Which mandolin is the best starter for me?

[Ramtin]

Hello guys. I'm new here and this is my first thread.It's almost a year that I'm seeking for my first mandolin. I didn't know anything about mandolin brands, woods, models and etc. But I've learnt.
I'm interested in all mahogany mandolins because of their warm tones. I found Morgan Monroe mam-200c which is all solid mahogany, but it's not accessible in my country. and I found Gretsch g9310 New Yorker (all mahogany, top solid mahogany). and guess what? It's not accessible here too. I live in Iran, and in local store you could just find some Stagg models and Cort (Australian Brand) A/E model, which are not perfect even for beginners.
But I have somebody in Piacenza, Italy, who could buy mandolin for me and bring it here. Now here are my questions.

1. Do you suggest shopping a mandolin from another country? or maybe you suggest choosing one of Stagg or Cort to me?

2. If I want to shop from Italy, how could I find Morgan Monroe mam-200c or at least Gretsch g9310? They are really rare in Europe I think.

3. And what if I wouldn't find these two in Italy? Do you suggest something like Ortega RMA5NA (all mahogany, but not solid) or Do you prefer Stagg over Ortega? What about shopping a Loar LM-310? I know The Loar and I know that is definitely better than Ortega, But my budget is up to 300 Euro and The Loar models are Spruce top, not a mahogany.

p.s Sorry for English mistakes, It's not my main language as you know.
p.s.2 I know Kentucky KM 150, but it's expensive for my pocket (It's something about 500 Euro in Italian Amazon), So forget this model.

[Bill Cameron]

Hi Ramtin. Usually a thread with this title would be chest deep in arguments between defenders of Eastman, “The Loar” and Kentucky, but...all-mahogany mandos are very, very uncommon in North America (where most Cafe posters live), and I don’t know about UK/Europe. But your all-mahogany requirement is probably the reason for the deafening silence so far.

I do have one suggestion for you though: look for a used (probably 70’s vintage) Hofner 545, a mahogany mando, teardrop shaped with modified f-holes, which was widely available back in the day, they were under $200 here in Canada. I don’t know what kind of condition you’ll find a 40-year-old one in now, since they were relatively inexpensive instruments. You would want to know a local luthier/repair shop to set it up for you, I recall they tended to have higher action than most would prefer.

Heres a video of one being played (but mostly just held) by late Canadian songwriter Ron Hynes. Speaking of the 70’s..https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cir4llpEb7Y

Good luck in your quest.

[JeffD]

Another maker is Big Muddy. Their M-11 is all mahogany. I don't know if you are going to have any luck finding it there, however.

[BurningFish]

I recently bought an Ozark 2073. It's within your price range and plus really well. The shop said there was conflicting information as to whether it was solid mahogany or maple, but it is solid all over. It has the best tone of all the mandolins I've tried out and the notes seem to ring a lot longer than usual (Maybe due to the solid wood) which I find to be a bonus.
I know there are conflicting opinions about Ozark mandolins as they appear to be inconsistent in quality between models, but this one seems to be the odd one out. I'm from England and they seem to be widely available here so it might help you.

[Ramtin]

Big Muddy! I love the way it sounds, but you're right, there's no chance to find this brand here. Thank you btw.

[Ramtin]

Yes I know Ozark and as you said it's widely available in Europe. But it's maple back. If I lose my hope to finding Gretsch G9310, Ozark 2073 will be a reasonable alternative.

[Ramtin]

Interesting! I didn'n know about Hofner brand. I know them as a violin builder. By the way, this one is not accessible in Europe too. I'm going to lose my hope to find all mahogany mandolin. Somethings like Ortega aren't reliable enough. I think I should go for The Loar Honey Creek or Kentucky KM 140, But keeping on search for Gretsch.
P.s I really enjoy of the link you sent. What a beautiful song, thank you.

[Ramtin]

But just one question is remained. "Shopping a mandolin from abroad", Is it good idea? Which one is more reasonable? Shopping Stagg M40s (all solid) from local stores or Shopping online from Europe for The Loar Honey Creek or Kentucky KM140 or maybe Gretsch G9310?
Maybe I should write another thread for this question.

