New member / New mandolin

[wmacky]

HI all! So so guitar player here, that has decided to give the mandolin a whirl. I did a lot of reading and decided on a LM700. I did something different than I normally would and purchased a blem model to save a few hundred. The blems are supposed to be minor, but I'm pretty nervous about this and will be be on pins and needles until it arrives and I see what I have ordered. I can live with minor, but much more than that will be a real let down. I'm hoping for the best!

[Northwest Steve]

You probably bout that from The Mandolin Store. Like most sponsors of the café the you can feel confident that you are dealing with a reputable shop. Most blems have very minor issues that are cosmetic and nothing that would effect the structural integrity or playability of the instrument. You can feel confident you will be getting a nice playing instrument. Enjoy it.

[OneChordTrick]

Welcome!

Experiences wil vary but I bought my octave mandolin with minor blemishes 2 years ago. I still can’t find where they are!

[Randi Gormley]

Welcome to the cafe and the world of mandolin!

[Chuck Leyda]

Welcome to the cafe!

I always buy blemished or used if I can. The blemishes are coming anyway. May as well save some money.

[HonketyHank]

Welcome, wmacky. I feel confident that you will find a The Loar 700 to be a nice mandolin, blemmed or not. You could do a lot worse and still have a decent starter instrument.

[BrianWilliam]

It’ll be awesome!

[Denny Gies]

Welcome to our wild, wacky world. You're in for a lot of fun, frustration, good times and just pure joy with that little instrument.

[Guitfiddle Mike]

Congrats. I am a converted so so guitar player myself, hence my forum name. I played the stew out of my first mandolin, a used LM-520 VS I bought here in the classifieds. I just upgraded myself and those LM-700 blems were hard to pass on. Especially coming with the setup. Ill bet your going to be very pleased.

[wmacky]

Thanks for all the responses. As guessed, I did purchase it from TMS, and should have it by Friday. One negative is that the discounted Loar does not come with a proper case. This could also be a plus, allowing me to use some of the savings get the case I prefer. My preference is a rectangular case, similar to the older stratocaster cases.

[JEStanek]

Welcome to the cafe! We're all kinda blems in the end, right?

Jamie

[BrianWilliam]

It doesn’t take long for me to “blem” a mandolin. Might as well take the discount. Enjoy and post some pics!

[Br1ck]

I bought a blem Eastman from TMS. Never found the blem, and I tried.

[wmacky]

The mandolin arrived. Looked it over again and again with no sign of any blem. Hey did I get lucky? No, not really.

So I said, hey, why was this bridge adjusted so high on one side and bottomed out on the other during setup? I'm new, but even I know that answer to that. I put a Popsicle stick across the strings at the end of the neck and compared to the top of the body. That's not a very nice looking angle, and I would not call that a blem, but rather a structural issue.

Jerry Rosa shows the exact issue here. Mine is as bad or worse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G2pMWfXn7M&t=1027s

Not real happy as I'm about to be out a lot of shipping money if they even take it back. They say no clearance returns, but I hope B stock is not considered clearance?

[BrianWilliam]

Pics por favor

[Br1ck]

TMS would not have sold you a mandolin that was not functional. I'll wager the average time before upgrade to be a year or two at the most. Play it and pass the good deal along to the next guy when you upgrade.

I'd much rather have better tone, than a lessor mandolin that was perfect.