$1200 mandolin

[subweird]

ok, without talking about politics or religion or anything else hot buttonish..

Can you guys help me pick out a good mandolin w/ a pickup for under $1200?

There's not a lot of shops around here that stock mandolins for me to try out.

[Austin Koerner]

there is a Rigel A+ delux in the classifieds, it'll sell fast probably.

NFI

[mandroid]

Acoustic with a piezo, pre-installed, or b) an electric with a magnetic coil pickup?

for B, if you can find an EM 150 Gibby, at $1200 grab it.

[Ken Olmstead]

Mandroid makes the point. What is it your after? Breedlove OF or OO Quartz depending on whether or not you want oval or F holes would be a good option and that would cover the shipping too.

[f5loar]

I'd get a Eastman 615 and add pickup of choice.
EM150 sounds good if you are into the short neckers.

[mando.player]

The Rigel is still in the classifieds. Being an owner, I'm a bit biased. Mine doesn't have the pickup, but they are all great players.

[Ken Olmstead]

Mandroid makes the point. What is it your after? Breedlove OF or OO Quartz depending on whether or not you want oval or F holes would be a good option and that would cover the shipping too.

Sorry, I'm an idiot! I missed where you wanted a pickup!

[RichM]

Agree with previous posters: if you're dedicated to the idea of a factory-installed pickup, a Rigel A+ is a great choice. They aren't made anymore, but seem to come up on the used market with good frequency.

Keep in mind, it will probably run you around $200 to have an internal pickup installed aftermarket. So for your $1200 budget, you could purchase any $1000 mando (lots of good choices at that price point) and have a pickup added.

[Richard Russell]

Ovation MM68 is a super amplified mandolin, may be the best for louder band settings.

[Jim MacDaniel]

I agree re the Rigel A+, and I see two current A+ listings in the classifieds right now: one in NC for $995 (if it's still available at that low price , and one in Hawaii for $1100, still a good price IMO.

[arrowmandolin]

Another vote for the Rigel......

[groveland]

This is fun. I, too, vote Rigel A+ Deluxe with its original pickup.

[kudzuklunker]

The Rigel A+ looks good to me.

[holdenzdad]

For $1,349 there is a Rigel Gypsy Q at the mandolin store with a schertler pu - NFI

[subweird]

I found a local shop that has more than two mandolins. They have a beautiful Avery F that doesn't have a pickup for $700.

Everyone's telling me I can replace the bridge with a decent pickup bridge.. what do you guys think of those?

[mandroid]

Mike,
show him a link to the hundreds of posts about Fishman and Schatten and a few other in bridge piezo pickups.

[N.B.: A wealth of prior posts on that topic]

[steve V. johnson]

I just played my Rigel A+ in a club last night, plugged right into the PA for the first time in a long time and
it sounded great, was loads of fun.

Last week I thought I'd offer it for sale. #Now... aaahhh don't think so....



stv

[johnsmusic]

I have a Jonathan Mann 2 point with a Benedetto Humbucker and volume and tone control that I might be talked out of for about $1250.

[UsuallyPickin]

FLatiron by Gibson, Eastman, Michael Kelly,Kentucky, especially Japanese manfactured ones, used A model Gibsons,Martins, add a bridge pickup of your choice for 150.00$ or so, use a carpenter jack if you don't want to replace the endpin with a 1/4" Phone jack. A reasonable case should be included in this price range. Ebay has a page and a half of available instruments. Shop til you drop. R/

[Michael Stover]

Hey johnsmusic,

Sent you a pm regarding that Jonathan Mann...

[Alex Fields]

I have used both bridge pickups and the Schertler pickup that you just stick on, and the Schertler is better by orders of magnitude. Of course, it's also more expensive.

[TxRhino]

Maybe, better late than never; however, my vote goes to the Ovation. I have one of these and it has got to have be one of the best and most well balanced instruments (amped or not) of any mandolin I have ever played. I have a Gibson Fern, a Morgan Monroe MM8, and the Ovation. Once you get past the nontraditional look.... it really is one honey of an instrument. Especially for the money.

Keep the Faith

Michael