Which mandolins should I be looking at in the $2000-$4000 range?

[mandroid]

My first mandolin was a Flatiron A5-jr that sounded really good but was hard to play.

Is that your problem? put out some money with a good luthier
and have the play-ability sorted, do a fret leveling, etc..
maybe the set-up has deteriorated, or was never done properly.

[dreadhead]

Is that your problem? put out some money with a good luthier
and have the play-ability sorted, do a fret leveling, etc..
maybe the set-up has deteriorated, or was never done properly.

I really wish I had done that, but at the time I was playing dobro in a bluegrass band & was encouraged by my fellow band members to take up banjo, so I had my mother trade it for a banjo for me while I was stuck in bed with a knee injury for a few months. I don't even own the banjo anymore.

Concerning my search for a MAS curing mandolin......I actually ended up using the money I had set aside for a mandolin on a Les Paul Studio, a Stanford acoustic guitar & a The Loar 600VS. I am still very happy with my decision, but as good as The Loar is for the money, my MAS is far from cured! I actually just found this thread in searching for information on some luthiers.

[Werner Jaekel]

Trevor

some very good information here. But not really practicable. For my upgrade I will spend 2, 3 k or a bit more. I will not buy without trying, see and hear if I like it. That would mean to travel England, France, Czech Republik and and and.... Rather I look for one place with the biggest range of top instruments, even I I miss out on one or two other good ones. For me this is Brighton, after all I have read. The only thing which makes a choice difficult is that I don't see what is there in stock right now. I mean each single mando on offer side by side to compare..( like Thomann) On the website I see many instruments " sold". For me this is a long trip and to keep expenses at a minumum I will stay 2 days the most. I want an allrounder, nice bass and trebles and nice mid range, probably A type, with good volume and woody sound. Would be nice if TREVOR could name a few for preselection in stock. Planning this trip early July.

[trevor]

Hi Werner,

Every instrument with a price and buy button is in stock. I have three pages of "Previously Sold" mandolins where it is clear that they are not in stock. These pages are provided as of interest to visitors to my website.

The only other situation I am aware of where sold mandolins are still posted are the Weber pages where I keep up instruments that I intend to replace. This usually includes information about the price and when I expect the next one, though sometimes I do forget to do this.

If there are any other places where I have sold instruments posted please let me know.

I have asked the guy who does the more difficult work on my website to change the layout so that the price and buy button is near the top and so there is a box saying in stock.

If you are visiting I don't see any advantage in suggesting any in advance. When you are here I will talk to you about your preferences and get you to play some and comment. The when I have an idea of your likes I will show you more that I think will suit you.

[trevor]

Hi again Werner,

I have gone through and updated the Weber and Previously Sold pages. Please let me know if anything is not clear.

I don't have the money to set up a website like Thomann with searches and side by side comparisons. What you get here is one guy doing his best stock a great selection of mandolins and to present a clear website with some personal (and passionate) input. I haven't noticed that Thomann have any mandolin enthusiasts or post on the cafe on a Sunday. What they do is threaten businesses like mine by shifting high volume through a warehouse, thereby getting the lowest possible running costs per unit and an undercutting small businesses.

[Werner Jaekel]

Thank you, Trevor. Went through your pages and found a few more "sold" ones ( Rigel). But it is ok, no big problem. Would be nice to see the price range assorted, with luthiers mixed , a second overview like.. Do you keep only 1 off each ? So the one I fancy might be just gone ? And will you replace them, and when ( Rigel) ?

[trevor]

I think we crossed posts, see above. With the exception of Eastman I only have one of each. I can't buy used instruments to demand and most of the luthiers I work with are very small, they wouldn't be able to supply me with more than one at a time and I couldn't afford to hold that much stock. Having more than one in stock also means guessing what is going to sell and when. If I could do that I would be working the stock market or betting (the same thing?). Except that my motivation is a love of what I do.. as someone said 'don't care to much for money..''

