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packetman
Aug-16-2021, 11:41pm
New to the forum, and to the Mandolin. I have music experience from my youth (10 years in concert band on woodwinds and percussion), but this is the first time on a stringed instrument. I decided to start used and cheap. Picked up something called an AM60 for $50 plus shipping. It looked good, had just a bit of wear, and a spruce sound board, so I figured I couldn't go too wrong.
Thing is, I have no idea who makes it, and a google search isn't that helpful.
Any ideas?

Ray(T)
Aug-17-2021, 3:24am
It’s a low end (cheap) generic mandolin from the far east (China, Japan etc.). It could have/have had one of several names attached to the headstock; usually by the importer. Presumably the “AM” stands for “Acoustic Mandolin”.

There are a lot of them about and questions crop up weekly on the forum asking about them.

Eric F.
Aug-17-2021, 8:32am
I can't add much of anything to that, but welcome to the forum and the world of mandolin. Your mandolin probably needs a setup. You might find someone near you who understands that mandolins are not guitars or you can email Cafe user Rob Meldrum for his free setup e-book and do it yourself. a search for his name will turn up all you need to know. Happy playing!

JeffD
Aug-17-2021, 8:48am
I had something like that, very similar, made in Japan by a company called Terada. It was my first mandolin, and I played the potatoes out of it. With new strings and a good set up it did everything I could have wanted a mandolin to do.

MikeEdgerton
Aug-17-2021, 8:50am
These were brought in under dozens and dozens of brand names and unmarked. Here (https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/threads/79118-Key-Brand-Info) is a thread dedicated to the genre.