My first mandolin was £160 and set up of £20 once i got it home it is a Tanglewood TMS/AV union series , my second mandolin is a Tonewood TAR10
My A-model was $154.00 and that included the instrument - a Rover RM50 Player Series, a set of strings, a nice case, polish, and a polishing cloth. My F-model, a Bon Air, was $400.00, and that included a Featherlite case.
excellent yes my tanglewood came with case , strings picks and tuner but the other didnt and even though i love the sound and tone of my round hole i still think the tanglewood is of better build (it was the cheaper of the two)
I'm happy to see a place for those of us in the Cafe whodon't have really, really expensive names on the headstock.
The most important thing about a mandolin, or for that matter, ANY musical instrument is how it sounds and how easy it is to play. I suspect some folks are just mandolin snobs. I'm pround of my modest collection of inexpensive instuments!
You and me both, Blue....I think what you put into an instrument is what you get out of it..and I don't mean how many dollars you part with..lol..I have had many very nice comments on my Bon Air F model..and I am proud of it and my little Rover A model. They sound wonderful to me..and that's what is important..to me..anyway.
What a great idea! I found my Epiphone on Craigslist for $100, with a tuner and gig bag and a couple of books. Pretty good for many hours of enjoyment!
My Loar LM220 was about $380 with a professional setup from Folkmusician.com. I thought that was a great deal until I saw my friends Michael Kelly F style that he bought used with a hard shell case for a $100! Oh well, I still love my Loar and I plan on keeping it forever, so as a lifetime investment, $380 isn't too bad.
i will deffo be keeping hold of both of my instruments as im a bit of a sentimentalist and they are the first ones ive ever owned ,
Hi All, My first and current mando is a Rover RM75..burgundy finish..about $380.00 on ebay...I was stoked to get it. Have tried some different strings and have ended up w FWJ74s...the factory bridge snapped and I got a CA Bridge put on it and have a tonegard. Its got a nice sound but lacks the punch /chop that I was hoping for, even w the embelishments. Now looking to upgrade (Collings or older Flatiron ???) but will most likely keep the Rover as a travel instrument. Scott
Heh, this cracks me up -- a group for cheapo mandolins. How could I not want to be a part of that? As a guitar player for many years, this makes me recall all the guitarists I've known who seemed to think that if they could just layout the ca$h to buy equipment identical with that of the masters, they would magically start to sound like Hendrix/Clapton/McLaughlin/Segovia/whoever. That myth was put to rest for me long ago by a jazz guitar teacher who demonstrated the fallacy by pulling a $39 Harmony Stella off the rack and playing a Bach chacone on it, flawlessly. Playing an expensive instrument can sometimes be nice, but it's the player who makes the music. I still own -- and play -- my first mandolin. It's a Kay that I bought off a street-hippie for $15, back in 1993. The case had been out in the rain, and also looked like it had been run-over by a truck. The strings were rusty, and the neck binding had been replaced with masking tape. Well, I cleaned it up, replaced the binding, and put new strings on it -- total investment about $12 and two hours time. Played it at home and on stage for the next ten years. About ten years ago I got my "expensive" mandolin -- a Washburn that I paid $495 for (and I do consider that expensive for a "cheapo"). I love it -- it plays easy and sounds great. And with what I saved by not blowing $5000 on a Weber Custom, I've been able to acquire a mandola, a tiple, a charango, an acoustic bass guitar, a cuatro, and several other exotic stringed instruments to play with.
Thank you, Dr H! An expensive instrument doesn't make one a better musician.
Hi all My mandolin cost R1800, so what would that be in dollars? A forget the current rand-dollar exchange rate - however, my mando would probably be dirt cheap in your currency - will always love it, but when bonus month comes I would love to purchase a second mando - will look into which one I will find. My crafter will need to do for now. Happy strummin and pickin' Vanilla
my first mandolin cost $50 musician friend read all I could and reworkedit bone nut homemade bridge ect ad still play it 10 years i have others now u till pay the first I worldis full of exanpls opeople playing well on cheaper instruments M ceap mandolin look a lot better than Willy Nelsons guitar does
Mine is an F style savanah SF-100. I paid 139$ for the mando, and 60$ for the set-up, and 109$ for the nice case. It was a valentines day gift from the wife, so I guess you could say she paid for that :D . I took the pick guard off, and it looks, plays, and sounds great for me We joke that the case is worth almost as much as the mando!
I've just got my first mandolin, a Tonewood PM-1 solid spruce top and solid maple back and sides £90 fully set up I think it sounds and plays great. More importantly my experienced mandolin playing mate thinks it's great too!!
I recently purchased a rouge mandolin on line from guitar center. I thought I was happy with it, followed the setup instructions that came with it. Then read some of the posts on this site and am scared to death that it will self destruct! Lol.
