Austin Mandolins

[mandonewbie]

Just saw one...F style...in a local pawn shop, seemed pretty loud, but I never heard of them....Does anyone know much about them..and are they any good ?...It seemed to be in EC/Nearly New condition for $239 w/ case.

[Landgrass]

Seems these are Korean-made. A new AU650 can be had in the $350-$400 range.

[earthsave]

Definitely an import which if setup properly and with no structural flaws can be a decent instrument to play on. I have an Austin beginner banjer that plays nice and it came with a setup.

A good thing to remember is a setup will run you around $75, so if a used pawn shop mando needs this, add it into the cost. Play it and see if you like it.

[Bruce Evans]

My first mandolin was an Austin that I got at Elderly Instruments. It was a good first mando. It was also good to move to a better mando when the time came.