Hey Folks!
Thanks a great deal for your advice! I went with an Eastman 304 that I purchased (also at the behest of many) from The Mandolin Store. Price was certainly right, and my first impression is that I got a great value for my money.
I really like the satin finish, it seems durable and resists picking up fingerprints from my sweaty, sweaty hands. I was initially surprised by the string tension (coming from the guitar world) and thought I'd have to work on my finger strength a lot to even pull myself up to a 20 minute practice session, but I found that with such a nicely set action (thanks Mandolin Store!) I could use a pretty light touch right behind the frets and get a clear tone without any buzz all the way up and down the fingerboard.
Single-piece solid tail. The screws are in excellent condition with not even a hint of stripping. Looks to be pretty easy to restring, and there's felt on the bottom portion to protect the strings. The strings it came with sound just fine and look to be in great condition, so I'm not going to swap out for a little while. When the time comes, I have some Elixirs and some D'Addario EFW74's to get me started on the path to figuring out what suits me best.
It's not exactly high flames and tiger stripes at this price point, but feels very solid, plays easily, and though a little on the quiet side, out of the box it sustains longer than my Yamaha FG-JR. Looks like a have a new hiking companion.
The saddle base seems well-fit and makes good contact. I can't slide a piece of paper under it anywhere. The intonation is dead-on and required no adjustment on my part.
The next step will probably include some kind of arm rest (mostly to keep me from sweating all over my mandolin). After that, if I can get some chords and scales under my belt, I may reward myself by upgrading the shoe lace to a strap of some kind. I can't place one under the fretboard above the sound hole, so I'll be looking for some above-the-nut solutions that won't get in the way. Maybe I'll try braiding some paracord.
Overall, I'm impressed with the quality of the Eastman 304, and very impressed with The Mandolin Store for the sale and setup (I'm not affiliated in any way, just a happy customer). Tone-wise....well....ask me in a few weeks once it gets broken in a bit and I'm sure of the strings that are on it
Thanks again folks, for all of your help!
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