most bang for your buck

[Baron Collins-Hill]

what do you think the best buy is for a new mandoli, sound wise. definitely an a style, i think i like a's better than f's anyway. a gibson a9? a moonbeam? i wish gibson still made a4's and such. and another question, how does the sound compare between gibson a2, snakeheads, and a4's?

thanks

baron

[Lee]

New or used? If used; how old is acceptable?
F-holes or oval holes?
Do you have a preference of flat or radiussed fingerboard?
Are you a fan of established name brands, ie., Gibson, Weber, etc. or does the small builder provide the value of intrigue?
What have you played that you liked and disliked?
What's your price limit?

[ironlionzion]

If you want the most bang for the buck i would have to recondmend a Rosta Capek. He is a builder from Czech and i recently heard and played a few of his mandolins and was very very impressed. My teacher plays em and speaks very highly of them and their maker (who is a friend of his). When i get rid of Micheal Kelly i am getting a Capek a style for sure. around the same price of a A-9
Steve

[Scotti Adams]

Rose

[Baron Collins-Hill]

i was thinking on new, although an old gibson in almpst perfect condition for a fair price would be nice. any date is good, although bowlbacks, atleast ones ive played dont have the tone im looking for. my dads friend had a 1917 gibson a2 that playes really nice and sounds super sweet, but its definitely deteriorating. Most likely, i would go for the oval hole on a sunbursted mando, although my instructor has an 88ish flatiron A5 thats real nice but finish checking badly. ive always liked non bursted mando's better than bursted ones, although some sunbursts are decent. (can you teel im not a traditionalist) . most likely a radiused fingerboard would be nice and would order one if i were to get one custom built for me, but the A2 i played is one of the easiest playing mandolins ive played and i played quite an assortment including a collings mf5 and several mandos that i felt uncomfortable near. I am not stuck on a name brand mandolin, although the quality must be very nice and good sounding. webers and gibsons are nice as are collings and all them and i would be more apt to look at those first off, but im open to anything. as i said ive played many mandolins. i played a collings mf5 that was very very nice, but well out of the price range for a 16 year old kid with basically no job. ive played several pre loar gibson a's that were very nice, im definitely likeing the sound of the oval hole more and more. i played a breedlove middle quality, not top, not bottom, a style mando that sounded really nice, better than the k styles in my opinion. the necks were a little chunky for me. ive got pretty small hands. ive got a fender fm62se at the moment, and i find that it sounds much better that what i payed for it by a mile. its got a super thin neck, no more than an inch at the nut, maybe less. i played a gibson a9 up in canada that sounded really nice and fit me pretty well, and i should have bought it. it would have been about 900 when all was said and done. oh well, i also played a moonbeam flat top flat back at the same store that blew me away, although it was a bit more pricey. well i have succesfully talked everyones ear off. thanks for the help everyone.

baron

[fatt-dad]

How about an Old Wave, a Cohen, a Ward Elliott or a Lou Stiver for A-models. All of these should be in the $2,000 to $3,000.00 range and you'll love em. I would also consider the Gibson A5-L, but the cost is up there in light of their new pricing. Real nice instrument though.

Get a used Flatiron A if you want a good mandolin for the money. Actually, there is a seemingly nice one in the classifieds yesterday or today.

Good luck and enjoy the hunt.

[grandmainger]

There's a A jr Snakehead in the classifeds for $1200 right now!

Man I wish I could buy it! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

I reckon that's the best mando you'll get for that price http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[ab4usa]

Another vote for Old Wave. At $1,875 it's a steal.

[mtnrose]

Ditto on an A JR. I like mine better than many mandolins costing 3 times as much. A Jr prices seem to be climbing. Mine was $750 about three years ago.

I also like Old Waves a lot.

Becky

[Nolan]

The $799 A-9's at Guitar center were/are pretty sweet. Call around and find one on clearance.

[Lee]

For $700 in the Classifieds you'll get the radiused fretboard, oval hole, non-sunburst you were looking for and a hard case; Breedlove Quartz OO. Pretty good deal IMHO.

[Jasper]

Never did state your price ceiling...? Lots of good As out there in the classifieds.

[oldwave maker]

Well, I'd of suggested the fresh old wave A I dropped off at gruhns friday afternoon, but it seems to have disappeared from the website. dang!

[Jim Garber]

i was thinking on new, although an old gibson in almpst perfect condition for a fair price would be nice. any date is good, although bowlbacks, atleast ones ive played dont have the tone im looking for.
Gibson never made any bowlbacks, to my knowledge.

Jim