San Luis Obispo Mandolins?

[Enivrer]

Living on the beautiful Central Coast of California has its perks, but an abundance of mandolins is not one... I've been shopping for mid-level US made mandolins for a while. An all day trip north (mostly driving) let me try out a few Webers and Collings, but that was about it. And I wasn't really blown away by anything I tried. I would love to try out a Gibson/Pava/Ratliff/Phoenix/etc. but they are all very few and very far between. I prefer I narrower neck, so I feel obliged to try out something like a Gibson before making any choices.

Anyone here within an hour or so of San Luis Obispo willing to let a poor soul try out a mandolin? I don't know if I can offer any thing useful in return, but I'm happy to bring along my Martin and pick awhile...

[HonketyHank]

Well, if you're ever up here in Portland Oregon area, give me a buzz. It would be one heck of a one hour drive.

[OneChordTrick]

Can't help as I'm in the wrong continent and my instrument honestly isn't worth the journey.

But I'me extremely jealous or where you live! We spent a couple of days in St Luis Obispo a few years ago and wished we could have stayed longer. In fact we're owed a free meal there because my son won a colour in the menu competition in a restaurant!

[pops1]

Hope you stopped at National Guitars, they make a mandolin also. Worth a tour of the facility.

[Enivrer]

I played a new National mandolin recently, and I really liked it. Not what I'm looking for at the moment, but it's on the list! The list is long...

Right now, I'm looking for a US made F-style or 2 point with f holes. I don't like wide necks. 1 1/8" is a max for me, but I wouldn't mind smaller. I have a Calace bowlback that is closer to 1" with a flat fingerboard that I like. The Calace neck has a pretty deep vee to it, but it's skinny. My other box is a Kentucky KM-855 with a 1 1/8" nut and radiused fingerboard that's also comfortable to me. The Webers and Collings necks seemed huge, even with the 1 1/8" nuts. I like the idea of a radiused board, but I like flat just fine on the right neck. The flat fingerboard and 1 1/16" nut on a Gibson sounds interesting, but the only Gibsons I've tried have been really old and probably not the best comparison to those from the last ~30 years.

[craigw]

I have a couple of my older F-5s that have been demos that I can discount. I'm just over in Bakersfield (about 125 miles away).
If you are interested you can message me here or email at: craig@wilsonmandolins.com

[TonyP]

Right here in Los Osos is Don's String Shop, https://donsstringshop.com

They are only open on Saturday's. They have several mandolins, but if you're stuck on a skinny neck, good luck.

[Enivrer]

Thanks for the tip. And I guess I should say I didn't like the wider necks I've played, but I'm always open to trying more!

[Bunnyf]

I've moved to FL from Shell Beach, but I remember Lightning Joes guitar shop in AG having quite a good store. Worth a call.