If you are willing to spend about $1200, you can buy a very good A style. Good enough you can walk out of a store after having played the likes of Collings, Weber, and Northfield and think you have a pretty good mandolin at home. It will shift your thinking from if I only had a good mandolin, to if I could only play better. This is an invaluable lesson and well worth the price. I had already come to this realization when one day I took my Silverangel into Gryphon for an adjustment. While waiting I played a lot of nice mandolins. When my SA was brought to me to test, it was every bit as good, different yes, but good. Now I’ve finally put heavier strings on it, there are no excuses left.
If you are on a stricter budget, a Kentucky 900 will get you close. I think the Eastman 300 and 500 are good, but will certainly end up being a stepping stone. I am certainly NOT saying a $1200 mandolin is a cure for MAS, only a time delay.
Look in the classifieds now. Get what I’m talking about for less than $1k
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