A9
Flatiron

I'm also on the market for an upgrade and these makes/models have been floating around. I don't want to diss any brand, but what are peoples' thoughts?

[JoeGamble]

I have to admit I have never heard of an absaroka, but collings and gibsons are generally very good instruments ( I wish I could afford that 10k allan bibey mando I played on at the showcase the other day..). I have listened to a few flatirons, and the ones I have seen have great tone..but something about the headstock makes me not happy.

Also, I failed to mention above that I am looking for a mandolin( as opposed to a mandola..or god-forbid...a banjo!), preferably F-style, but as Walter pointed out, F-styles are just more money for prettiness more than sound ( for the most part ).

I have been poking around, and two that caught my eye over at themandolinstore.com are an eastman Md615 and a kentucky KM1000 master model both sound and look excellent, while they are still in my price range. Just wondering what other people had to say about those two brands as well.

Oh, and also I noticed the eastman has an ebony fretboard/bridge combo, rather than rosewood. I have seen a few threads around here about ebony vs. rosewood, and I was wondering how much of a difference they make ( tone-wise ).

[Walter Newton]

Can we compare and contrast these 4 mandolins you mentioned:

Absaroka
Collings MT
Gibson A9
Flatiron
Well, IMO it's kind of like saying which is better, Chocolate or Vanilla or Strawberry ice cream? #In the end the only way to know for sure is to try them all and make a decision for yourself...but if you like you can do some searching of the archives and find plenty of discussion, and lots of opinions pro and con for all of the above brands (not to say they are the only choices in that price range either).

[Steve Ostrander]

Both the Eastman md 615 and Kentucky km1000 are nice mandos for the money. Look for used, there are lots of Eastamn 515s and 615s out there.

[Bill Snyder]

As Walter mentioned the first time he listed these the Absaroka is a Weber. They don't seem to be listed on Weber's website (http://www.soundtoearth.com/instruments.htm) so I am guessing they don't build that model any longer.

[re simmers]

I've got a Weber Gallitin Custom Maple. I think you can get them for around $1,800 but I'm not sure. It's a back up to my '91 Flatiron, but Weber is a good mandolin for the money.

[Frank Russell]

Andrew - I've owned the four you mentioned, MT, A9, Absaroka, Flatiron. If I couldn't play it first, the only one of those I'd order sight unseen would be the MT. I've found the Collings to be the most consistent of those 4. You can find a great Flatiron here and there, and my old Absaroka was beautiful. The A9's I've played all had good tone, but I prefer the radiused fretboard of the MT, and I've never played a Collings that did not have tone and volume in spades. I'll own a Collings again, not sure if I'd go for another Absaroka, A9 or Flatiron, unless I came across a crazy deal. Frank