Gear I gig with on a tight budget that works.

[rljmusic13]

Friends, I just got back into mandolin pickin after a long break. I was pickin lots of banjo and guitar and decided I needed to get my mandolin chops back. Anyhow I needed a low cost mandolin to do that because money has been tight. I found some sweet surprises in my search for budget friendly gear where getting the most bang for the buck was a huge priority. Here is what I did. I purchased a cheapie of cheapies A body that blew me away with all the tone it put out. YES, I got one of those bargain basement Rogue A body Mandolins. YES, it is laminated everything. It was one I though would be a piece of junk. NOT TRUE. I did a complete set up it and put on a set of GHS Bobby Osborne signature mandolin strings. I purchased a Musicians Gear gig bag and one of those Levy's straps, like the one that comes with that mandolin value pack at Guitar Center. This is a great rig for a beginner set up but I have played some jam sessions and a couple shows with it. Great low dollar travel rig too.

My next bargain hunter special is a Washburn M3SWK F body and it came with a hard shell case. USED. I bought one of those Levy's straps from Sam Ash on e bay for just under $10.00 on e bay and it is a great strap for cheap. You don't need a high dollar strap on a shoestring budget. You just need one to get you in the game at this point. I put GHS Bobby Osborn signature stings on this one too, my personal choice for mandolin strings and I love the sound they give me. I use those 1.5 MM Alice picks from e bay that are as low dollar as you can get but they work. I even put a rattle snake rattle in this Washburn like a lot of bluegrassers do and this is a lot because Bill Monroe had one in his Mandolin. With bluegrass mandolin pickers, it is kind of a thing to be like Bill Monroe or at least follow some of his ways. I am into the history and the traditions of the bluegrass and mountain music and I like to pay my respects in my own way.

Some improvements can be made to these Washburn Mandolins in addition to a good full set up. Get a set of GROVER tuners. Especially if you plan on using these axes as workhorses. washburn installed a Bailey style tailpiece on their mandolins and it is a great addition to an instrument. I like it because it is a cast brass piece and it is easy to change strings. It does help tone too. Not bad for a used Mandolin that I gave a little over $300.00 for an out the door price. I ordered the Grover 309FN tuners for this mandolin. There are 2 types so check to see you get the right configuration before install. I will install a Bailey style tailpiece and a set of Grover Sta Tite tuners on my Rogue since it will be my backup mandolin. I may tune it for Get Up John and leave it in
that tuning. My next piece that will go on my Washburn is a Tone Gard. YES, Tone Gard is used by many great artists and YES, it works and YES, I WILL be using one. I may even get a Tone Gard for my Martin because I like these so well.

I hope all this information will help a mandolin picker with some tough decisions while waiting to get one of those Northfield, Weber or 1923 Lloyd Loar F5 Gibson mandolins that cost as much as a house. Since not many musicians that actually play music can not buy a high dollar mandolin till those big fat royalty checks come rolling in or your record label dumps a lot of mega bucks in your bank account or till you win the powerball. The idea is to get a good sounding instrument that is actually playable so you can make some music. Then save up and get a LOAR LM 520 or LM 700 or maybe a really nice Eastman. I like either of those. I have played a couple Webers and those are sweet sweet ear candy. When it comes down to getting in the mandolin game you need to think about getting some kind of ax to play. For just under $100.00 dollars toy can get a lot of bang for the buck with a Rogue. A used Washburn or even a used Loar can be had on a tight budget if you look around. You will have to do some set ups and maybe a couple upgrades but you will be in the game. don't soent lots of time being fussy till you get enough cash to afford to be fussy. Get to pickin and have some fun with the mandolin.