New to mandolin

[GrantP]

Hi everyone looking for recommendations my first mandolin. I play a few different instruments so I have good ear so not really looking for a “beginner” instrument, but also don’t want to spend an arm and a leg as it’s my first mandolin. Also i’m A lefty.

[Doug Brock]

How much are you comfortable spending?

[GrantP]

No more than $850 if possible

[Hudmister]

Check out Kentucky and Eastman mandolins. They have several models at and below your price limit. See their catalogs on-line and also check the Mandolin Café classifieds for good deals on used versions of these instruments.

[GrantP]

Thank you

[Doug Brock]

$850 can get you some nice mandolins. The Mandolin Store has an Eastman MD505 lefty in stock for $699. The MD505 is a nice carved solid wood mandolin with a good reputation (I have a regular MD505.). Other lefty options from Eastman are out of stock at that store, but are possibilities you might want to consider. The MD315 is a good way to get into an F-style at $699 if that body style is a priority for you (though currently out of stock at The Mandolin Store). Kentucky also has a good reputation for mandolins in your price range.

https://themandolinstore.com/product-category/inventory/left-hand-mandolins/

Buying from a good store that will provide a professional setup (and the possibility of their culling out unacceptable instruments) is highly recommended.

[John Lloyd]

+1 on Eastman, Kentucky, and The Mandolin Store.

[Kevin Stueve]

As a fellow lefty with 40 years of guitar playing and 4 years of mando I strongly urge you to consider playing right handed. It takes both hands to play and you have to decide do I want my dominant hand to do the fine motor skill activity of fretting or the gross motor skill of picking. Righthanded people have decided that they want their dominant hand for the gross motor skill. IMO a dumb choice which leaves us at a decided advantage as we can play the instrument "right handed" and utilize our dominant hand for the fine motor skill task of fretting.

[Hudmister]

+ 1 what Steve Stueve said about learning to play right handed mandolin, especially since you are just starting out with mandolin. I know a guitar player friend who is left handed but plays guitar right handed and he is quite a good picker. Plus learning to play right handed allows you to play other peoples mandolins and greatly opens up the selection of instruments that would be available to you in the future.

[HonketyHank]

+1 on Eastman and Kentucky. +1 on used to get bang for buck. +1 on mandolincafe.com classifieds.

[GrantP]

Thanks guys, if I did decide to learn righty what are some other models I should check out?

[Doug Brock]

I have an Eastman A-style MD505 and F-style MD315 and like both. Kentucky has an A-style KM-505. The Kentucky KM-272 is lower priced (below $500) but appears to be a good bang for the buck.

Not sure where you live, but if there's a chance on getting to a decent store, trying different instruments can be invaluable. You might find that you prefer the sound of an oval hole instrument to one with f-holes. You need to try some out.

[Br1ck]

I'll bet you could get by with any A style with nut and bridge cut lefty. Your budget could get you a used Kentucky 900 if you are patient and quick when you see one. IMHO, a 900 or 950 would save you the need to upgrade for a long time. Otherwise, Eastmans have impressed me lately. The 315 is great bang for buck.

And just to break the bank, a Silverangel Econo A could be custom built for you at around $1300.

[HonketyHank]

Re other models, take a look at Howard (Sonny) Morris. He often has something here in the classifieds. Not a well known name, but good mandolin for the money. Sometimes available used. Next step up in price puts you in range for used Webers, Silverangels, etc.

[Dave Sheets]

Used Flatirons occasionally crop up under $1k, more than your target number, but they will hold value. Used Webers and Silverangels are similar in nature and quality.

[HonketyHank]

Gotta be cafeful with the Flatirons. More recent years' Gibson Flatirons have been imports, more like Kentuckys than USA Gibsons.

[pheffernan]

No more than $850 if possible

For a non-beginner instrument at the $850 price point, you might consider a flattop. The Northfield Calhoun is selling just north of there new, and you can probably get a Big Muddy or Redline Traveler for similar money. Buying used will open additional and vintage options as well. These mandolins give you a chance to get into a domestic build constructed of all solid woods due to the reduced labor hours that are passed along as savings to the consumer. And while they may not stand out at the bluegrass jam that you’re not ready for anyway, they have all of the same notes as the other mandolins in the price range.

[Doug Brock]

Folks keep suggesting used instruments, but it seems like that is about the last place a person who has never played mandolin before should look (unless the purchase was through a good music store). A used instrument could have some issues that might not be apparent to a newbie. A new instrument can have issues, but at least there's a warranty. (I wouldn't recommend a newbie purchase a mandolin from Amazon or Guitar Center, either, unless the newbie is planning on taking the instrument in for a professional setup.)

[Bill McCall]

the fine motor skills in mandolin playing are with the pick hand, not the fretting hand. Or on any stringed instrument for that matter. While its true its harder to find left-handed instruments, I wouldn't want to start with my 'weaker' hand trying to manage the fine art of picking, especially when you think of speed and string crossing.

To name a few, Jethro and Dave Apollon both considered the pick hand as the most important.

I'd think long and hard about playing opposite handed. Think about learning to write with your right hand. May not be pretty. Same with managing a pick.

Good luck whichever way you chose, its a fun trip.

[Denny Gies]

Welcome to our wild, wacky world. You are in for a lot of fun and, on this site, valuable information and advice.

[Charles E.]

The OP stated that he already plays a few other instruments so relearning to play right handed is a moot point. I also support getting a Eastman or Kentucky instrument.

Good luck with your search!

[Kevin Stueve]

The OP stated that he already plays a few other instruments so relearning to play right handed is a moot point. I also support getting a Eastman or Kentucky instrument.

