choosing the right mandolin.

[Margi]

Hi,
I have played the violin for many years and having family from Campania I have always enjoyed listening to Southern Italian folk music. My violin playing has always been classicaly orientated. I really want to learn to play some of the folk songs I listen to so much and absolutely love the sound of the mandolin. I am looking to purchase one but am not sure exactly what to look for. That it should be Napoletano and bowlback goes without saying but since I'm a complete beginner I dont want to spend a fortune. Can anyone tell me what I should be looking for and for what sort of price. Thank you.
Margi

[Dave Cohen]

Someone with bowlback expertise will eventually answer your question. I would suggest posting over in the classical section as well to make sure the knowledgeable bowlafficionados see your query in a timely fashion.

http://www.Cohenmando.com

[Markus]

Hi Margi, welcome!

I don't have the experience with that style of music or those mandolins to help, but agree with Dave that a posting in the classical forum here as well is not a bad plan. If you want a direct link to that subforum, here it is:
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?44-Classical-Medieval-Renaissance

It's not that people won't notice this thread here - but with the amount of posts every day it's easy to get lost in the shuffle. Posting the same thing in multiple forums is not a good regular practice, but in this situation it makes lots of sense.

It might also be helpful to know what continent you're on or country/region as there are good mandolin shops all over, word of mouth has pointed me to stores I would have never found without.

Glad to have you here, glad to have one more mandolin player around.

[allenhopkins]

There are many excellent "vintage" bowl-back mandolins available at affordable prices. Since the largest number of mandolins produced a century ago were bowl-backs, and since that style is currently less popular, the market has kept prices lower than for carved-top or flat-back mandolins of comparable vintage and quality.

I would suggest finding a reputable dealer with whom you can work, rather than going on eBay or some such. Bowl-backs are subject to problems related to the use of too-heavy modern strings; their construction can be more fragile than that of other styles, and top sinkage, neck-joint damage, and neck warpage can result. The advice to post in the "classical" forum that others have given, is good.

Among contemporary builders, Eastman has been making some good bowl-backs in China, for decent prices. However, there's such a large number of older instruments available, that most of the modern manufacturers discussed here on the Cafe, haven't been motivated to build bowl-backs; it would be hard for them to build at a competitive price, given the active current market for vintage instruments.

There are still excellent bowl-backs being made by Italian manufacturers, at the high-end of the price range, but my advice would be to find a dealer who has some good vintage instruments, and will stand behind them in terms of set-up and any condition issues.
Failing that, I'd look for recognized brands available in private sales, get an approval period so that you can return any instruments that aren't in excellent playable shape, and concentrate on the used/vintage market. Just my 2¢.

[Margi]

Thanks for the advice to post in the Classical section. I've just done that.

Btw I'm in Bristol (UK)