I haven't gotten the mandolin yet. Right now my strongest contender is a KM-150 with bag for 275$. The store says instrument comes setup. The only other must I can think of is picks. Anything else?
You should get a tuner and a strap, that's about it. Oh, and some books and lessons.
Thanks OS. I'm wishing I had it(mandolin) already as I'm sitting out the snow storm at home. I've seen a few free(lessons) online I will probably try out when I get the chance.
Pleased you are sure of a good setup! Concur with OS with regard to what you need. I hope your mandolin arrives soon! We all know that feeling waiting on a new mandolin!
Well I decided to save some money and get a very lightly used Washburn M1k. I got it at a store that does repair and restoration of stringed instruments that is very close to where I work. I figure it may help to build a relationship with those guys. They threw in a couple of picks and a spare set of strings. Lets see if I can figure out how to post a pic. ps. Ignore the date; the battery was going on the camera.