beginner mando recommendation

[jab]

I'm not in the market for one personally, but happened to walk into a Best Buy and saw a couple of Oscar Schmidt's on the wall. Figured they weren't even worth picking up, but I did anyway. Gotta tell you, the F style for $375 (M40 model?) played surprisingly nice. Good action, good tone, looked good. Didn't care for the $175 Oscar Schmidt A style though. Got me to thinking back about my first Sigma Martin mando I got as a beginner - it didn't play near as good as this one. Anyway, for someone looking to see if they like playing mandolin it's worthy of a look. You could hang it on your wall as a decoration someday when you upgrade.

[Capt. E]

One question to put to the low end mandos is their durability. How long will they stand up to regular playing?

[jab]

One question to put to the low end mandos is their durability. How long will they stand up to regular playing?

Good question. That's why I mentioned you could always make it a wall hanging :-). If you think you're going to be a player I say reach for something that will hold up over some time. Cheap instruments usually feel and sound cheap, I'm just saying this particular Oscar F style provided some immediate gratification on the eyes, fingers, and ears given it's entry level status.

[almeriastrings]

Yes.. the big issue with a lot of these is whether they end up as total junk within a relatively short time, in which case, they are not as cheap as they look, given for little more you could buy a used much higher quality instrument that will last, and you could always sell on with very little (if any) loss. The most expensive instruments in the long run are usually the cheapest ones. On mandos, neck and top stability issues are common on all of these low-end F styles.

[Reid1]

If you liked the Oscar Schmidt's you're going to love the low end Kentuckys.
It's pretty hard to beat an A-style Kentucky KM-150 in that price rance. They can be found for right around $200 and being solid wood, would blow either of the Oscars away.
There's not much in a great F style available for $375, but for an extra $100 you could get a Rover RM-75, which is a fantastic mandolin for the price.
Here's a few suggestions. All of these are solid wood and not laminate like the Oscar Schmidts:

Kentucky KM-150 - $200-250
Rover RM-50 - $135-150
Rover RM-75 - $450-480
Loar LM-220 - $330-360
Eastman 305 - $350-400
JBovier F5 Studio - $650 (I have one of these on order )

If you're going to go laminate you can always go with one of the $39.99 Rogue starter packs from Music 123. They are pretty much the same Mandolin as the Oscar Schmidt A style you played. Pay a few extra $$ for a good setup and they will play even better.