Sorry, i know this has been asked

[TRU]

I've read plenty about "beginning mandolins." There are a buncha posts on here and all very well answered. But I got a little confused. So please allow me to ask a slighty different question...

In the mandolin world where Rougues, Johnsons, New York Pros, Kentuckys, etc live...which SOLID TOP mandolin is the one to buy?

I see plenty on eBay from $1-$100. I enjoy eBay and have great experience selling and buying instruments. So this is where I will be spending my hundred bucks or so.

So again, can you please tell me which solid tops I should be on the lookout for in this world of "not good, but decent" mandolins?

Thanks!

[Jim Broyles]

Of the ones you mention, the only one I can recommend is the Kentucky. However, probably any of them can be made acceptably playable for the beginner, but either you will have to set it up if you have the skill to do so, or you will have to have it professionally set up. This is liable to cost you additional money, unless you know someone who will do it for you. I myself have personally optimized a friend's Rogue, which was close to unplayable when I first picked it up. Didn't sound half bad when the action, intonation and bridge fit to body was done.

[Elliot Luber]

I'd grab that used Mid Missouri M4 in the classifieds before someone else does... or lend me $300 and I'll buy it. :-)

[JEStanek]

I had a Kentucky KM140S (solid top only) and a Johnson MA 120 (all solid wood) at various times. Both were pretty nice following a decent set up and new strings. These are in the 150-200 range. FWIW, Kentucky seems to be reinvesting into its mandolin line so I may lean that way now over the Johnson. The Kentucky KM150S (all solid wood)is the same price as the Johnson all solid wood mando.

Jamie

[TRU]

Would anyone agree that, "If yer gonna spend $100 on a beginner mandolin, just make it sure has a solid top. Then at least it oughta be ok"

Would anyone agree with this?

[Jim Broyles]

The mere fact of a solid top does not guarantee its being ok. There are plenty of laminated top instruments out there which sound fine. Where the solid top will come into play more is later when the instrument has been "played in." The general opinion is that a laminated top sounds as good as it will get right away, and the solid top will "open up" with playing time. I have a laminated guitar which sounds very sweet. The Rogue I set up for my buddy is laminate, and it sounds okay now. One more thing you may not have considered - solid does not necessarily mean carved. You can have a solid top which is heat pressed into shape, and more or less acts like plywood, so I have heard. All in all, you are talking an entry level instrument, and you are not likely to get a true gem at that price point. My advice is to get a Kentucky 150S which is all solid woods, and learn to play it. For not much more you can get a 160 which is carved top all solid.

[Greg H.]

Beyond the solid vs. laminate concern, if you can go somewhere and try out the instrument it makes a huge difference. That way you can, hopefully, check out various instruments and come away with the one that sounds and (more importantly in that price range FEELS) best to you. There is a great deal of difference between individual instruments (particularly if one is set up properly and the other isn't) so it's worth your time to go some place where you pick the one that feels best to you.

[TRU]

Yeah, yer right, Greg. The thing is, stores (used or new) dont sell even cheap mandolins for the prices individuals sell them on eBay. A store will put the lowest tag on it and let it sit there.

There are folks on eBay, however, who will sell some $130 Johnson for $80 just so they can get rid of it and put some cash in their pocket.

If I was truly "in the market" for a mandolin I would do it correctly. I'd invest my money pretty wisely. But since I just wanna get a mandolin for $60-$100, then I want to make sure I shoot for the best POSSIBLE scenario. I may miss the mark...but I wanna make the best aim.

So I wont be playing anything before purchasing. I just want to learn some basics.

"If yer gonna get burned on a used $100 mandolin, dude, at least make sure it is a . That way at least you've taken yer best shot with yer $100."

Thats the kind of info I'm looking to hear.

But thanks for the advice.

[Jim Broyles]

"If yer gonna get burned on a used $100 mandolin, dude, at least make sure it is an old Kay. That way at least you've taken yer best shot with yer $100."

[JEStanek]

If you buy the $80 - $100 off eBay you'll likely need to spend another $40-70 on a set up and strings to make it playable. At that point you might as well get the $150 KM140s from a good dealer like Elderly who will do the set up prior to shipping. Most (if not all) ebayers of sub$200 mandos don't do any set up work and the nuts are high, the bridges off, etc).

Jamie

[TRU]

I'm gonna go with one of these suckers. Looks like an Old Hickory...

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-MANDOLIN-A-STYLE-BLONDE-SOLID-CARVED-TOP-NR_W0QQitemZ270133282379QQihZ017QQcategoryZ10
179QQtcZphotoQQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem " target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-MAN....iewItem</a>

I'll let ya know how everything looks/sounds/plays in case yer interested.

