Hi everyone,
My first post.
I am looking to buy my first mandolin. I intend to use it primarily for recording of original music that has some mandolin parts. In other words, I *probably* won't become primarily a mandolin player, but I would like to learn to play certain parts on the mandolin and have them sound good on pro-level recordings. Mostly percussive chords and occasional quick riffs.
I fully understand that the most important thing in the sound will be the skill of the player, and also the recording engineer, so I get it that it will take a good bit of time to get to that level. But - I play guitar and sometimes banjo on pro recordings in pro studios so I have confidence that I can do this after some amount of time.
I don't know much about mandolins. I am used to buying quality instruments and I know they can be costly. That said, I would like to spend as little as possible to get something that will be good enough such that the mandolin is not the limiting factor in the sound of the recordings. I really don't want to get something cheap to learn on and then have to upgrade later. I am willing to spend what it will take to get something that will sound at a professional level on a recording (assuming a professional level player is playing it).
There is really nowhere to try out mandolins where I live (and I checked Craigslist and there was only one listed and it was a super cheap thing, more like a toy).
I do get to Nashville frequently. Where are the stores in Nashville that I should hit to try some out, and what suggestions do you have for me to try? I am really only worried about sound and playability…. not too worried about looks.
Sorry this note is so long. Just wanted to make sure to give enough info of what I am looking for.
Ideas, suggestions? BTW - I've looked around the forum quite a bit and there seem like a lot of great, friendly folks here!
Thanks.
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