[LadysSolo]

Distances in Europe are smaller than east coast to west coast in the United States. I would think buying from a reliable store in another country would be a safe idea, as long as your customs department doesn't give you problems. I purchased two instruments in the last couple years from Canada (our neighbor to the north) that arrived with no problems, and I bought from private sellers (but I had much communication with them before sending money too.)

[Bill Cameron]

Interesting! I didn'n know about Hofner brand. I know them as a violin builder. By the way, this one is not accessible in Europe too. I'm going to lose my hope to find all mahogany mandolin. Somethings like Ortega aren't reliable enough. I think I should go for The Loar Honey Creek or Kentucky KM 140, But keeping on search for Gretsch.
P.s I really enjoy of the link you sent. What a beautiful song, thank you.

The Hofner is nice looking, but on reflection you probably shouldnt search for one to buy sight unseen—the odds are too high that, if you found one, it wouldn’t be a good playable example. And I do feel you should broaden your search beyond all-mahogany. Top woods with similar warmth, although uncommon, are red cedar and koa. (I have a cedar-top mandola, with yellow birch body, you would like it! Made by a local Canadian builder)

But I think you would get past your dislike of spruce tops if you tried a few flat-or-bent-tops, Big Muddy already mentioned, the old Martin Style A is my personal favourite and has a mahogany body.

Incidentally the Eastman 404 also has a mahogany body (all other Eastmans are maple) and is relatively inexpensive. I don’t hear much tonal difference between the 404 and the maple-body Eastmans though.

You won’t hear too much favourable comment about Stagg here. They are an entry-level brand stocked by newer, sometimes struggling stores (its a tough business to be in!) who don’t have access to higher-end suppliers, even at lower price points. But if you bought one locally, at least you’d know what you were getting and hopefully the store would be able to do setup and service. It’s a start....again, good luck and welcome! Keep posting.

[Ramtin]

Yes I think you're right. I've started to find spruce top mandolins already. I really love the way The Loar mandolins sound. But I'm really surprised because even The Loar is rare in Europe reliable online stores. In Thomann.de you could just find The Loar LM110 or LM310. LM170 or LM175 is not available.
In the other hand, maybe I could find somebody in United States who could buy something like Gretch and ship it to Iran directly. There are some people who do something like this for cash.
I really appreciate your help. Thank you.

[August Watters]

I am in Italy, and have seen many Italian music stores. I don't think I've ever seen the brands preferred in the US like Kentucky, Loar, Eastman. I've often seen the standard Fender, Ibanez, etc. brands, in fact those Pacific-rim instruments seem to be crowding out the Italian-style mandolins, at least here in the north. Sometimes you see Sicilian-made mandolins at low prices (often with the same setup problems we see in the USA).

Piacenza is in a part of Italy rich with mandolin tradition; I'll bet your friend there can find you a vintage Italian-style mandolin! I'd take one of those any day, over any of the factory-made instruments mentioned in this thread.

[colorado_al]

Checkout http://www.mandolinluthier.com/

[Roger Adams]

The Gretch 9310 is readily available on ebay, and many offer overseas shipping. However, I see that Iran is not included on the list of "ship to" countries - at least on the ones I checked. That May just be an ebay thing. Reverb also has Gretch 9310 listed. That may be another possibility.

[Ramtin]

Yes it's available, But in United States. It wouldn't be easy to order something to ship to Italy at first, and then shipping again to Iran.

[AndyV]

Hi Ramtin. Usually a thread with this title would be chest deep in arguments between defenders of Eastman, “The Loar” and Kentucky, but...all-mahogany mandos are very, very uncommon in North America (where most Cafe posters live), and I don’t know about UK/Europe. But your all-mahogany requirement is probably the reason for the deafening silence so far.

I do have one suggestion for you though: look for a used (probably 70’s vintage) Hofner 545, a mahogany mando, teardrop shaped with modified f-holes, which was widely available back in the day, they were under $200 here in Canada. I don’t know what kind of condition you’ll find a 40-year-old one in now, since they were relatively inexpensive instruments. You would want to know a local luthier/repair shop to set it up for you, I recall they tended to have higher action than most would prefer.

Heres a video of one being played (but mostly just held) by late Canadian songwriter Ron Hynes. Speaking of the 70’s..https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cir4llpEb7Y

Good luck in your quest.

I was going to suggest the same.