Re: Eastman MD305 vs 505
Originally Posted by
JackCO
Tl;Dr: is there more of a difference between the construction, bracing, etc. on the MD 305 and 505?
Any other suggestions for mandolins in the sub 900 dollar range (new or used) are welcome as well! I would like to keep cost on the lower end of the spectrum. Im interested in mostly bluegrass and jazz.
Thanks folks!
If you're buying used the recent Eastmans have much nicer bridges than mine, which were 2011 605 and 2006 505 models, and which really needed to be upgraded.
I would suggest a road trip to try other makers, if that's what it takes to try Kentucky 500 and 505's and also flattops. The thing with Kentucky is that they've sold a lot of instruments made in different factories/workshops, some weren't so great, and some of hte older 500's might fall into that category, but i loved the KM505 i got used.
If going to more shops isn't feasible, watch the classifieds here and The Mandolin store in Phoenix and folkmusician.com sometimes have blemished instruments that folks have reported they can't find the blemishes on.
Last edited by gtani7; Jan-14-2017 at 6:34pm.
Kentucky km900
Yamaha piano, clarinet, violin; generic cello;
a pedal steel (highly recommended); banjo, dobro don't get played much cause i'm considerate ;}
Shopping/monitoring prices: vibraphone/marimbas, rhodes, synths, Yamaha brass and double reeds
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