Re: Looking for advice on best mandolins around 5K
If your son wants to try instruments, the best would be to go somewhere there's a good selection to sample from. Nashville is probably the most obvious choice.
You don't say where you are, but insured shipping (at least by a private individual), i.e., to return something you decide against, can chew though a non-insignificant portion of your budget in a hurry, and depending on your credit card limit, getting a few instruments at the same time to actually compare might be a problem. So, really balance that against a short trip to a place that has several to sample from.
But, FWIW, Morgan Music (the lower priced MF on Reverb) looks like a sponsor here, so I'd definitely call them if you are interested. The other one looks to be a special version MF, so may have had a higher starting price, and it looks like it might be a smaller shop. In any case, saying what a used instrument is "worth" always comes back to "it's worth what a willing buyer and seller agree on." In the mandolin world, used instruments, barring certain makers and vintages, are generally less than new ones, depending on wear and tear, but there's no 'blue book" for those things. Seller reputation is as important as any other factor once you get past entry models, IMHO.
Whether you travel or have ones shipped to you, I'd probably want to play 3, at least. Like anything acoustic, they can vary a little or a lot, even between samples of the same model, especially if they were made at different times, and in a factory, likely by different people.
2018 Kentucky KM-950, 2017 Ellis A5 Deluxe
Bookmarks