So, in my own experiment, I realized that I do love A style mandolins. Also, I noticed, a lot of makers in the Renaissance of building are putting out a lot of A’s. I have several F’s and A’s and find myself really liking the A styles. I like the weight and the balance when standing and no point jamming me when sitting. Tonally, they can still have that dry tree cracking when lightening strikes it chop, deep dark lows, bell like highs, nice balance, and just the right hint of sustain. Volume hasn’t been a problem, I’d put that 85 Carlson Flatiron A5-2(I reference later) against the best of them in volume. I really do like them.
So, my question is, what are the best A’s out there in a reasonable budget…….feel free to include new or used in the discussion. By reasonable budget I’d say stick to close to $2500, though this is a lot of money, if you can have mandolin that sounds better than a $4000 mandolin for $2500, that’s reasonable.
I have played and liked
2 New Pava’s- #7, #27, I would say they are good deals, can’t wait to see how they open up, for new, they are really nice. Fit and finish couldn’t be better. Intonation couldn’t have been more spot on the whole way down the neck.
Used Ward Elliott A- incredibly loose playing, sweet neck, good balance, killer chop, amazing neck. Overall, great mandolin, fantastic.
85 Flatiron A5-2 Carlson Signed-I must confess, I think set-up was a little off on this one, but…VOLUME! CHOP! Couldn’t really get a feel for playability as it wasn’t set up the way I like, but the neck was deeper than Ward’s. I think this could be a killer if set up right, not just to my preferences.
New Birdsey Collings MT-2- sounded like you’d expect, played like you’d expect. Collings builds great instruments, but I like the smaller shop guys(better deals) and a little different tone, but would never discredit how good these things are
On my Radar
Givens
Girouard
Ludewig
Passernig
I would love to hear everybody else’s input! Behold the power of the A.
Regards,
Seth
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