Rally Mandolins

[andyjingram]

Hi folks,

This'll be my first post here, just thought I'd point it out and say a proper hello!:)

I have been a musician for years, but only had a mandolin for my wife and I to share for a brief period- unfortunately the top collapsed fairly quickly, and had put me off getting another one for far too long. Having missed it ever since, I finally jumped on an Ebay chancer, and have landed myself a rather reasonable little 'F'-style mandolin- not cosmetically perfect, but quite lovable in itself.

It was sold to me as a solid wood instrument, but I have my doubts- I'd did a little sanding of the paint inside the f holes, and even cut a tiny notch to work out the truth, and frankly, the jury is still out. I'm enjoying it all the same, so probably shouldn't let it worry me too much.

Therefore, my question is really whether anyone has used Rally branded mandolins, or any of the myriad brands they seem to build for, primarily the DFM (or CFM) 10 and 70 models, one of which my mando must be...

Cheers Fellas, Andy

[MikeEdgerton]

Hopefully somebody will jump in, it's not a well known brand.

[allenhopkins]

Here's (http://www.hillbillys.co.uk/rally-instruments.htm) a link to "Hillbillys" in the UK, which says they're "official stocklists for the Rally range of instruments." They say Rally is an "economy" brand from Daewon, major Asian manufacturer.

The instruments pictured look like fairly standard lower-end Asian factory models. (Think "Rogue.") Without actually playing one, I would expect them to be serviceable if properly set up. The mandolin pictured is an "AM-10E," an acoustic electric with a piezo pickup (and a couple big knobs on the top). It lists for £120 or about $173 USD.

In that price range, don't expect too much. You're almost certainly getting plywood, with a pressed arched top. Set up properly, assuming no serious manufacturing flaws, it could be an OK learner's instrument.

[andyjingram]

Yes the '10' moniker is for the bottom of the line ones.

I found the manufacturers site here...

http://www.straus.co.kr/dfm10.htm

...the DFM10 being the model mine looks most like. It was being sold as a model number that I couldn't find on the site, which I couldn't locate until I had already paid anyway! The price I paid was fairly consistent with a laminate 'F'-style, I think, so I'm only dissapointed that I might not have got a real bargain on a solid wood one, really.

It does seem to play very well, and the cosmetic flaws are only close-up things, but of course I have yet to compare the sound to a 1920's Gibson!