Re: Anyone been to Nashville trying mandolins?
Originally Posted by
raisedhead
So, I’m here in Sacramento, California and I’ve been shopping for a medium/high-end mando as an upgrade. Nothing local right now...I’m a pro level player and want something pretty great. Anyone been to Nashville and either of the above shops in the last few weeks and played anything as a standout instrument? (can’t afford the Dude @ Carters) If so, comments/ideas?
The mandolin inventory at Schoenberg Guitars over in Tiburon is a bit thin right now --- they have a Gilchrist, but it's the same price as the Dude at Carter's --- but if you haven't already talked with Eric, you might ask him to give you a call if anything in your price range comes in.
That said, there is good news and bad news about the standout instruments in the Nashville stores. The good news is that Gruhn's and Carter's will always have a bunch. The bad news is that people will generally disagree about which one is the best of those standouts because that will be in the ear of the beholder.
If you ask Carter's to ship you one at a specified price over $5K, you probably will be really happy with it. Above that price point, pretty much everything will be incredibly well built and have a really nice tone. However, if you would have played that mandolin side-by-side with other mandos in that room at the same price point, you very possibly could have found a few that you liked better.
I've only been to Nashville once, in 2017. I got to play mandolins made by many of the esteemed builders who are constantly discussed in threads here. At any price point, the ones I liked best may not have been the ones that you would have liked best. If you look at any comparative price-point thread on the Cafe (Weber or Collings?, Clark or Duff?, Dude or Gilchrist?), you'll find players advocating strongly for each builder. That's why all those builders can stay in business!
If you decide to buy one remotely, you might come up with a list of specific physical and tonal qualities that you're looking for, call Carter's --- on my one visit to Nashville, their staff was way more helpful than Gruhn's was --- and ask to speak with someone who really knows mandolins to ask for a recommendation of what to buy in your specified price range. Or, wait a year until you can fly out there and play everything!
Originally Posted by
raisedhead
Another thing...it seems like some of the prices for a number of the used pieces are not far off what they are new. Is this a Nashville thing? Carter’s has had the same instruments on their roster for months and months. Must be a result of Covid I suppose.
I think it's more common with the higher-end builders for their used instruments to drop less of a percentage of their value. As for longevity in the store, that's nothing new. Some of the instruments that I played at Carter's were still there a year or two later at the same price.
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