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hi there, this is my first post to Mandolincafe although i have been prowling around this site for years. I am currently in a bluegrass/thrashgrass band and have been debating with myself if I should trade my seven year old Tacoma m1 for the new Epiphone mm-50e with the Nanomag pickup. There is two for sale at my local music store for $540. If anyone has any reviews or advice I am open to any suggestions. Below is a link for the epiphone.
http://epiphone.com/news.asp?NewsID=1806
The store has offered a trade of $150.
OK: you can buy the MM-50E "Professional" mandolin -- solid spruce top, laminated back & sides, "Nanomag" pickup assembly, $1,165 list -- on the web for $700 in several places. So, $540 is an excellent price. Tacoma M-1 has been seen for sale, used, at around $350. So a $150 trade-in allowance is not too generous. You're getting a net price of just under $400.
Without any knowledge of what discounts your dealer got, $540 is less than 50% of list price, so could be some "dealer special" from Epiphone involved. You'd be better off, IMHO, to pay the dealer $540 for the Epi, then sell the Tacoma, perhaps for $250, in a private sale. You'd be around $300 net cost. On the other hand, you'd have the hassle of trying to sell the Tacoma, and your time's worth something.
I see Tacoma M-1's listed for $250, $300, $350 or so on CraigsList and at used instrument dealers. The $540 your dealer quoted is the lowest I've seen an MM-50E Professional listed for. The other question, of course, is if you want to get an instrument with plywood back and sides, or to look for something a bit better. I'm not quite sure what "thrashgrass" is (I may have some in my front lawn; gotta get out the Roundup!), but I'm assuming you want to play amplified. The Nanomag pickup looks pretty elaborate and sophisticated, but I don't play plugged-in, so I'll leave it up to more expert Cafe members to comment on that aspect of the MM-50E.
I finally tried one of those MM-50E mandos yesterday. I liked it so much I'm thinking of buying one for myself! Great pick-up on that thing. Nice woody chop, good intonation. How can you lose for that price. A Gibson fern is about $5000.! Would you pass it around to your buddies at a jam?? I think that they are great! (I do play a Gibson, microphoned only of course). Go for it! It's a real fun, cool lookin' mando.Quote:
Originally Posted by evmando
I purchased an Epiphone mm-50e online. Was in a hurry to acquire a plug-in-able mandolin for a St. Patricks weekend of performing. I own a Michael Kelly, and tried a Mojohound Pickup (in a Guinness bottle cap of course). While the sound was ok, it was too noisy when I moved the cord. Rather than put a pickup on my Michael Kelly, I looked around for an electrified mandolin. After a minimum amount of research, I gambled on the epiphone, and I'm quite pleased with it. It doesn't sound like a mic'd acoustic instrument, definitely has an electric instrument quality to the sound, but it sounds darn fine. And it's quite playable. I've been using lighter gauge strings 10-34, but they didn't sound good on the epiphone, so I went with Bill Monroe's 11-15-26-41. (I wanted elixir's but the store was out). I've been dabbling in mandolin for years, but never a serious player or performer, but in the last few months I've been preparing to switch to mandolin role in my band. Even with the heavier gauge strings, I was able to play fluidly all night for 2 nights in a row. The intonation is good. The notes sound up pass the 12 fret. And I especially liked being able to individually adjust the string pair volumes because the A pair was a little louder than the rest and it sounded much better when I turned it down. I'm quite pleased with the instrument so far. We'll see how it holds up over the years.
I played a pair of Michael Kelly F-5s for three years and they were OK, but if I were to go back to affordable F-style AE instruments I would seriously consider the Epiphone for my needs. It doesn't sound like you're getting the best trade though. Personally, I don't like a magnetic pickup quite as much as a piezo bridge, but if you're thrashing it won't make much difference.
Hi, this is my first post and I am quite new to this forum.
I saw this thread on the Epiphone and felt it would be as good a place as any to post this.
As a drummer/percussionist for the past over 40 years I have decided to become a 'real' musician and get a melodic instrument. (Drummers will know what I mean here; and it is not a dig against drummers; although there are some fine drummer jokes out there). My choice of instrument is a mandolin. I have always loved the sound of the mandolin and knowing less than your basic oyster does about stringed instruments, my choice may seem a bit arbitrary.
