Re: Looking for opinions on the best Asian made Mandolin for $250
I played a KM1500 at a jam recently and thought it was a pretty good mandolin for bluegrass.
I has a pretty straight forward nice tone.
For my personal taste, every Northfield I have played blew it away.
The Northfields are much nicer to play too, IMHO.
At around your price range you could get a used NF-F5S.
They are killer mandolins.
You can get a new one for about $3,000.
http://themusicemporium.com/mandolin...f-f5s-sunburst
I have not played an Eastman that was close, but I have played a few I thought were nice mandolins for the price.
The Kentucky KM1500 is a nice traditional mandolin.
The Northfield is a bit more modern in tone, but that is what I like.
The guy who owned the KM1500 said that Northfields don’t do anything for him, so it is personal preference.
I own a Northfield Artist model and totally love it.
As for the NF-F5s, I have played them next to other much more pricey mandos, like Collings, and preferred the Northfield.
They are worth every penny.
Mandolins: Northfield 5-Bar Artist Model "Old Dog", J Bovier F5 Special, Gibson A-00 (1940)
Fiddles: 1920s Strad copy, 1930s Strad copy, Liu Xi T20, Liu Xi T19+ Dark.
Guitars: Taylor 514c (1995), Gibson Southern Jumbo (1940s), Gibson L-48 (1940s), Les Paul Custom (1978), Fender Strat (Black/RWFB) (1984), Fender Strat (Candy Apple Red/MFB) (1985).
Sitars: Hiren Roy KP (1980s), Naskar (1970s), Naskar (1960s).
Misc: 8 Course Lute (L.K.Brown)
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