There have been a few threads recently on some of the emandos offered on eBay as well as some of the instruments made by members of the Cafe.
I'm trying to make a start doing emandos myself, and the pics on some of the auctions don't look too inspiring, in fact they've made me back off from offering a couple of mine through eBay. All my tuners work in the right direction, and my neck plates are Les Paul jack plates with chrome screws, so I think I'm one up already! :-)
I know things like neck profile will always be up to the taste of the individual player, but issues such as fit and finish and general playability are paramount. We all make allowances for the fact that an instrument is made in a home workshop by a keen amateur rather than an established professional in a factory with all the bells and whistles, but at the end of the day we don't want to feel ripped off, hence my reluctance to offer mine.
It costs me AUD$100 all up to make a basic emando (without labour). I'm thinking I should offer mine at a starting price of AUD$100 / US$69 (plus true cost of packaging to survive the trip), with plenty of pictures to show just what they look like, what the neck profile is, and what the general fit and finish looks like, and see what the market says. I enjoy making these little beasts, but you can only have so many electric mandolins in your collection before she who must be obeyed says "Enough already!"
Any thoughts from others?
Rob - Jupiter Creek Music - Australia
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