Anyone have one of these?

[benjamin]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=220098194044

Does anyone have a mandolin like this or has seen one? I got it but the instrument is a mystery to me. It has no name or maker and seems to be made of cheap acoustic mandolin parts. I have no clue what the pickups are.

[mrmando]

Made in China. Absolute crud. Bottom of the barrel. Waste of money. Will fall apart in six months.

[benjamin]

I think once I get it set up properly it will actually sound pretty nice. Do you know what wood it might be made out of?

[thistle3585]

Not to be a jerk, but every so often someone comes and asks this question, gets the same response as mrmando gave then goes ahead and buys one only to come back and say "You guys were right. This thing is unplayable." Save your money, buy a few less pizzas over the next two months and buy something of a little better quality.

[johnwalser]

benjamin
Before I got my Schwab, I owned an inexpensive 4 string MandoBird and it was a very good instrument. I even ended up replacing the pick-up with an extended range Bartolini and improved the sound greatly. That might be a better way to go for you.
John

P.S. I sold my MandoBird to Randy Allen (makes the tailpieces) and he told me at LoarFest he now has a Schwab. You might contact him about buying my old instrument.

[mikeomando]

Hi Benjamin, weren't we just talking in another thread? Everyone has a story like this. Part of the fun for me has been moving up the quality chain over the years. I admit that if you paid under $100 you haven't been burned as badly as I have on an emando. My experience suggests that you have to get into the $400-$500 range to start getting enough quality in an emando that you don't feel like you're fighting it all the time. Either a $100 instrument with $300 in professional adjustments/repairs, or $200/$200, etc. If you find you can't fret a cheapo in tune because of intonation, or you can't tune it up to standard tuning, or the action is too high and can't be adjusted well, you can always tune it to an open tuning and play it with a slide, which is fun. For a while, anyway.

[mrmando]

Yeah, the problem with what you bought, benjamin, is that it will cost more to set up than you paid for it originally. And then you have no guarantee that the fretboard is correctly installed, so you don't know whether it will play in tune.

You gets what you pays for.

[benjamin]

Thanks for the input. I might end up tuning it open and mainly sliding on it. The fretwork looks kind of sketchy. I already bought it so I'm going to make the most of it.... it'll be a project, I don't usually pay to have instruments set up or work done unless it's very serious.

You guys should check out my teacher. He built the sickest instrument I've ever seen and tunes his electric mandolin open to slide. His site is www.stevehoke.com
His "trimiester" is such a rediculous instrument. He makes some far out noises which is what inspired me to move to electric.

[mrmando]

My kinda guy.

[jk245]

If you are interested in a cheap knock around mando then go to one of the known dealers like Sam Ash, Musicians Friend (Guitar Centers), Music123 and many others. They usually have some blems which you can get a discount. At least if you buy from these companies it is likely that their makers have some kind'a lifetime guarantee. (Try to run after the ebay guy if you have a problem).

[michaell]

Steve Hoke has some pretty cool-looking instruments!

[benjamin]

Finally got it set up. I sanded the bridge way down and filed the nut. Turned out the bridge had such rediculously deep grooves in it that it was catching the string and breaking my high E's. I slightly slanted the bridge and filed the grooves a little bit diagonally to get the intonation as close as possible. A few frets buzz but really they appear to be placed pretty accurately. I'll probably put in a pickup selector switch next.

[jk245]

Finally got it set up. I sanded the bridge way down and filed the nut. Turned out the bridge had such rediculously deep grooves in it that it was catching the string and breaking my high E's. I slightly slanted the bridge and filed the grooves a little bit diagonally to get the intonation as close as possible. A few frets buzz but really they appear to be placed pretty accurately. I'll probably put in a pickup selector switch next.

Kind'a like making your own from scratch!

[no tyme flat]

I recently purchased a 8 string Daniels emando. $200. A ebay sucess story, finally. I love it. Looking for some related tab for tunes. Redhaired boy just doesn't sound right on it. Any suggestions on Amps. Right now am using a cheapo from my sons Squire package.