Hello all. Am new to mandolin, having played guitar in my youth (a long time ago) -recently revived the guitar playing and also ukulele and became interested in mandolin. Was wary of buying from online box shippers like Amazon and very frustrated at how little info on mandolins in the UK apart from the higher end. Found a used cheapie via a sales list - for £70 including shipping I received a nice looking fstyle sunburst mandolin branded AXL, in a hard case. Setup seems to be fine and it got me started. The yearning for something a little better did get the better of me though, and I threw my savings at an Eastman 615 via TAMCO and awaiting delivery ............ Will keep the cheapie though,as a throw in the car take anywhere type mandolin. Now I just need to learn to play them to a decent standard!
I started with a Fender FM-101. There have been a few others since, but the Fender will always be the "last one standing." It's still the one that gets tossed in the car trunk ("boot" to those way East of me!) when I go somewhere, just to have one ready for unexpected circumstances. The Fender is a laminate and fairly indestructible, and with lighter strings (GHS 250s) sounds decent enough. Having one mandolin which is a "no fear, take anywhere, no risk" instrument never goes out of style.