I'm a long time guitar player, but about a month and a half ago I got a used Ibanez m510 from Musicians friend, under $130.00. Since I don't know what I'm doing, I really don't have much basis for comparison, but I agree with the general thread about instrument snobs. Not that I wouldn't love high-end instruments, but in the scheme of things for those who are financially challenged, it's not a big concern. I totally agree that you can make great music on inexpensive instruments. Plus, there's very little worry factor in owning 'em. Anyway, I'm taking my Ibanez to a luthier with a great reputation tomorrow for an estimate on a setup. Hopefully I can afford it!
So I took my $130 Ibanez mandolin to Lou Stiver yesterday. He said he could even the frets and dress them if I wanted, but it really didn't need it since I told him I would rarely be playing above the 12th fret. And everything was fine lower down. Even if I did, he didn't see that it needed much. He suggested I raise the bridge a bit, and commented several times on what low action it had. So I brought it home, raised the bridge a tad, and it still plays super easy and the notes sound clear. Even high up on the neck! It doesn't sound quite like his own personal mandolin (which he kindly let me plunk on), but then his beauties go for in the thousands. So all in all, I'm pretty darn happy with my Ibanez M510
this is great i sometimes get a bit intimidated when you see some of the prices that people have payed but love the sounds of my two , keeping it cheap has payed off for me but i have heard some of the horror stories of unplayable instruments and hope this group gives the beginner a bit of help when on a budget
I just picked up my first Mando off Ebay, A Rogue 100-A for $30, including a padded gig bag. Wasn't sure how it would be, but for that price, why not? I'm surprisingly pleased with it. The action is O.K. (gonna do Rob Meldrum's set-up from his excellent E-book), intonation seems good, and the action is better than I expected. Right now it is capable of much more than I am. When that situation reverses, I'll start thinking upgrade.I very happy with my lo-ender, and I've been playing bass and guitar my whole life. Owned MANY top end instruments, into the thousands of dollars. Current economics being what they are, this makes a bunch more sense for me!
Wow, Mike -- what a deal! Congratulations on finding that!!!
Paid $50 for my Rouge from guitar center and thought that was great! Lucky man!
Thanks. Oddly enough, out of ALL the instruments I've owned, this is my first Sunburst finish. I was surprised how nice the finish is for a lo-ender!
My A style (first mandolin) is a Stagg M50E electro-acoustic and cost me £65. Excellent beginner's mandolin, I'd recommend it highly. My F style (newly purchased) is a Vintage VFM300VSB and cost me £208 - which is quite a bargain considering that's less than half the RRP of £459. I'm not a fan of breaking the bank for a musical instrument when I'm just an amateur playing for my own amusement. If I went pro, then I'd let my sponsor pay for all that expensive equipment. But as that's never likely to happen, I'll stick to the very good quality to be found in less expensive instruments and feel satisfied with the bargain. In fact, it pleases me more to find an excellent mandolin which plays just as well as something worth tons more, than to chuck a sackload of cash at something, most of which is for the name on the headstock than anything else. So there.
My first mandolin cost my Dad (I was nine) $25.00...which in 1964, wasn't exactly chump change to a transplanted hillbilly family (aka "Urban Appalachians"). The mandolin itself was a generic flat top/ flat back that actually had a pretty ferocious woody bark to it for what it was. I played it for quite a number of years, even as I grew older and started playing with others besides my family.
Hazelnut-- I'm intrigued by your phrase about letting the sponsor pay for it if you were a pro. This makes no sense to me in Western PA, USA. Please explain what a sponsor is and why they would pay for your instrument. Thanks!
Rev - I'm quite sure it happens in the US too. My comment was a tongue-in-cheek nod to rock stars who are "sponsored" by the big names like Fender and Gibson and are given expensive instruments by the aforementioned sponsors to play. Not entirely sure if that happens in the mandolin world, but as I said, it was rather tongue-in-cheek. Damn my sense of humour.
I've just got my first mandolin, a Stagg M50e, bought for me for my birthday and I love it!
Oops! Forgot to mention that it cost a mere £65!
I've seen some beauties which I can only aspire to, but my pretty little Stagg will keep me going while I'm getting to grips with it all. It's much better quality than my first guitar was!!!!
Sometimes an expensive instrument is worth it for the sound, but that's also a matter of personal taste. John Fahey had a couple fo nice studio guitars, but several times I heard him play lap-slide on a guitar that looked like he ordered it out of a Sears catalog, dropped it out of the back of a truck, and repaired it with airplane glue and a couple of finishing nails. He seemed to prefer the sound of it for some pieces. I've also known people who made a fetish out of owning a "name brand" expensive instrument. I've played some beautiful Martin guitars. But I've also played some that were practicaly unplayable because the action was so high, and impossible to play in tune. The owners refused to have them adjusted because, well, they were Martins, and Martins are perfect from the factory, right? They kept them nice and shiny, though. Last summer I found an octave mandolin for $200. I spent another $100 to have a luthier set it up for me and I love both the feel and sound of it. Now, I could have spent $1500 on an octave mando -- but first off, I wasn't sure I was going to like the instrument, and second, that would have severely set me back on the fund I'm trying to build up for a mando-cello.
