Looking for a new Mandolin.

[John22]

I'm looking for a new mando to replace an old knackered Romanian one. Looking for something suited for Scottish/celtic folk and possible modern Church worship stuff. Prob A style, oval/round hole. Been looking at the Ashbury AM-130. Any thoughts on that or alternatives. Cheers!

[kurth83]

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...bury-mandolins

Around here in that price range people will recommend mostly Eastman, Kentucky, and 'The' Loar. They all make A-oval models AFAIK.

[Caleb]

John:

Welcome to the greatest website in the world. I would recommend looking closely at Mid Missouri, also called Big Muddy after a name change. These come up frequently in the Classifieds here for a great price. USA made and would suite your needs well. Also, it'd be hard to go wrong with any decent A-style f-hole mandolin: it's a very versatile design. I play a Collings MT myself and love it. Keep us posted on what you find.

[John22]

Cheers guys. I settled with an Ashbury E style. Plays very nicely, lovely gentle sound with great volume. Happy I spent a we bit more to get a nicer instrument.

[allenhopkins]

Hint: use of the adjective "knackered," and mention of Ashbury mandolins, suggests UK residence, where Big Muddy, and commonly-found-in the-US Asian brands (Kentucky, Eastman, Loar etc.) might be a bit harder to come by. Ashbury is a brand strongly advertised by Hobgoblin, a major British chain of music stores; don't know if it's a "house brand," or just one that Hobgoblin stocks in great variety.