I did some online research and have looked around a bit here in Florida at what few mandolins I could find in shops. As my experience level coming into this is lower than Congress's approval ratings and my budget at under $500 I find myself relying heavily upon the various reviews that folks write on the web. My local Guitar Center had a cyber week discount of 15% on any new item over $99 so I thought it time to make an initial leap. So, after some blind strumming on the strings for various instruments (none of which that I could handle were over my budget, so that was a decided limiting factor in my ability to judge), I settled upon the Epiphone MM-50e, which I have had to get my local GC to order. It arrives next week. I was able to handle one at a different shop, but they did not have the discount. So, at $499 pricing with the discount, it came to about $425.
While waiting for it, I have started trying to learn the notes on the instrument using an iPad app called Fret Tester. So, that and some YouTube videos are all that I have so far.
My request to this forum is: 1. Any advice for a percussionist trying to learn mandolin for the first time. (Did I mention that I play drums by ear, not by sight reading?)
2. Any advice on the Epiphone; should I try to tune it myself with a tuner and use it out of the box, or should I get a Luthier to help me set it up; or, with my utter lack of initial skill, would it even matter?
3. Other comments, warnings, sympathies, etc.???
I wanna hear some thrashgrass....is that like covering entire Megadeth albums bluegrass-style? :mandosmiley:Quote:
Originally Posted by evmando
Maybe this is as good a place as any to ask ... is it "epi-fone" or should it near-rhyme with "epiphany?" I always wondered about that. (Too much time on my hands ... ) :confused:
I think it's epi-phone, like the telephone. Named after Epaminondas "Epi" Stathopoulos. (You can tell I'm Greek because I not only remember his name but can pronounce it). Then again, "epiphany" is also a Greek word, so the mystery can continue. --Bill
Quote:
Originally Posted by Petrus
Just picked one up. The pickup is really nice! I played it thru different amps - nice sound.
Could not help but modify it a bit. i like my mandos a bit heftier - put an Orrico tailpiece and some nicer tuners from Golden Gate. Put a set of steel strings on it thinking that ferrous strings would cut thru the pickup better.
Sounds great. Plays well. Looks nice!
I've played several mm50e's all in local shops . I didn't find good tone in any ...acoustically , that is . The finish was very sloppy and the action/playability worse than their MM30 model . I have never heard one amplified so I can't comment on that aspect . I can think of at least 5 less expensive mandolins I would purchase before I'd purchase this Epiphone. I've seen them selling used in the Vancouver BC area for as little as 375.00.
I play metal most off the time and when i do i use a solid body mandolin , it gives. me a better sound you might want to try one there are alot of them around i use to have an epi mandobird it worked great , but now i have been making my own andmostly have moved to using octave mandolins ofcourse solid body ones. You can get a mandobird between $150.00 - 250.00
That’s so funny, because because I used to pronounce it Epiphany, when I was a young budding guitar player, about 1969.Quote:
Originally Posted by Petrus
I got educated on that matter soon.
I’m a firm supporter of the epiphone MM50e. It has a nice tone for me and I find it has a good chip. I don’t use the pickup very much at all - I cant get the batteries to work. Doesn’t bother me the acoustic is fine for me. That’s a good price and about what I paid for mine.
Since when is a pacrim mandolin with plywood anywhere on it worth $700? That must be one danged nice pickup.
Looks like a nice instrument. They also make an oval hole "hybrid", with the neck joint at the 15th fret, all solid wood, that looks interesting:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...ntage-sunburst
I enjoy the rounder tone from the oval hole mandolins!
Jim D
I don’t care what continent or country it was made in...I just go by the final product. On a recent foray to Long and McQuade, I was disappointed to find them carrying neither of the perpetual worthy rivals, Eastman and Kentucky—instead they had a couple of Epiphones, and Alabamas in the budget section. I suspect the most expensive one was an MM50e. I tried it out and quickly put it back. Didn’t look good—fit and finish issues—didn’t sound good—tinny—didn’t feel good—flat fingerboard, hard to tune, dubious intonation. All this for a mere $900 Cdn. A sad state of affairs. They were making them better 30 years ago.
Admittedly I didn’t try plugging it in—no point. I don’t like being so negative but I guess it really bothered me that this was being presented as the best mandolin in the store. (L&M is the dominant music store chain in Canada, they can carry any brand they wish.)