Hi all! New to the Forum!
Hi all!
I've been a lurker for a year or two. I am a long time guitar player that has been wanting to get into mandolin. One of my local music stores carries some mandolins, so I went to give them a try. They carried Eastman, and they had a used Breedlove Quartz. I couldn't get along w/ the Eastmans. It was just way too cramped on the fretboard. I liked the Breedlove, but they wanted an exorbitant sum of money for a used Quartz (and it, too, was cramped, but not as much as the Eastmans). I was a little disappointed w/ how the mandolins felt (coming from guitar). For kicks, I pulled down a banjo. It felt much better! I ended up picking up a Gold Tone OT800 and taught myself some clawhammer. I just couldn't get the idea of mandolin out of my head. The sound was haunting to me. I added a '50s Gibson tenor banjo which got me thinking even more about the mandolin. All this time, I was lurking here, pretending my tenor banjo was a mandolin, lol! I couldn't keep away from the Cafe classifieds! I admit; I'm a USA instrument snob (despite my good experience w/ Gold Tone). I tried to buy a couple of less expensive American made mandolins through the classifieds, but I was always just a little too late. There was one, in particular, a Redline Traveler Deluxe, that I just missed. The seller offered a trial period to the purchaser, and he said that he would contact me if the sale fell through or it was returned. No luck. Then, a couple of months later, the same mandolin popped up on the classifieds again! And it was pretty much in my back yard! I contacted the seller, and wouldn't you know it, it was already verbally spoken for. The seller said he'd get back to me if the verbal commitment fell through. The next day, he texted me saying that it was available. As it was so close, I was able to play it before I purchased, and I didn't have the issues I had when I tried the Eastmans. I'm not sure if I was getting used to shorter scale and thinner neck from the tenor banjo or not, but it wasn't bad. And that sound! That was what I was looking to hear! I have been teaching myself mandolin now for a month or two and really enjoying it. I can get through a few fiddle tunes (the tenor banjo stuff crosses over well), and I am having a blast.
As firm believer in all the different acquisition syndromes, I still check the classifieds and ebay pretty much daily. A couple of days ago, a Breedlove American K was listed on ebay w/ a standing low bid of $499. I watched it thinking that if it didn't get too high, I might hazard a bid. Ten minutes before the auction's end, it was still at $499. What the heck, I placed a $550 bid in the last few seconds and got it for $530! It was a total impulse bid, and I regretted it immediately (just because I would have to tell my wife, and the money would have to come out of a growing new motorcycle fund). It has the original case, looks to be in pretty good shape, and comes w/ an easily removable pickup. As I had a pretty good experience w/ an old Breedlove Quartz, I am really looking forward to adding an arch-top oval hole to my pancake Traveler (provided it ends up being in good shape and all that...).
After I "won" the Breedlove, and now having two mandolins (once the Breedlove gets here), I figured it was time to join the Cafe! I want to thank all the members for all the information I gleaned as a lurker over the past year or two, and I am looking forward to now being a participant! I can't wait to get my hands on that Breedlove!
Rich
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by FranklintonBill
Bookmarks