Need a beater mandola

[demotlj]

Hi,

I play in an "Early Music et al" ensemble in church and frequently have music which requires both a mandolin and mandola. I have a mandola which I loan to the other mandolin player when we need both instruments but it would be nice to find him a cheap mandola to practice on at home. He can use my nicer one for the performance but it would be nice if he had something to practice on in-between performances.

Mandolas are scarce to begin with. Does anyone know where I might find, or look for, an old mandola, just a step up from wall art, that we could get for him to use for practice? He only plays it in the ensemble a few times a year so he doesn't want to invest in a good one for himself. (He already bought an upright bass for our bluegrass ensemble!)

Laurie

[Jacob]

Blue Moon Flat Top Tenor Mandola at Hobgoblin Music USA. (nfi)

[darrylicshon]

I've seen some decent cheap ones on eBay lately, I've been looking for a cheap 20" scale but I see 16" also i would do a search and see if anything appeals to you. I'm not sure what scale you want.

[demotlj]

The Blue Moon Flat Top Tenor Mandola looks perfect. Thanks.

Laurie

[Freddyfingers]

If that is the budget then give it a whirl. I searched for a while for an affordable one. Came close to getting a gold tone or trinity college when I stubbed into big muddy mandolin. He makes mandolas starting at 875. That's all solid woods and American made. If that doesn't blow your budget then look it up. I went with a rosewood back and sides and it sounds spectacular. That and mike is a easy going great guy. Check them out.

[mrmando]

Blue Moon Flat Top Tenor Mandola at Hobgoblin Music USA. (nfi)

Oh, dear heavens, no. OP asked for something a step up from wall art. The Blue Moon is three steps down and four to the left from wall art. Utter garbage.

[Jacob]

Oh, dear heavens, no. OP asked for something a step up from wall art. The Blue Moon is three steps down and four to the left from wall art. Utter garbage.

Did not know that. Thanks!

[demotlj]

I should probably be more specific in what I'm looking for. Basically, I thought it would be helpful for the ensemble member to have an instrument with a mandola scale length and tuning for practicing on at home the week before a performance so that he can get the feel of the proper fingering. It doesn't have to sound great because he can use mine for performances and I'm assuming he wouldn't be interested in using it for his own pleasure because he mostly plays viola and double bass (with some mandolin). We only play four to six times a year. If the Blue Moon is so bad that it would make practicing intolerable, I'll keep watching EBay. I was hoping for something under $300 though.

[Dave Kirkpatrick]

Search for a used Big Muddy 'dola. They usually go for a round $250 or $300 and are a high quality instrument with a great sound. Mike is also selling refurbished instruments on his web page, so you could look there as well.

[mrmando]

The Blue Moon has a scale length of 19.1 inches, longer than most CGDA mandolas, so if it's not in the same ballpark as your mandola it wouldn't be much good as a practice instrument, even if it didn't sound like an anteater passing gas. We had a college student trying to play one of those things in our mandolin orchestra for a couple of years, and I kept wishing we could get her a better instrument.

Trinity College, Gold Tone and Washburn have all put out somewhat decent oval-hole mandolas under $1K in recent years, and you might luck into a used one within or close to your budget. An old Flatiron or Mid-Missouri/Big Muddy would also be a great choice, but I would expect them to cost more; if I ever saw one of those for $300 I would pounce on it.

There's a Louisiana builder named Rick Felkel who makes Flatiron-style mandolas at surprisingly reasonable prices. Not easy to find a secondhand one, though: http://www.angelfire.com/la2/elloree/mandolins.html

[mrmando]

Oh, hey, here's a Wishnevsky mandola. Signature rough workmanship but the price is certainly right. Unlike the Blue Moon I believe Steve uses solid woods, so it'll sound better than it looks.

http://eastnc.craigslist.org/msg/5424313963.html

[tmsweeney]

I have a celtic star mandola flat top b 17 inch scale, it has an internal pickup, I would be willing to let go very reasonably, I don't have it listed in the classifieds, so email me if interested, I 'm up in Albany NY if that makes any kind of difference.