The moment a mandolin is sold its status will be changed. If it sells through my website the price and buy button will disappear, then I will update it later. If it sells in my shop I will adjust accordingly before I take payment, therefore if there is a price and buy button you can be 99.99% sure it is available.

I believe the sold Rigels you found were on the 'Previously Sold' pages. I have now added sold to all these to try to make it even clearer. I can't replace Rigel's as they are not being made other than by direct order to Peter. I can't order used stock.. only take what comes up.

[Werner Jaekel]

Everybody: Which one would You choose ? (range L 3500- 1900)

of these : Clark A5, Franzke A5 or A4, Mowry A5, Old Wave A5, Weber yellowstone A4 A5 or bighorn , USED Vanden A4 ,

which one would You go for ? I do not play bluegrass, more a mix of folk, irish and scottish

Anybody using any of these ?

Appreciate your help and opinion. Thanks.

Thank you, Trevor. I am grateful for your help and puttings things right for me.

[grassrootphilosopher]

Werner,

actually I think that pretty much any of Trevor´s stock is quite nice. A trip there will most certainly prove to be very much worth while. I do not know of any place in Europe that holds a more interesting and widely spread variety of mandolins. I´d gladly make the trip there.

Looking at TAMCO´s website I was quite interested in the "used" mandolins. There I´d gladly consider the 30ies Gibson A-4, the 1918 Gibson A and the Lyon and Healy. I think that these vintage instruments are priced competetively. I also think that they will at least hold their value. Of newer mandolins I´d consider the Vanden and the Old Wave. Vandens are quite well received in the UK (and over here) while the Old Wave is aparently very well spoken of on the cafe. The Vandens that I played (3 F-5s) were quite nice. I also like Capek mandolins but there I´d like to play them first because I´ve found that they vary.

The best value is probably the 30ies Gibson A-4.

All of my thoughts consider that you´re interested in (irish/scottish) folk music and not bluegrass.

I would probably not consider an F-holed mandolin for folk even though there are many very versatile f-holed instruments that would do the job playing folk music well. I never could bring myself to like Weber mandolins. I played some in 2000 (quite some time back) and found them lacking in tone.

Have fun on the trip. And if you do not get the 30ies A-4, at least play it and post here of how you found it.

[ebeja]

I do not play bluegrass, more a mix of folk, irish and scottish

Never played the mandos mentioned above, however when I´m playing this styles of music I always take one of my A4s, mostly my 1928 Gibson A4

[trevor]

grassroot... you need to play some current Webers...

Personally I would choose a warm f hole for folk and other non bluegrass but as I alluded to above the idea is to find a mandolin that is right for Werner, not my or anybody else's choice.

[ourgang]

If you're interested in a used mandolin, here's one in the classifieds that would do it for you. He sent me some sound-clips and it sounds wonderful. Sure wish someone would buy it because it's killing me that I know it's there.

http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/56874

Here's a YouTube of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSv5Y7hxYAM

[trevor]

I have one of those in stock, and for not much more by the time shipping and taxes are added, and its new. Though I hear Paul's mandolins as the 'pure bluegrass' tone, not what Werner is looking for.

[ourgang]

I was actually directing my post to the OP, Dread Head. Hadn't considered Werner.

[trevor]

Ok, that makes sense..

[Werner Jaekel]

Thank you. Got some pricing from Herve COUFLEAU, and now I am really stuck for a decision. How would an A model or any other from him compare to any of mentioned above in tone and volume ? If I only could get my hands on a Sobell...and how about a Collings ? How does a Collings compare ?

Thanks

[trevor]

Who's Herve COUFLEAU? The only way you can compare his work to others is to play them in the same room at the same time.

Sobell is a different sound, hard to describe. I don't sell Collings because the UK importer won't work with me to get to a price where I can sell then at the same price that customers could get importing themselves. I always try to sell all my instruments at the same price that a customer would pay if they bought in the US and imported themselves (legally, not avoiding taxes which risks, fines confiscation and a criminal record).

I have played many Collings and they are good but in my opinion no better than the mandolins I have in stock. If you really want my personal opinion I would go for the Clark.

