Rigel A+/Breedlove Quartz OF/Weber Hyalite

[Steve_R]

Back to my final three again. I play mostly for myself and
sometimes play duet with guitar. I don't like a bright, tinny tone...more of a warm,mellow tone. I like folk/celtic
mainly but play some other also. Not much bluegrass. Which do you think more suitable: Breedlove Quartz OF, Weber Hyalite or Rigel A+? I appreciate your thoughts.

[Loren Bailey]

Steve,

Hate to throw a wrench in your works here, but sounds like you might want to lean towards an oval hole vice f holes. To me oval holes sound "warmer". As you know I am a diehard Breedlove fan.

Loren

[John Flynn]

Steve:

All three are good choices, you can't really go wrong. I am sure someone has mentioned this already and perhaps there is a reason you haven't done this, but what you really need to do is go somewhere where you can play all three. You will "bond" with one of them more than the others and that one will be the right choice. Only you can do that.

If it were me, I would go with the Rigel.

[Moondog]

In my opinion the Hyalite is a very warm, woody, mellow sounding instrument with good bass response, which is most likely due to the mahogany back and sides. You probably would be happier with an oval hole. Rigel's have a good sound too, although #they are a lttle more 'raw" sounding to my ears. I haven't ever tried a Breedlove.

[PCypert]

Breedlove's are strong on the treble.

Rigel's have a good all around tone and playability.

Weber's are great all around. I would also consider a Bridger oval hole if you're in the market for celtic and not primarily bluegrass. These are awesome mandolins for what they do. You can find them used for about the same price as a Rigel A+ Deluxe. The Hyalite's are great, but the Bridger is fantastic. There's also a Beartooth Oval hole on sprucetreemusic.com I believe. Pretty good price. Thanks,
Paul