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Thread: Best Mandolin for $3000-$3500?

  1. #26
    Registered User LongBlackVeil's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best Mandolin for $3000-$3500?

    Heres a pretty good deal

    http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/80053

    NFI
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  2. #27
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Best Mandolin for $3000-$3500?

    Quote Originally Posted by JamesW View Post
    Thanks for the help everyone!
    Does anyone have any input on Lafferty F Mandolins?
    Here is a nice demo from the Mandolin Store.............

    http://www.themandolinstore.com/Scripts/default.asp
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

  3. #28
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Best Mandolin for $3000-$3500?

    If you are looking for some bling, this is in the classifieds.......

    http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/79879

    NFI

    Really though, if you are going to shell out that kind of money it would be worth it to play through some mandolins at a knowledgeable music store. It might help to bring along a friend who also plays mandolin so you can hear them from both sides. Good luck with your search!
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

  4. #29

    Default Re: Best Mandolin for $3000-$3500?

    Thanks again everyone!
    I've been emailing Steve Hinde of Hinde Custom Instruments and i'm liking the sound of his instruments.
    I do really like the sound of the Hinde that Rick Faris from The Special Consensus plays, anyone with experience with Hindes?

  5. #30
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    Default Re: Best Mandolin for $3000-$3500?

    Always the best advice is to play before you buy ! Too bad I can't follow my own advice !

  6. #31
    Registered User Atlanta Mando Mike's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best Mandolin for $3000-$3500?

    I really don't know why you would prefer new. Most lose value out the door, are green and take time to break in. Get a hand made, small shop, used mandolin that has been played. Will be the best thing for your price range and could actually appreciate. Few of the players on this site, who have a lot of experience, are going to advise you to go new unless you luck into playing one that is just killer out of the gate or you are having one commissioned. No financial interest but that 94 Stiver is probably a killer. Probably well Broken in, which is a big deal. Respected maker, known name. One of those 90's flatirons too would be a good thought. If you can find a mandolin being sold by a good player who is looking to upgrade and selling something they have used for a long time you will likely get something really good. Forget the new idea unless you play it and it really speaks to,you IMHO

  7. #32

    Default Re: Best Mandolin for $3000-$3500?

    I am a proud Hinde mandolin owner. I have owned 2. They are great mandolins and a great bang for your buck. Steve is great to work with and stands behind his work. He has some nice mandolins available now on his site. I have played a few of these and they are very nice mandolins or he would build you a great mandolin at an affordable price too. He has some really good pickers playing his instruments such as Rick Faris of Special Consensus and Wayne Benson of Third Time Out and Junior Sisk is playing one of his guitars.

  8. #33
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best Mandolin for $3000-$3500?

    Quote Originally Posted by Atlanta Mando Mike View Post
    If you can find a mandolin being sold by a good player who is looking to upgrade and selling something they have used for a long time you will likely get something really good. Forget the new idea unless you play it and it really speaks to,you IMHO
    That sounds about right to me too.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

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  9. #34
    Registered User darylcrisp's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best Mandolin for $3000-$3500?

    James

    i've been on the mandolin wagon for about 9 months and will relate what i discovered. prior to this i've played fingerstyle guitars for a couple years, along with some clawhammer banjo and weissenborn.

    if you are already playing, i highly HIGHLY suggest sourcing out a shop or shops and builders where you could do a 1 or 2 day roadtrip and just play the heck out of everything you find. something will suddenly fit perfect and many will not.

    lots of things to consider are: nut width(1 1/16, 1 1/8, 1 3/16), neck profile shape(this can for many folks-make or break a mandolin), scale length, tone, and action. some necks will ease your personal style of play, some "might" hinder. trust me on this.
    some folks can pick up anything and play it fine. i am one who cannot. i really prefer certain widths(string spacings), scale lengths, and definitely certain neck profiles.

    and, while you play, do you really enjoy the sound. during my search i played all brands and kinds. did two roadtrips to see many different makers(nashville has some awesome large filled mandolin shops if you can get there). i found what i liked eventually and couldn't be more happy.

    this advice. if you like how the F style points work for you if you play seated, and just can't seem to hold an A style well without tension(but like the price and tone of the A), get a tonegard and put on the A. it might work out well for you(bottom tabs allow the A body to balance without moving around on your pant legs).

    offer up where you live and folks here can reply back some stores that may have a large assortment to try out.

    if you have to mailorder, i second the recommendation of TheMandolinStore for excellent service during and after the sale-and for receiving a very well set up instrument that plays with ease(very very important). TejonMusic is another nice shop i've experienced. Others here can recommend shops/luthiers they have dealt with and provide you with a lot to research.

    good luck and keep us posted
    d

  10. #35

    Default Re: Best Mandolin for $3000-$3500?

    Just a fools advice... Years ago, about 6 years after I started playing mandolin, I decided I wanted a nice mandolin. I contracted with a "luthier" (I won't mention their name) to build a mandolin for me. He had an example which was a very nice mandolin so I took the bait. He needed money down so I paid half (first mistake). I kept paying as I went along (second mistake). I would call and he would say I need some more money, yada yada. Finally I had paid the $1500 that we agreed upon, which was a ton of money in the 1970's. Guess what, no mandolin a year later, just a carved top and thats about it. I pressed him so he apparently, unknown to me, turned the mandolin over to one of his apprentices to finish. When I finally got it, the back was mis-carved. The neck was installed at an angle that made the bridge have to be set at about a 15 degree angle. In short it was an amateur looking mess that sounded like an amateur mess. No way to get my money back without a lawyer. A hard lesson for a 22 year old naive idiot, but it stuck. I'd never buy any mandolin without playing it first or at least get an approval deal with NO money down and NO money paid until you pick it up. Even with the approval, its tough to swallow waiting 7 months to a year on an instrument that may or may not speak to you. I did it with my Northfield and it paid off big time, but I don't believe I'd go through that agonizing wait again. You can play a lot of music in 7 months to a year. Just a fools experience, take it for what its worth.

  11. #36
    Registered User Atlanta Mando Mike's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best Mandolin for $3000-$3500?

    I played 1 Hinde, the green one, and thought it was a good mandolin. My 2 cents on that subject.

  12. #37
    Registered Plec Offender Mickey King's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best Mandolin for $3000-$3500?

    Quote Originally Posted by JamesW View Post
    Does anyone have any input on Lafferty F Mandolins?
    I've owned both the Lafferty spruce top model and currently own the Deluxe cedar top model. Both were built by Paul Shneider of Summit Mandolins. I love both of them, but the cedar top is definately a hotter mandolin of course it's 4k new and well worth to me. I've attached a video of Sierra Hull playing the spruce Lafferty.
    Mickey

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