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Thread: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

  1. #51
    Registered User Ken_P's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Quote Originally Posted by GTG View Post
    If you gave John Reischmann a plywood $19.99 Galveston mando and said 'make it sound like your Loar' - well, he wouldn't be fooling most of us.
    Maybe, but he'd still sound like John Reischmann.

  2. #52
    Registered User tkdboyd's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Interesting, he isn't even using the top of the line Kentucky....
    http://www.jimmyandmoondi.com/train.html

    "Jimmy Gaudreau writes:

    Moondi and I would like to thank the folks at SAGA Musical Instruments
    for providing the Kentucky KM-855 mandolin and Blueridge BR-160 guitar we played while on tour in England and Scotland last summer. Their extensive overseas dealership network freed us from the hassle and worry of flying with our respective one-of-a-kind,�non-replacable heirlooms while giving us the opportunity to enjoy these high quality, incredible sounding models, which had the familiar feel of instruments we'd been using for years. That same Kentucky mandolin and Trinity College mandola (another line SAGA carries) accompanied me on the Emmylou Harris tour I did back in October, making�life on the road�and the performing experience that much more enjoyable."

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  4. #53
    Bill Healy mrbook's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    I'm skeptical of the comments I read about someone buying an inexpensive mandolin off of ebay, changing the hardware, scraping off the finish, etc., and the person usually ends up saying, "sounds almost as good as my buddy's Loar." It's not true - inexpensive instruments have a purpose, but you can't make them into great ones. Even a professional can only make them sound good, or okay, but not great. That's not even the point here, though - there are many good, moderately- priced ($500-$2,000) mandolins that are good enough to serve a professional well, even at the lower end of the range. Doesn't matter who built them or where they are made. Players want the best instrument they can get, but many players are making money on good, but modest instruments. Sometimes it's enough, while others are probably on a search for the instrument of their dreams. Either way, they are out there making music, and probably not worried about what the wannabes in the audience think of their mandolin.

  5. #54
    Registered User Chris Biorkman's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Quote Originally Posted by Charley wild View Post
    Jim, your remarks border on racism! I stand by my posts on this thread and that's all I'm going to say.
    Wow.
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    Registered User Fran's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Who cares which brand/model of instrument you play if your playing is good!
    It's funny how similar threads are in boards dedicated to various instruments! Too many people get obsessed with equipment instead of focusing on their playing technique and performance abilities... If you can afford a $300 mando made in the Far-East then be it, love it, tune it well and play! If you can buy a handcrafted $5000 instrument then good for you, but it's not going to make you more inspired, only more worried about getting your instrument damaged or stolen!
    "People will be more impressed with your playing than the price of your instrument."

  7. #56
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    "If you can buy a handcrafted $5000 instrument then good for you, but it's not going to make you more inspired, only more worried about getting your instrument damaged or stolen!"

    When I went from an Epiphone A model to a Flatiron F5 in 1992 I can honestly say I was much more inspired to play.

    I put a nick on the face of it about a 2 years later, and took it to Paul beard to touch it up. He laughed at me and said, "now you can REALLY start to play and not worry about anything." I still have the nick on it, and he was right. BUT....I am more careful, as well.
    re simmers

  8. #57
    Hipster wannabe GTG's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Quote Originally Posted by Fran View Post
    If you can buy a handcrafted $5000 instrument then good for you, but it's not going to make you more inspired, only more worried about getting your instrument damaged or stolen!
    Well actually, many folks have related how getting a new, nicer instrument has made them much more inspired to play. Nicer tone, better playability, even nicer looks can bring back the joy of playing for those for whom it has gone stale.

    Edit - beat me to it, Simmers!
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  9. #58
    Bill Healy mrbook's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Any instrument I buy, even if it's not as nice as others I own, inspires my playing. The different feel and sound of a new instrument in my hands makes me try new things, or hear something I hadn't quite "got" before. I don't have to move up in price for that, but I will never say it isn't nice to get a nice new mandolin.

  10. #59
    Registered User Fran's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Quote Originally Posted by mrbook View Post
    Any instrument I buy, even if it's not as nice as others I own, inspires my playing. <snip>
    Some people say that each instrument has its own tunes it wants to teach you!
    "People will be more impressed with your playing than the price of your instrument."

  11. #60
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Quote Originally Posted by Fran View Post
    Some people say that each instrument has its own tunes it wants to teach you!
    yes I agree a really fine instrument has tunes in it that you might have been searching for a long time.

