Hi. I'm new to Mandolin Cafe. I live in central Japan, some distance from Tokyo. I'm a classically-trained pianist, and I played professionally for a short while back in the day but for the past few decades I've done non-music work. From childhood into my university years I also played violin.
I've always enjoyed the sound of the mandolin in classical, bluegrass, rock, Celtic, and other styles, but I've never actually had my own instrument. I'm now 60 and planning to retire soon, and I am very eager to get a good mandolin. My main goal is to play bluegrass, although I'd also like to play other styles of music on the mandolin.
There seem to be lots and lots of old bowlback mandolins made by Suzuki floating around this area since the Suzuki instrument factory was in nearby Nagoya, so I may pick one up, especially if I can get one cheap. But I'd really like to get a nice flat-backed instrument that's more suitable to playing bluegrass.
Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any Japanese music shops nearby with a selection of mandolins, so I'm probably going to have to plan a trip to a large city, such as Tokyo.
Does anyone know of sellers of quality mandolins in Japan? Also, given that I'm in Asia, are there specific makes of instruments -- perhaps even something by a Japanese mandolin maker -- that I might consider? I know that without knowing my price point, it's hard to give concrete advice. Suffice it to say that I'm willing to pay what it takes to get an instrument I really like.
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