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Thread: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

  1. #1
    Celtic Bard michaelpthompson's Avatar
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    Question Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    OK, I REALLY don't need another mandolin. But this one is intriguing.





    No brand listed, and there's something on the peghead, but I couldn't read it in the photo. Here's the description.

    * Hand Carved Solid Spruce Top F Style Mandolin, Sunburst
    * Maple Neck
    * Rosewood Fretboard
    * Steel String,
    * Width at Nut: 1"
    * Width: 10.3"
    * Depth: 2"
    * Total Length: 28"
    I would be interested to read any comments about this obviously cheap mandolin, but it's an F-style with hand carved solid wood top, so it's at least intriguing.

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    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    I see these on eBay a lot, and I really question whether they are actually carved top. From the pictures, the scroll looks really flat and seems to suggest that they are pressed top.

    I seem to recall a thread in the past about this. They are also advertised as 'Advanced mandolin' or 'New York' mandolin. See if a search turns up anything

  3. #3
    man about town Markus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    Well, the auction lists the brand as `K-Tone', which a search yielded this thread:

    http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ghlight=k-tone

    Not encouraging, as it suggests the top is laminated spruce, fingerboard is maple painted dark. A musical instrument, but sounds like it is far far less than a few hundred bucks more, and not in the same discussion with instruments ten times it's price.

    Also is a very skinny 1" at nut, difficult to play unless you like the thinnest necks.

    Quote Originally Posted by michaelpthompson View Post
    OK, I REALLY don't need another mandolin.
    Well, if you're still looking then perhaps you haven't really found `your' mandolin yet.

    And in that case, I would suggest that you are unlikely to find that mandolin by looking for a deal, at a price tag, or online where feel and impressions are absent.

    Not that I haven't looked at other mandolins, but that's more `when I win the lottery' dreaming of instruments far out of my current price range. Then again, while I have a mandolin, guitar, uke, fiddle, keyboard, djembe, and half of a home studio I'm not a `multiple of the same' sort of collector - my tastes, not yours .... plenty of folks here have whole extended families of mandolins.

    Anyway - as it's the internet peanut gallery, thought I'd spout my opinion off. You are free to ignore it.

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    Work in Progress Ed Goist's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    How much can this thing really be worth if they are asking only $100 for it, and they are willing to ship it anywhere in the world for free from "Best Deal, United States"?
    c.1965 Harmony Monterey H410 Mandolin
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    bon vivant jaycat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    This is from the other string Markus notes above:

    " . . . you’ll find you have to tune the mandolin almost constantly. . . . Although this is frustrating, the constant tuning of the mandolin trains the beginner ear to the proper pitch quickly."

    Talk about turning lemons into lemonade!
    "The paths of experimentation twist and turn through mountains of miscalculations, and often lose themselves in error and darkness!"
    --Leslie Daniel, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die."

    Some tunes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa1...SV2qtug/videos

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    Celtic Bard michaelpthompson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ed Goist View Post
    How much can this thing really be worth if they are asking only $100 for it, and they are willing to ship it anywhere in the world for free from "Best Deal, United States"?
    That was my real question as well. Looks very suspicious to me. And no, Markus, I'm not really looking. I love my Ovation and my Rogue, and they're plenty for me right now, plus I'm still working on that bowlback. But I had set up a search on eBay when I was looking for the Ovation, so I clicked on the e-mail for curiosity, and this was one of the "related items." It looks pretty cheaply made to me, but I'm not that knowledgeable and it does say hand carved. Just wondering.

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    man about town Markus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    It is good to bring these up Michael, don't stop learning.

    It also might help someone out just browsing later, or on search.

    Evidently I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.

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    Celtic Bard michaelpthompson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    Yeah, that was part of why I posted it. Just for curiosity mostly. And BTW, good catch on the brand name. I had missed that completely.

    I have the cheap, low-end Rogue that came with a gig bag and two instruction books for $40 total, so I know about cheap mandolins. But the Rogue is clearly laminate and A-style. The F-style equivalent Rogue is $169 at Music123, which is where I got my Rogue. So, thinking of Rogue as the low end, I wondered how they could even make a hand-carved F-style for a hundred bucks.

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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    These mandolins come up often in discussions here. A Cafe member actually bought one. His advise was to not waste your money.

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    Registered User Cheryl Watson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    Too good to be true.

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    Registered User Bill Snyder's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    I would almost bet my house (and I don't gamble) that the top on that one is plywood. Hard to carve plywood and make it look like much.
    Bill Snyder

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    Registered User toddjoles's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    I would say a pressed plywood top. But the roughly shaped tone bars may have been carved by carved by hand.
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    Registered User pezdork's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    what i don't get is there are no negative reviews and no complaints about its being pressed when the add clearly says hand carved...this is why i hate ebay now.
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    Work in Progress Ed Goist's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    This is a good example how the description "Hand Carved" is meaningless in a mandolin description.
    In 15 minutes any adult can be trained to whittle out a small curl of spruce. Next, take that spruce top blank and press-out the soundboard..."Ta-Da!" You have a hand-carved top!
    It's just an uncomfortable truth that the best indication of quality is price.
    With so many products we like to kid ourselves otherwise, but it's just true.
    You get what you pay for.
    c.1965 Harmony Monterey H410 Mandolin
    "What a long, strange trip it's been..." - Robert Hunter
    "Life is too important to be taken seriously." - Oscar Wilde
    Think Hippie Thoughts...
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  15. #15

    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    I used to use Ebay quite a bit - a few years back - but the past few years have been awful. It has been full of bad quality stuff and fakes - and I don't refer to only mandolins - it is harder now to find an authentic deal from a real seller, vs some type of online sore hawking cheap junk.

  16. #16
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    Default Re: Hand carved, solid spruce F-style for under $100?

    In my opinion it is foolish to shop Ebay without knowing what you want or when finding something of interest, researching it to determine its quality, price from a dealer, if new and reputation. That is why this site is so valuable. But i think that a new mando for $100 is junk and you get what you pay for.

    On the other hand I have purchased a couple of realy nice old mandolins for less than $100, but they were in need of repair and that's why I got them at a low price. I have never felt cheated on eBay. Surprised sometimes, but never cheated. But I may be more cautious than some folks.
    Bart McNeil

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