I visited Gryphon in Palo Alto today to shop for a budget mandolin for road trips, camping and air travel so I can avoid bringing my more-precious-by-the-day Northfield M on excursions where it would be vulnerable to damage or theft. My criteria included a radiused fretboard and comfortable neck profile, tone and overall vibe good enough to elicit happiness rather than frustration, and cost as low as possible. Everything else was negotiable - A vs F, carved top vs. pancake, f-hole vs. oval, appointments, woods, glossy or matte finish, etc. The Northfield Calhoun was my extreme outer limit on budget and Gryphon has one in stock, which I was prepared to shell out for if it really grabbed me. I brought along a 50s Martin O-style soprano uke which plays great and sounds sweet but has some cosmetic issues, and a minty Martin LXM Tres - an oddball in Martin’s pint-sized mother of countertop series which is long out of production (lots of fun to play, can be tuned like a 3-course Irish bouzouki). Both of these have been collecting dust in my home for times measured in decades. I’m on strict 1-in-1-out parole currently. This was an opportunity to earn furlough points AND buy a new instrument so it’s all upside for me.
As a Northfield owner, even though it was more than I wanted to spend on a ‘beach’ mando I was keen to try the Calhoun first while the friendly staff at Gryphon appraised my trade-ins. I’d never played a pancake before. It’s a different experience from a carved top. Plays great, TONS of volume, but as much as I was predisposed to being hooked by it, it wasn’t what I was looking for. Just for confirmation I tried two other pancakes but neither matched the Calhoun’s volume or playability and I had figured out by then that a pancake wasn’t going to work for me (YMMV). I moved on to the Kentuckys and Eastmans. If you’re curious which models just check Gryphon’s current inventory. I didn’t look at model designations, just prices, and I played everything they had under a kilobuck by these two brands.
By now I’d gotten word that the store was offering me $200 each for the trade-ins, which was frankly more than I had expected. After running through the rack, an Eastman MD-305 was the hands-down winner. It was set up better than all the others including pricier models, and also had the best tone to my ears. And to top it off a very nice gig bag is included (minimal extra storage but very well designed otherwise). I took it home for $79 plus tax (plus two instruments that were just taking up space and never getting played). I’ve been playing it all evening, going back and forth with my Northfield. I’m extremely satisfied with the Eastman. And also appreciating more than ever the amazing tone of my Northfield M.
Do you have a ‘beach’ mandolin? What’s it’s story?
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