Another newbie asking for advice... which mando?

[theinlawjosie]

So I'm a guitar player who recently (couple of months ago) decided to take a stab at the mandolin. I bought the cheapest one I could find (40.00 Rogue from musicians friend) and I have fallen in love! I play with a band and they are starting to question whether I will ever pick my guitar up again!

Anyway, I'm in the market for an upgrade and I have the choices narrowed down between "The Loar" LM 600 VS or a J. Bovier F5 Tradition. I thought I had my mind made up with "The Loar" but then I saw a couple of posts about the Bovier on here and I'm torn... Please help!

Thanks!!!!

[Brad Davis]

You'll find plenty of people that are fans of "The Loar". I shopped around for a long time and decided to go with the LM 700. I love it. Great sound and a mandolin that I can be proud of. Good luck.

[Tim2723]

Hi and welcome!

Either would be a fine choice. Both have received great reviews here and there are lots of satisfied customers for both. That said, The Loar seems to get the most press at the moment. I don't think you'd go wrong with either. Play them and compare if you can, if not, be sure to buy from a reputable mandolin dealer and be sure it's well set up.

What kind of music are you playing? Tell us about yourself and your band.

Welcome again!

[theinlawjosie]

Thanks Brad and Tim! Idealy I would like to visit a few shops and try my hand at each to get a good feel for them but I would have to take a full day or two to find the dealers and make the trips. I may end up doing just that.

To answer your question Tim, I have a hard time catagorizing our music. We have a female vocalist that writes the bulk of our stuff and she has been heavily influenced by Fiona Apple, Norah Jones and Tori Amos to name a few. It's definitely not bluegrass but we play around with some bluegrass tunes from time to time.

A little about myself: I'm a father of two amazing boys, I'm from northeastern KY, I've been playing guitar for 16 years now and I took a loan out on my 401k to get the money for my new mandolin. Haha. You gotta live a little right? It was hard to make myself stay under a grand but I think I'll be happy considering the upgrade from my Rogue.

[ToneSter]

I will 2nd the comment:
Play them and compare if you can, if not, be sure to buy from a reputable mandolin dealer and be sure it's "well set up."

forget the 600, spend the extra $250, especially if you dug into the 401k for it, every seller I spoke to said the tone jump from the 600 to 700 is big.

If you can get your hands on a JBovier, F5 Dorado or Vine.

Kyle is a good guy and has the best prices on the Jbovier, price is without a case.

http://www.themandoshop.com/jbovier.php

the nicer JBovier mandolin's are in the same price range, have not personally heard these but from what I have read and people I have spoke to state
they are the best bang for the buck on the market.

that's all I got to say about that.

[Rob Gerety]

Consider buying used.

[Tim2723]

Yeah, what he said. Used will get you a huge bang for the buck and open up a LOT of other possibilities.

Since you're not playing Bluegrass mostly, have you considered and acoustic-electric to make life easier in a performing band?

[theinlawjosie]

Yeah, what he said. Used will get you a huge bang for the buck and open up a LOT of other possibilities.

Since you're not playing Bluegrass mostly, have you considered and acoustic-electric to make life easier in a performing band?

I have considered acoustic-electric but I'm not a big fan of acoustic instruments with on-board electronics. We have some decent mics and I figure if it becomes too big of a deal I can always buy a pickup.

I've thought about buying used as well but like you said; it opens up a whole new world of possibilities and I'm not sure I'm ready to be overwhelmed by those possibilities just yet. LOL. I don't think this will be my last mandolin but it will probably be a while before I can upgrade again.

As far as getting the 700 instead of the 600, it is extremely tempting but I made a deal with my wife and she gets some spending money out of my loan. If the differences are that drastic I may just wait and save the extra 300. I'd really like to get it now though. So are there any 600 owners out there that wished they would have gone with the 700 instead?

[Rob Gerety]

Forget all the possibilities - just buy used. It will minimize the hit when you sell.

[dcoventry]

ILJW,

Ok, here's how I see it. Both the 600 and 700 are real fine instruments. The 600 has tone Bars, and 700 has none. This is a significant difference, I have heard it myself. The 600 has a tighter, more focused sound, especially in the bass. The 700 has a more open and pleasing sound to some, but is a little unfocused in the bass. I bought a 700 awhile back and loved it. Hindsight being what it is, I would have been happier with the 600 more long term. There is also the matter of the LM400, the A style of the 700 if you like that tone.

Especially, if you are a long time guitar player, you are saddled(ha, ha) with the knowledge and feel of what a good instrument should feel like. Both te 600 and 700 have that. The sound is subjective. If you can only affod what the 600 costs, you need not worry. It's a cool little machine. NFI, I got mine from Folkmusician, and they offer a VERY generous trial period. And call them, too. Do it.

The Bovier's are also cool as heck, and were my second choice, and not by much. Good stuff right there, too.

All of the above is if you want t anew one. Used instruments are a whole other ball of incredibly fun, oh-so-cool, wax. The classifieds on this sight are a thing of beauty......and SUFFERING! But enough about my problems. You are going to have to play a few, or at least that's a common point of advice, and it makes sense.


Dave

[dcoventry]

This one would make you happy!! You could then join the few, the proud, the ninja elite Rigel owners corps.

http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/...uery=retrieval

[Payit Forward]

... I'm from northeastern KY...

JBovier is Jeff Cowherd. He sells via http://mandolins.net/ which is in Walton, KY - perhaps not too far from you. Wouldn't hurt to contact him for information about them. They are very nice mandolins.

Jeff designed the JBoviers and started the company. JBovier is a play on his own name: J. Cowherd.

[theinlawjosie]

JBovier is Jeff Cowherd. He sells via http://mandolins.net/ which is in Walton, KY - perhaps not too far from you. Wouldn't hurt to contact him for information about them. They are very nice mandolins.

Jeff designed the JBoviers and started the company. JBovier is a play on his own name: J. Cowherd.

Thanks for the information! I actually read quite a bit about Jeff on here earlier today. I've been lurking here a lot lately.

Walton is probably an hour and a half or so from where I am... maybe a little less. I'm not sure why but I have been leaning toward the Loar for some reason, it would be nice if he carried them in his shop but I didn't see them on the website. Oh well, I'll just have to make a different trip to try it out.