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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    To specifically answer the OP's original question - what are some affordable mando's for the professional player?

    Well, for me (and I've seen others), the Ovation MM68 fits the bill very well. I play in a pretty loud environment with drums & electric guitars. The built in pickups are convienant, and the molded back makes this instrument nigh indistructable. I play in a lot of bars and I like playing with an instrument that takes a lick well.

    Also, as has been said, after the mando sound is processed through the board, I can't tell much of a difference. I switched to the Ovation about 3 years ago from a more expensive instrument (small make mando - over $2k) and the sound hasn't suffered at all. Granted, the Ovation doesn't sound well unplugged - but a lot of professionals need to play plugged in. For what I'm using it for - this does the trick very well. In fact, I chose it over many more expensive options.
    Pen

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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    I don't like nor wish to be critical. My experience is insignificant but the experience of many forum members is quite significant and of great value. I was really interested in moving up from my great-but-wholly-inadequate Loar 520. I had acquired the 520 on the advice received here previously.

    But sadly this question has gone unanswered twice!

    Is anyone going to answer the actual question posted clearly in the title? Please?

  15. #63
    harvester of clams Bill McCall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    I would think used Weber and Collins's A models would work very nicely. Often seen for under $2k.

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  17. #64
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    1. This thread is nearly eight years old, so many of the participants are probably on to other things.

    2. What's your definition of "affordable?" There are many mandolins more expensive than your Loar, which is "wholly inadequate" in what way? Sound, playability, appearance, "mojo," what? Do you want to spend under $1,000, up to $1,500, or more?

    3. I have played and recorded "professionally" on a Strad-O-Lin that cost me $25 originally. Really. It was a good-sounding cheap instrument, well-suited for what I used it for, and I was sad to trade it in (on a $250 Strad-O-Lin). So that's "affordable," for sure, but probably not what you're looking for.

    4. What type of music are you planning to play on the new "affordable" mandolin? That will focus your search. If bluegrass, looking for a carved-top, f-hole instrument, either A-model or F-model.

    5. "Affordable" is easy to judge: it's how much money you have in your pocket. Taking that as a given, research every suitable mandolin in that price range, new and used, that you can find. Read their specs, bring them up on the Cafe and ask for opinions (value the opinions of those who actually have owned and played that model, over those who are working from generalities or experience with "similar" instruments).

    6. There is no one answer for this question. Some "working professionals" are happy to play mid-price Asian imports, others want the best that the major companies, or individual luthiers, can turn out. If reputation matters, and you want to display a well-known, highly-respected logo, you may go one way. If you find an obscure, small-label, individually built instrument that you love, you go another.

    Or, actually, there may be as many answers to the question, as there are working professionals, who afforded the instruments they play (or maybe their spouses did, who knows?), and will gladly expound on the virtues of their choices.
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  19. #65
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    High on stage sound level of a Dropkick Murphys, or Pogues kind of Celt-Punk band,

    you probably don't want a resonant acoustic mandolin at all....


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  21. #66
    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Quote Originally Posted by RustyMadd View Post
    I don't like nor wish to be critical. My experience is insignificant but the experience of many forum members is quite significant and of great value. I was really interested in moving up from my great-but-wholly-inadequate Loar 520. I had acquired the 520 on the advice received here previously.

    But sadly this question has gone unanswered twice!

    Is anyone going to answer the actual question posted clearly in the title? Please?
    There isn't a definitive answer, hence folks suggesting a variety of options. Here are some affordable mandolins that to my mind would fit the bill:

    Redline A5
    Girouard A style (2012)
    Triggs A style
    2018 Girouard Concert oval A
    2015 JP "Whitechapel" tenor banjo
    2018 Frank Tate tenor guitar
    1969 Martin 00-18




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  23. #67
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Summit, Pomeroy, Morris, to add to Jill's list, there are quite a few. I have a 520 that I got in trade, I have it loaned out to someone wanting to learn. Once setup it sounds very nice and I would have no problem playing out with it. I also have a Michael Kelly that I setup and it sounds good enough to gig with too. Each has a slightly different sound, and nowhere close to a multi thousand dollar mandolin, but either one would be just fine to perform with.
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  24. #68
    Registered User almeriastrings's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    If I was moving up from a 'The Loar' 520 I'd be looking at either a used Nashville-built Flatiron or a Northfield NF-F5S.

