Recommendations for $600-800 price range

[twiddle]

Hi. I'm looking to buy a mandolin around $600-800. I will almost exclusively be playing baroque music. I don't want a mandolin that sounds bluegrass at all. I'm a little intimidated at buying online without being able to have a feel so I was hoping someone could steer me in the right direction.

Another question I had, I'm an experienced violin player and I've been searching and it seems like the bridge on the mandolin isn't "fixed." People seem to adjust it in height and placement. As a violinist this never happens, there is only place for the bridge and height is nearly uniform with a few virtuosos making exceptions with extremely low bridges to play true triple and quadruple stops. Anyway my question is how does change in the bridge affect the sound and how does it (if it does) help play certain articulations?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Ray

[abuteague]

The bridge hight affects the action. High action requires a bit more effort for your fingers to press the string down behind the fret. Low action, less so. If the action is too low, you might experience fret buzz because the vibrating string can't clear all the other frets between where you are holding it down and the bridge. Somewhere in there is a bridge height you like.
As for bridge placement, it is movable, but there is a spot just about everyone wants it to be. That would be where all the notes up and down the fretboard have proper intonation. Move it too much out of place and things get out of tune real quick. If the bridge is out of place, your open stings might be tuned perfectly, but as you go up the fret board things get more and more sharp or flat. I'd say that all the bridge movement you have been hearing about on mandolins is to move it to where it is supposed to be, not moving it to achieve some desired effect (as all you would get is out of tune.)
We don't like to move the bridge often. For this reason, changing strings is a process where two strings are removed and two are replaced at a time. This process is repeated until all the strings are replaced. We don't generally take all the old strings off and reseat the bridge each time.


Here are a few instruments I'd buy if I were in your situation. There will likely be lots of different opinions on what might be good. They are only opinions. What is right for you is the one you pick up and try and say "wow, that sounds great." So expect a few to encourage you to get to a store and play lots of mandolins even if you are just learning.

http://elderly.com/new_instruments/items/MD504C.htm
http://www.themandolinstore.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=9136
http://www.themandolinstore.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=7286

Best of luck.

[MikeEdgerton]

I would be looking at the Eastman 504 or 604 model mandolins. Both A style bodies, both with oval holes. They are on this (http://www.themandolinstore.com/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=79) page. The major difference between them should be the trim level.

[Patrick Hull]

Welcome to the Cafe. For your use, I would suggest that you look in the classifieds on the Cafe. A used instrument might give you the most value. For your use, I might suggest looking at Eastman or Breedlove instruments, which come to mind. I would think you would be looking at an oval hole instrument.

As to the bridge, although the bridge on mandolin is movable, I would think there is only one "right" spot for it, much like the violin. Players may adjust the bridge up or down to adjust the action, but not, in my experience, backwards or forwards on the face of the instrument. Someone else may have different take on that.

Best wishes.

[MikeEdgerton]

...As to the bridge, although the bridge on mandolin is movable, I would think there is only one "right" spot for it, much like the violin. Players may adjust the bridge up or down to adjust the action, but not, in my experience, backwards or forwards on the face of the instrument. Someone else may have different take on that.....

If anyone else has a different take on where the bridge should be located other than in the correct spot for the intonation to be correct I wouldn't pay any attention to them :)

[re simmers]

Kentucky A model. It's model 505. I googled and this came up:
http://themandolinhut.com/kentucky_mandolin_km_505.htm

Sorry, it's less than $600, but you can spend the remainder on Sam Bush lesson DVD's.

Bob

[Caleb]

I have an Eastman 505 that works well as an all-around mandolin. It doens't do Bluegrass very well, even though it's a Gibson copy, but I don't play Bluegrass. If you look around on YouTube you'll see a fellow playing Vivaldi's Concerto For Two Mandolins on an Eastman 505, which will show how versatile they can be. But I also believe almost any mandolin can. I play some Irish, Renaissance, and Old-Time on mine and it works well for all of that. I recommend a close look at Eastman.

[rohan]

Hi. I'm looking to buy a mandolin around $600-800. I will almost exclusively be playing baroque music. I don't want a mandolin that sounds bluegrass at all. I'm a little intimidated at buying online without being able to have a feel so I was hoping someone could steer me in the right direction.

Another question I had, I'm an experienced violin player and I've been searching and it seems like the bridge on the mandolin isn't "fixed." People seem to adjust it in height and placement. As a violinist this never happens, there is only place for the bridge and height is nearly uniform with a few virtuosos making exceptions with extremely low bridges to play true triple and quadruple stops. Anyway my question is how does change in the bridge affect the sound and how does it (if it does) help play certain articulations?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Ray

Today's featured builder is Big Muddy. This likely is right in your range. Well made. Mellow sound~o)

[Jim MacDaniel]

IMO, the most bang for your buck for your application is an oval-hole flat-top. You can get a quality hand-built flat-top new in your price range (e.g., a Gypsy's Music flat-top, a Redline Traveler pancake, or a Big Muddy flat-top) and being open to used will open up even more options for you, perhaps even some decent bowlback instruments.