As long as your cheap mandolin doesn't self-destruct it should be playable and should sound decent... But you cannot assume that it is properly set up when you buy it. You can learn from the internet how to set it up... frets.com is one source of set up procedure. The nut hight is probably the most important adjustment for comfortable in-tune playing. bridge location is critical as well. But there are lots of other considerations which must be addressed for a decent sounding and easy playing mandolin.
This is a natural group for me : ) . I amassed quite a large stash of vintage guitars (mostly Yamahas, Stellas), German Hohner squeezeboxes, American turn-of-the-century banjos, student woodwinds...most acquired for between $100-$200. It all began decades ago when I started playing in "altered" tunings--Hedges, Bensusan, Kottke, Fahey--to mitigate the frequent string breakage with frequent re-tuning. Then came ebay and refurbishing old banjos (the tinkerer's-dream instrument). Then came plundering the tenor banjo market; then accordians and melodeons...all the "once-popular-but-now-forgottens"... Now I'm kind of a clarinet charlatan--prosletyzing for folks to dig out their school band instruments and PLAY: the $!00 student clarinet must be one of the most ubiquitous--but also an eminently expressive!--instruments (cost/sound) For sound/cost ratio, this cheapo range--if you know what you're looking for and looking at, culled from experience--provides incredibly vast reward. I love fine instruments, but there is much sound potential to be exploited in the pedestrian and unadorned PS- my general hint: look for Applause 12-string guitars--in pawn shops for ~$100...built like tanks with alloy necks (which do not warp)--also makes a good platform to experiment with conversions (m-cello, etc)
My first mando was free -- hey, I could have had two! I inherited grandpa's ancient banjo-mandolin but turned down my uncle's gourd-belly because it was a bit warped. Buying mandolins? I'm cheap. I got an old Kay A-type at a yard sale for US$30 about 20-25 years ago. I got a new Rogue A-type for US$45 (shipped) a couple days ago. Throw in a couple sets of strings, and I've spent as much as US$85 on all three. Not bad.
Hi all, 1st time in this group. My 1st mandolin (about 90 days ago) was an Eastman 305 & I paid about $400 for the mandolin, set up, tuner, set of strings, & gig bag. I'll be honest, my teacher was with me & said it was a good deal & I went for it. Saw a beauty a C.E. Ward F style in a pawn shop today but it was $1800 so I left it on the shelf. Got an invite to come back & play to see if I'd change my mind. May do that on Saturday...
A few mando's have arrived since I last posted here. One was not cheap; the others were. We took a long trip that was explicitly my mandola-hunt but almost didn't work out that way. Okay, so we left the house with 3 string instruments and returned with 13. That's almost two acquisitions per week. First came the 1920-vintage Martin tiple for an astoundingly low price, under US$100. Then some 'ukes. Then, after intensively searching northern New Mexico, I got a superb Celtic mandolin crafted by Keith Coleman in Albuquerque for US$690 with tax. A few days later we walked into an 'antique' shop at Big Bear Lake (100 miles east of Los Angeles) and I walked out with a distressed Russian flattop mandolin for US$30. (It needed a little glue.) And the next day we drove down into the smog basin and stopped at an Asian importer's warehouse space. We emerged with yet more 'ukes, a Puerto Rican cuatro, a mandola, and an F2 mandolin, all bearing the Harmonia brand. The cuatro and mando's cost US$70 each. I keep spreadsheets of my stuff, including instruments and their purchase prices. The eleven 'ukelele-like objects cost a total of US$935. The seven mandos also cost US$935. Coincidence, or... ?? Anyway, I'm a cheap SOB and this proves it.
Glad to join this group. Years ago I posted "in praise of cheap mandolins" and got only condescending responses in the vein of "how nice for you." My first and only mando cost $200, A Harmony something or other. 20 years later, I still love it. I'll end with what i wrote the first time: "If it weren't for cheap mandolins, I couldn't play one at all.
I don't know if mine is cheap or not. It cost me $300. It's a Kentucky KM-250 I got off Craigslist. I got it almost untried since the strings had been on it for many years and were rusty and dead. But I wanted a Kentucky a long time so I went for it. Once I put new strings on it it turned into a great instrument (whew). It came with a hard shell case, tuner, and extra strings as well as a useless chord guide. Fortunately the action and intonation were perfect. I don't foresee needing to upgrade for a long time.
Over the weekend I picked up a Rogue RM-100F (with lightweight hardhsell case) for $65.00. The neck on it is a little screwy in a couple of spots, so I turned it into a 4-string, and am enjoying some new tricks; (exploring finger-picking, and getting new ideas from the 'tighter' sound of only 4-strings). Viva la Cheap Mandolins!
The saga continues. Last month I picked up a Hora OM for just under $100. Pretty good shape; I may lower the action a tad.
Now THAT'S a good deal! Congrats!
