Re: Ellis, Pava, or Collings MT2
I've been doing a lot of research on the same types of A-style mandolins the past few months, and, to my shame, have probably read most of the threads about mandolins in this class from the past few years!
Where I've landed on this I think is that it is nearly impossible to get a good read on differences between instruments without playing them. So many descriptions of their sound conflicts. High quality sound clips of mandolins by these builders might offer a decent point of comparison, especially if recorded in the same way with the same player, but not every Pava, Ellis, Collings, Girouard, etc. will sound quite the same. I would check out The Music Emporium's youtube channel--lots of sound clips of these builders played by the same player recorded in a similar way. It's the closest I've gotten to being able to get a decent guess of the general tonal profiles of these builders from afar, but it has also illustrated how each individual instrument may vary even by the same builder.
Another factor that I have rarely seen discussed is that I'm not so sure any of us can very confidently trust our memories of an instrument we only played for less than a day many months, or sometimes years ago, such that we can compare it to another instrument we played at a different time and place. I have played at least one instrument from all these builders, but can't remember how they differ in super specific ways that makes me feel confident in choosing between them. Doesn't help that I've never been able to compare more than two of these back to back at a time. I can say from the Pava/Collings MT comparison I did a year and a half ago that the Collings was louder, with a more focused sound while the Pava was a rounder, warmer sound (but how warm, how round? So subjective!). Played a Girouard and Collings MT back to back a month ago and felt similarly, but the Pava was long enough ago that I can't comment on how it compared to the Girouard. And one time I brought in my Breedlove as another point of comparison, but another time I did not, so my perception could have been colored by that as well. Collings has the very distinctive sharp V-neck profile, so that is worth considering; for the way I play the neck profile makes little difference so long as it isn't oversized, but for some that V makes a big difference in whether they love or hate Collings. There are also more Collings out there than these other builders generally, so out of all these this may be the most of these builders to be able to trust the general description of their tone, as everyone comments that they are very consistent in sound.
I have kind of settled on having to take a chance on a used instrument by any of the builders in this general class, and then sell it on if it is not quite what I'm looking for, or else waiting quite a long time to go to multiple stores that have many of these in stock to buy the best one I play. I play a very fine sounding Breedlove Quartz OF, but each of these builders would represent an upgrade from yours and my current mandolin, and if not having the exact tone we are looking for, they are all F-hole A style mandolins of extremely high quality with mostly subtle differences in sound.
"Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man."
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