Good luck with your search!

assuming of course those other instruments are fretted stringed instruments which assumes facts not yet in evidence. ;)

[Kevin Stueve]

the fine motor skills in mandolin playing are with the pick hand, not the fretting hand. Or on any stringed instrument for that matter. While its true its harder to find left-handed instruments, I wouldn't want to start with my 'weaker' hand trying to manage the fine art of picking, especially when you think of speed and string crossing.

To name a few, Jethro and Dave Apollon both considered the pick hand as the most important.

I'd think long and hard about playing opposite handed. Think about learning to write with your right hand. May not be pretty. Same with managing a pick.

Good luck whichever way you chose, its a fun trip.

agree to disagree. never said pick hand wasn't most important. Most important doesn't imply fine motor skills. 40 yrs I have played right handed and I can't do anything else with the right hand

[pheffernan]

No more than $850 if possible

Winner winner chicken dinner: https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/134751#134751

[Greg P. Stone]

Buying musical and astronomy equipment from long-time forum members who are willing to discuss the sale item in detail has always worked for me. The risk is real but very slight and the upside is that you get a much better instrument AND the ability to get most or all of your money back when your experience informs you that what you really want is something different.

I currently have $7000 worth of astronomy equipment and I might as well have the money in the bank since I can withdraw it at any time by reselling.

[spanjo]

I am going to second Bill McCall. Right hand technique is very much a fine motor skill, and one that requires the rapid coordination of very small movements of the wrist, and arguably the more important one to dedicate your dominant hand with.

The fretting hand doesn't require quite the level of delicate fine motor skills as the right. They can be a little more sloppy in the amount of pressure that is applied (beyond a certain level of pressure it all sound the same), and they are not as rapid fire. Whereas with your picking hand delicate changes in pressure are imperative to control volume and tonality of the instrument. Not only does the picking hand have to worry about the fine motor skills of up and down picking, but it also concerns the depth of pick to the strings, and as mentioned previously, the amount of pressure applied - Really deep picking for loud aggressive playing and more shallow picking for rapid tremolo and softer tonality. So, the right hand really controls the fine dynamics of the instrument - and that is what I would advise any newbie to dedicate their dominant hand with.

[Charlie Bernstein]

When I was looking for a good entry mando, my criteria were: solid wood, made in the US or Canada, nice looking, affordable. Ended up getting a Mid-Missouri, now called Big Muddy (https://www.bigmuddymandolin.com), with a solid spruce top and solid rosewood back and sides.

Love it. I got a more expensive mando later, but the Mid-Missouri is still what I usually use for home, parties, and busking.

[Willem]

Winner winner chicken dinner: https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/134751#134751
Excellent option!

[Kevin Stueve]

I am going to second Bill McCall. Right hand technique is very much a fine motor skill, and one that requires the rapid coordination of very small movements of the wrist, and arguably the more important one to dedicate your dominant hand with.

The fretting hand doesn't require quite the level of delicate fine motor skills as the right. They can be a little more sloppy in the amount of pressure that is applied (beyond a certain level of pressure it all sound the same), and they are not as rapid fire. Whereas with your picking hand delicate changes in pressure are imperative to control volume and tonality of the instrument. Not only does the picking hand have to worry about the fine motor skills of up and down picking, but it also concerns the depth of pick to the strings, and as mentioned previously, the amount of pressure applied - Really deep picking for loud aggressive playing and more shallow picking for rapid tremolo and softer tonality. So, the right hand really controls the fine dynamics of the instrument - and that is what I would advise any newbie to dedicate their dominant hand with.
if you are playing melody you have to move your fingers as fast as your pick and you have to coordinate multiple fingers and positions shifts. The pick hand just has to go up and down and it can be sloppier than the fretting finger, you get sloppy with the fretting finger you get mush. Of course if you are just chopping chords, well then sure your right hand is finer motor control. But if you are just chopping chords stay on guitar, boom, chuck boom chuck boom chuck.

[Trubadur]

I am in the same position as GrantP, including being a lefty. After spending much too much time listening to mandolins on the Internet, I drove across the state to a well-stocked music shop yesterday and spent some time with the Northfield Calhoun. Northfield is actually willing to make me a lefty, so now I have to decide whether that’s what I want.

I played fiddle the usual way for the usual reasons for over ten years but am currently switching to lefty due to multiple injuries. I thought I was going to play mandolin as a lefty too, but the righty orientation felt more natural and didn’t seem nearly as painful as the violin. That store full of wonderful instruments also showed me the wider world that would be available to me as an honorary righty. So now I’m going to borrow a friend’s mandolin and see if playing righty is doable over the longer term.

I had a lot of criteria that I’d worked out intellectually, but it made a world of difference to actually get a couple of instruments in my hands. I suspect that once you hold one you’ll know whether to play lefty or not. And FYI the Calhoun, which is US-made, is indeed an option for the lefty beginner.

[Br1ck]

Setup, setup, setup. A mandolin is capable of turning your left hand into a screaming mass of pain. It is also capable of letting your fingers dance over the fretboard.

To see this you need to stare danger in the face and go play some four thousand dollar mandolins. They will play very easily and sound great. To get that sound you will need to fork out the cash. Most any mandolin can be made to feel like that.

Watch some Rosa Stringworks set up videos. Every one has him filing frets, a procedure I believe essential to the best action. That 4K mandolin has probably had this done.

[Charlie Bernstein]

I know a lot of people swear by Eastmans and Kentuckys. But if you're one of us who likes to support small US companies, check out Big Muddy Mandolins (https://www.bigmuddymandolin.com). They're solid wood, and the prices are well inside your outside price.

They're flattops, so you won't look like Bill Monroe. But would you really want to?