I think you need to get over here and try some out, that would take the guess work out of it. I won't try to persuade you to buy anything you don't want. As you see above, I am reluctant to even offer my opinion. My approach is to show you lots of great mandolins, leave you to play them and make up your own mind. Others can't do that for you. I am going to but out now. If you decide to come here let me know and even if you return home without a mandolin you will return a lot wiser and having opinions based on your own experience.. as I have repeated often on the cafe forums different folks have different tastes and hear the same instrument differently.

[grassrootphilosopher]

grassroot... you need to play some current Webers...

Personally I would choose a warm f hole for folk and other non bluegrass but as I alluded to above the idea is to find a mandolin that is right for Werner, not my or anybody else's choice.

Since as a "company"-mandolin Weber is mentioned alongside of Collings and Ellis, I am surely interested in trying. I might even come to your place for that. I wouldn´t mind if I did.

As I read that you would chose a "warm f-holed mandolin" for folk you would probably have to ad that you are currently partial to f-hole instruments. Personally I like the versatility of some f-hole instruments. But I also like the versatility of some oval-hole instruments. That´s why I pointed my finger at the A-4.

Thank you. Got some pricing from Herve COUFLEAU, and now I am really stuck for a decision. How would an A model or any other from him compare to any of mentioned above in tone and volume ? If I only could get my hands on a Sobell...and how about a Collings ? How does a Collings compare ?

Thanks

Sobell is deep in the celtic field. Yet I am not partial to their tone... But I am a bluegrass diehard.

Who's Herve COUFLEAU? The only way you can compare his work to others is to play them in the same room at the same time.

Sobell is a different sound, hard to describe. I don't sell Collings because the UK importer won't work with me to get to a price where I can sell then at the same price that customers could get importing themselves. I always try to sell all my instruments at the same price that a customer would pay if they bought in the US and imported themselves (legally, not avoiding taxes which risks, fines confiscation and a criminal record).

I have played many Collings and they are good but in my opinion no better than the mandolins I have in stock. If you really want my personal opinion I would go for the Clark.

I think that Hervé Coufleau´s mandolins are very nice. Check out Gruhn. They have one. I played the blue Coufleau mandolin that Gruhn had for some time. I also played a pretty traditional F-5 style Coufleau. It was a lot of bang for the buck. But both did have no folk sound, they were into jazz or bluegrass. But if you´d visit him, you´d have no comparison with other mandolins. That´s always the hard part. By the way, this is Hervé Coufleau´s website: http://www.creationgo.net/coufleauguitars/

For the sake of being folk or related I neither would go with Collings. I think these mandolins have their clients in the bluegrass and oldtime camp. They are not for folks that play folk.

I´ll stick with my previously stated opinion. And by all means, if you have the means to travel, go to TAMCO. I bought my first mandolin at Jürgen Richter´s mandolin shop in Hamburg. That was about 20 years ago. Back then he had the usual suspects in lower priced instruments (Kentuckys mostly), then some very nice Gibsons (As, A2s, A4s, F-4s), some mandolins that he made (nice too), a Bill Monroe Model Gibson F-5 (back then 10000,- DM) and my beloved Strad-O-Lin (still have it). But that was back then. He´s still a great guy and has some nice instruments but he does not have THE variety. Might be worth to call him up though (google Folk Paradise in Hamburg).

[J Mangio]

You cant miss with the Gibson F-9; I bought mine new back in '02 sight unseen and haven't looked back.
I have another second string mando for practice, but my F-9 is my keeper.

[mandroid]

If you have a need for a banjo like sound projection for pub sessions,
National RM1 is a possible option..

[mrmando]

Another luthier in France to consider would be Andre Sakellarides in Marseilles.

[Capt. E]

I played a very nice Ratliff F at Fiddlers Green Austin Tx on Friday. I believe it was $3500 with a nice case. Call them for all the particulars. It sounded and played better than some selling for a good bit more. They also have a used Bulldog and a Weber "Bitterroot", both for $2300.