Dimavery mandolin

[Derrick]

Hi all. I'm not a mandolin player but I recently tried tuning my bouzouki to GDAE and found out that it sounds especially well when having the capo high up the neck. So I figured why not try a mandolin. Now I'm already spending way too much money on instruments so I thought I'd buy a cheap one. But, you know, it shouldn't fall apart 3 weeks after purchase. Now I came up with this rather new and unheard of german brand, which has its instruments built in China. Therefore, these instruments are very cheap. This is the one:

http://www.dimavery.com/jpg/artikel/001/26250050.jpg

• Body: Nato-wood • Neck: Nato-wood • Fingerboard: Rosewood / 24 Frets • Top: Spruce • Bridge: Rosewood • Colour: Redburst

This mandolin retails for about $95 including posting. Do you think this can only be a complete waste of 95 bucks or do you reckon it's probably not that bad, especially when considering its low price?

Hints on other cheap mandolins are also welcome http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Eric F.]

Derrick, OK, I'll take a shot at it, but you won't like it. Never heard of the brand, never heard of nato used in a mando. It looks like every other mandolin shaped object peddled on eBay as "NEW RED RARE ACOUSTIC CAJUN BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN!" My educated guess is that it's a POS.

My other educated guess is that since you already play the zouk, you will not be happy with an instrument of this caliber. So, maybe the best thing you could do would be to increase the budget and look for a Mid-Missouri. All solid wood and a quality instrument. Used, they can be had for $300-ish.

Another option is to look at Fatt-dad's ad in the classifieds. I think he has an older Kentucky that ought to be decent, among other more expensive options. I'm sure his will be playable and sound OK. I know him only from his postings here, but he certainly seems to be a stand-up guy.

Finally, the low end of the new mando pool: If you can find the Rogue A that is all solid wood for around $120 and invest in a good setup, you should be OK. Still, I have to think you, as a musician, are going to be frustrated with that before long.

Oh, and take a look at the long-running thread called something like "decent tone for $250-$400." Might be some ideas in there.

Good luck, and welcome to the board.

[Derrick]

Thanks for the advice. You're probably right. I shouldn't go for the very cheapest. But the thing is, most brands you guys talk of aren't available here in the netherlands. And most internet shops don't post outside the U.S. at all. You see, the mandolin isn't a popular instrument at all in my country, since it's not used in any music style popular here. I play Irish folk myself, and I always have a hard time finding the right instruments. Now the mandolin brands dutch stores sometimes have in stock are: Ibanez, Richwood, Samick, Tennesee and Epiphone. Ibanez and Richwood seem to have decent ones for around $150 and the other brands are a little more expensive. Now the problem is that I'd prefer one with an oval soundhole, rather than two F-holes, since it sounds more folkish, just like the one on the picture in my first post. Now these are even harder to get! It's really not that easy to buy a beginner's mandolin for folk music that's not too expensive when you live in Holland and hardly know anything about mandolins...

[Jim M.]

Derrick - Check out Troubador (http://www.troubadour.uk.com/mandolin.html)

David Kilpatrick (I think he posts here occasionally) has these mandos made of all solid wood in Romania. Very basic, and they sometimes need some set-up, but they are a good mando for a low price and available in Europe. I know several folks here have bought octave mandos or mandolas from him and are mostly happy with the instruments.

I echo Eric's advice that the mando you posted looks like junk and would not be satisfactory.

[Derrick]

Once again thank you for your feedback. A nice message board this is http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
About the dimavery: that's settled then.

But about the troubadour. I know this type of mandolin sounds fantastic in folk music, as the planxty mandolin/bouzouki player uses them and I'm a huge fan of their music. But you see, it has an even shorter neck/fretboard than a regular mandolin. The builder even admits it:

the Josquin is a traditional European scale mandolin - 330mm rather than the 350mm of American bluegrass mandolins. It is ideally suited to smaller hands, fast melody playing, and for easier 'stretch' chords. >>>It will not suit large hands.<<<

Trust me, my hands are large =) I started out as a guitar player and even prefer a classical guitar above a steelstring guitar for this reason too. No, a mandolin is tiny enough as it is.. thank you http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

I think I'll go for an american a-type mandolin with an oval soundhole. And if I can't find any to my liking... well a friend of mine uses a 2 f-holes bluegrass model for Irish folk music and it doesn't sound all that bad. Especially for the instrumentals (Irish instrumentals have much in common wih bluegrass)

[Chip Booth]

That looks identcal to Hondo's mandolin (I am sure it is the same instrument with a different name) which goes for about the same money, and is abolutely useless. Just wanted to make sure people know to stay away from them also.

Chip