    https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/109367#109367

    Both very 'serious' mandolins that deliver without breaking the bank. I've encountered really impressive examples of both. Where every $ counts - look for used.
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  25. #69
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Quote Originally Posted by RustyMadd View Post
    But sadly this question has gone unanswered twice!
    Is anyone going to answer the actual question posted clearly in the title? Please?
    Quote Originally Posted by Dfyngravity View Post
    So what are some mandolins worthy of the professional gig?
    It really depends on the needs of the professional - what kind of music, what kind of stage set up, what kind of schedule, recording studio set up... There are not many mandolins, once set up properly, that would not be worthy of some "professional".


    What are you looking for your mandolin to have that makes it worthy enough to do some gigs with..
    I am not a professional.


    I think there are so many variables, that the designation "professional mandolin" is not all that useful. One is tempted to ask, what do you care what a professional plays? (Or anyone else really.) Find a mandolin you love and play the potatoes out of it.
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  26. #70
    Registered User Jon Hall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Emory Lester was playing Northfield instruments at Swannanoa last summer.

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  28. #71
    F5G & MD305 Astro's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Hall View Post
    Emory Lester was playing Northfield instruments at Swannanoa last summer.
    Mike Marshall was too, the year before.

    I gigged with Eastman MD305 ($350 used) for about a year. Now I gig with the Gibson F5G ($3500 used). My band mates commented favorably about the improved tone on the rare occasions I played songs by myself (during practice) back when I upgraded. I doubt anyone can tell the difference in tone when the whole band is rolling in a bar-- and that is a 10X difference in price. I never play alone at gigs so I still use the Eastman on some outside gigs. What qualifies to folks as "affordable" is of course highly variable. Also, what qualifies as a "gig" is too. Playing ballads unaccompanied vs playing in a band with percussion, bass, banjo, guitar, mando and 3 vocals while juggling and riding a unicycle. (just kidding on the unicycle).
    No matter where I go, there I am...Unless I'm running a little late.

  29. #72

    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Quote Originally Posted by RustyMadd View Post
    ... Is anyone going to answer the actual question posted clearly in the title? Please?
    Amateur answer - I think it depends on the individual instrument. If it doesn't, then I think what you're asking for is a brand name that your audience or fellow band members would find acceptable. I'm listening to Buck White and some early, pre-Loar (I assume) Bill Monroe at the moment and what they're playing sounds like ... mandolin.

  30. #73
    Registered User Charlie Bernstein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Just got back from mando/guit camp, and one thing I noticed was how loud the most high-end mandos were. No prettier, but LOTS louder - which is, of course, its own reward.

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  32. #74
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    I thank you all for chiming in and helping with suggestions. I realize that the question is almost impossible to answer except subjectively.

    My 520 is inadequate in terms of bass and lower mid response...great bak and playability, but not the finest sound.

    I just wanted to be aware of any models or makes that might have a lesser known reputation for value and tone.

    I know, it sounds like I want to win the Lottery, but here in these parts mandolins are rare. I've only pkayed 10 mandolins in my entire life! So your experience, subjective as they are, are welcomed and understood to be personal preference.

    Thank you all and keep them coming please. Many others will find value in your subjectivity.

    Blessings.

  33. #75
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    Default Re: Affordable mandolins for the playing professional

    Quote Originally Posted by RustyMadd View Post
    I thank you all for chiming in and helping with suggestions. I realize that the question is almost impossible to answer except subjectively.

    My 520 is inadequate in terms of bass and lower mid response...great bak and playability, but not the finest sound.

    I just wanted to be aware of any models or makes that might have a lesser known reputation for value and tone.

    I know, it sounds like I want to win the Lottery, but here in these parts mandolins are rare. I've only pkayed 10 mandolins in my entire life! So your experience, subjective as they are, are welcomed and understood to be personal preference.

    Thank you all and keep them coming please. Many others will find value in your subjectivity.

    Blessings.
    Check out the JBovier A5. Less than $1000 and, in my opinion, better than the Eastman or Kentucky mandolins that I've played.
    http://mandolins.ecrater.com/p/16368...er-w-black-top
    Collings MT is also a go-to for 2 times the price - Used usually $1600-$2000.
    Northfield A5 (called the Model M) is getting quite a following. New = $1900.
    http://www.northfieldinstruments.com/mandolins/model-m

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