Thanks for info!

[Jim Broyles]

Did you order it? I had an F, and it was quite possibly the worst mandolin I ever played. I sent it back. If you get that one you will need a pro setup.

[Kevin Briggs]

I suggest going to almost any music store that carries acoustic guitars and tring whatever Fenders or Morgan Monroes or Kentuckys it has on the wall. For $100 it's very tough, but you want something that stays in tune and is easy to play. I'd not worry too much about tone at that price. I think you can get some tonal values once you get to at least $300, based on what's for sale at that price. For example, I had an Alvarez A-100 that was every bit as good as, if not better than, the Morgan Monroe MMS-2 I got for about $200 more.

[allenhopkins]

So, TRU, what's the best $100 guitar I can buy? The best $79 5-string banjo? The absolute acme of the $2.50 harmonica? The most reliable $250 automobile?

If you only want to spend $100, you're sailing a sea with many shoals. There's a plethora of junk out there, from vari-colored A models with tuners that won't tune, to elaborately inlaid Vietnamese instruments with mother-of-pearl cockatoos that fall out when you pick the mandolin up.

Doesn't mean you won't find a "good 'un," or at least an "acceptable 'un," and I think you've received some good hints above. And in the end, you've only risked $100. But you might be better off with a structurally sound but cosmetically imperfect older instrument, such as a Strad-O-Lin, Kay, Regal, Harmony etc., even with a laminated top. When you consider what it costs to produce and ship an instrument from Asia, where all the "cheapos" (sorry, guys, for the slur) are made, you can't put a whole lot of good materials and hand-work into something that sells for $100.

Now excuse me, I'm going skydiving. Don't know if I'll like it, though, so I'm looking for the least expensive parachute...

[gregjones]

"If yer gonna get burned on a used $100 mandolin, dude, at least make sure it is an old Kay. That way at least you've taken yer best shot with yer $100."

Great to hear. My old Kay arrived today. Got it off eekBarf for $102.50.

Guess I got burned for a few bucks.

That, I can handle.

[MiguelATF]

If you haven't bought your eBay el Cheap 'carved top' - which incidentally appears to be sold by a seller/music store which stocks a lot of the cheap 'Galveston' brand of mandolins, so I suspect that's what it is - then I have one more recommendation to make. Look for a Rover - either an RM-50 or an RM-35S. Rover is a cheap line of Mandolins sold by Saga and, as far as most people can tell, they seem to have been manufactured for some time in the same factories/workshops which made/make Kentuckys. Quite a few of these inexpensive mandos are astoundingly well built and, for a variety of reasons - including possibly the solid wood they are made from and the carved tops - sound, to some of us at least, astoundingly good. My own Rover is a slightly more expensive one - an F-model, the RM-75, which these days retails for close to $500 but can be found cheaper - but several of the less expensive Rovers list for under $200 - and are not only very 'playable' - and quite well built for the ridiculously low 'price point' at which they are sold - but actually sound quite good.

Dirt cheap mandos can be very playable - but often sound so damn tinny, even with set-up and tweaking, that you may wnd up wishing you'd spent an extra $25 or even and extra $50....for something which not only plays well but also sounds pleasing to the ear. Such simple expedients as putting better strings on a mandolin - trying a different pick (thicker often equals richer sound, something which can surprisingly alter a mandolin's voice) - or even getting a music store or luthier to do some simple and inexpensive set-up work for you (and yes, there are luthiers/music people who are good and will charge reasonable rates) - can all work wonders towards making your El Cheap special...sound richer and stronger and more melodious...than you might have thought possible.

I had an old Harmony - the kind which looks a little like a fake electric guitar, with a horn sticking up where the scroll goes on F styles - which I thought was quite cool - but which never sounded good no matter how much tweaking I or others did to it. I finally gave it away. My Rover sounded rich and strong almost from the first moment - and small amounts of tweaking made what was a playable and nice sounding mandolin sound even better.

So, yes, everything is relative- but you CAN get an inexpensive mandolin which sounds astoundingly good - and plays very nicely.

You can also get an El Cheapo which looks cool but never plays nice no matter what.

Part of it may be placating the Mandolin Gods by burning the right incense and offering the right ritual wines and words.

Good luck with your choice.

-Miguel

P.S. The other reason I'm prejudiced in favor of the Rovers is the little tag on the inside of each instrument which informs you, the owner, that it's a 'Rover' - and then adds the following: "It Barks...and it Bites!"