Edit: you could do worse than this Weber Aspen 1 (http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=42151&query=retrieval) in the classifieds for $750.

[Mike Bunting]

A violin has a movable bridge too. A guitar has a fixed bridge. On the mandolin there is only one position for the bridge that will have the strings in tune. Perhaps you mean adjustable bridge where the string height can be adjusted via the wheel nuts on the bridge posts. There are non-adjustable mando bridges too but they are still movable.

[Schlegel]

Or, for a more Baroque look you could get a bowlback. Members Jake Wildwood and Dave Hynds both fix up and sell mandolins that would be playable at less than your bottom price! I will probably shrink my collection also in a bit, but Dave has a selection at Mandolinluthier.com available right now. They are good guys, and you not get any nasty surprises or hidden faults, IME. I've bought from Dave multiple times.

Also, IIRC, bowlbacks are exactly violin scale length, where modern mandolins are a tad longer, by 0.75" or so.

[mrmando]

I agree with Schlegel: in your budget you can get a restored quality vintage American bowlback and have money left over for some nice Thomastik strings. Should be just the ticket for baroque music.

[twiddle]

Wow thanks for all the responses. I think I'm leaning towards a bowl-back. I think it will give me the sound that I'm looking for. There seems to be less options for this; however, even used ones so I guess it's just going to be a searching game waiting for the right one. (Which is very hard after thinking about buying one for months...You kinda just want to get one already!)

[allenhopkins]

If you're looking for a "baroque sound" from your mandolin, you want a bowl-back. For the price you're quoting, you can find a very decent domestically-made instrument. You can find some flat-back mandolins that are fairly close to the bowl-back sound: Martin Style A, for example, or perhaps one of the Big Muddy (formerly Mid-Mo) instruments.

But I'd hold out for a bowl-back. Vega, Washburn, Bay State, etc. are around and usually cost less than what you've budgeted. Get a pro evaluation of condition before you buy, if possible. Bowl-backs are more fragile than flat-back canted-top or carved-top instruments, in general, and sometimes get "over-strung" with too-heavy strings.

[mandroid]

I used to Own a CF Martin Bowl back , likely late production, Mahogany body , had a pickguard styled like their Flat back Mandolins use to present... then again a Martin Flat back would be a good choice too
easier to hold, and still look classic from the audience.

[tburcham]

The blemished LM-600 VS Loar at the Mandolin Store for $500...hurry (NFI).

[8ch(pl)]

I would look at a Sawchyn Beavertail. Peter Sawchyn lives in Regina Saskatchewan.

Another good one is Cumberland Acoustic Resophonic

[8ch(pl)]

Sorry, I didn't finish and posted by accident.


I would look at a Sawchyn Beavertail. Peter Sawchyn lives in Regina Saskatchewan.

Another good one is Cumberland Acoustic, Resophonic Traveller mandolin. Made by Steve Smith in Tennessee.

They should come in the range price wise.

[Rick Cadger]

Although the bowlback may be most appropriate for your musical style, I found the couple I tried to play cumbersome and uncomfortable. The rounded back made the things twist and slide in my lap, and with a strap the body's depth made them stick too far out in front for my comfort.

If it were me shopping to the same requirements I would very closely examine the Big Muddy mandolins. Very good non-bluegrass mandolins at an excellent price. Customer service also has a fine rep.

Edit to add: I'm a fiddler as well as a mando abuser. Bridge position is basically the same. There is one spot that will give best intonation across all strings. Like a violin bridge, that on a mandolin is not fixed in place other than being held by string tension. Action on a mandolin is partly set by adjusting bridge height, again, like a violin. Whereas bridge action on a violin is set by selecting a taller or shorter bridge, by selecting a different radius profile or by sanding, some mandolin bridges have means to adjust saddle height without reworking components or removing the bridge. One simply turns a couple of thumbwheels on threaded posts to raise or lower the saddle as required.

[Schlegel]

Although the bowlback may be most appropriate for your musical style, I found the couple I tried to play cumbersome and uncomfortable. The rounded back made the things twist and slide in my lap, and with a strap the body's depth made them stick too far out in front for my comfort.

Slightly different arm position helps this a lot, and a square of suede or non-slip liner in your lap fixes it totally. Pettine glued a little rubber mat to the back of his!

[Caleb]

Although the bowlback may be most appropriate for your musical style, I found the couple I tried to play cumbersome and uncomfortable. The rounded back made the things twist and slide in my lap, and with a strap the body's depth made them stick too far out in front for my comfort.Same here. I wanted a bowlback mandolin; then I went and played some and that changed my mind. I think if I'd started on them it wouldn't be a problem, but it's just too awkward to handle one three and a half years into the mandolin journey.