Good starter Mandolin? (~100 dollar budget)

[EdSherry]

The kits can yield a nice instrument at a decent price, but you should factor in the value of your time. There's a LOT of work involved in making an instrument from a kit. IMHO, it doesn't make sense to buy a kit simply to "save money".

I personally like the Kentucky KM-150 and (especially) the KM-160s, though I acknowledge that they're more than twice your intended "$100" price point. I don't have any personal experience with the Rovers, so I'm not in a position to comment. That said, Saga has a very good (and. IMHO, deserved) reputation for making quality instruments.

I'm always on the lookout for decent low-cost mandolins that I can loan to my students/friends, but finding good deals in used instruments takes a lot of time, effort, and knowledge of what to look for.

I second the suggestion of keeping an eye on the Cafe Classifieds.

[Ed Goist]

...snip...At that price range, every $100 makes a world of difference.

Very well put! I completely agree with this statement. For example, the mandolin 'quality gap' between the $100 price range and the $300 price range is substantially wider than the quality gap between the $2000 price range and the $3000 price range.

[blugoo]

Hi again. Yeah, time would probably be a big consideration. I've recently run into some work, so I've got a lot less of it on my hands :D. But hey that's great though. EdSherry, I think I'll take your advice on the KM-160. http://www.mandolinhut.com/kentucky_mandolin_km_160.htm

I think this package would have me covered. Spending this much, I'd need to make sure my investment is protected and this one comes with a hard case . From the sound bytes on the website, I really can hear a difference between the KM-150 and the KM-160. The 160 did sound a lot warmer.

So now instead of putting on a movie after work, maybe I'll be playing some music instead. I'll give the idea some more time to mill around in my head. Hoping to make a purchase in the next few days .

[jim_n_virginia]

$100.00 and you want in playable too?

I agree with others save just a little more it will save you a lot of heart ache not to mention finger ache.

Buy used and you can get a fairly decent mandolin to learn on pretty easy. I'd trust buying one from a member of the Cafe before eBay at that price. You can pick up up someone else's beginner mandolin that they learned on. More chances of it being set up right or at least playable.

I've seen some real junk from eBay that looked good in the pictures but were just basically scrap wood with strings. I have a $89.00 New York Pro that I got from someone in a trade and I swear I could build a cigar box mandolin that sounded better! LOL!

I agree too at these prices you want to either play it first or get a 48 hour approval period for any mandolin you are thinking about buying. If someone won't give you an approval period then that definitely is a red flag I wouldn't buy it.

good luck!

[bmac]

If you are handy and disceplined you can get a really nice mando out of the Saga kit, however I would highly recommend your getting the Roger Siminoff book Constructing a Bluegrass Mandolin. Sometimes it is sold as a package with the kit. This will tell you a great deal about your mando and how to get the most out of your build. Also make sure the seller includes a standard set of instructions for building the mando. (My last Saga kit did not include any instructions) and frankly, as a beginner, you need them to get a decent build 'cause it is possible to make some hard to correct mistakes..

If you do a decent job you will have at least a $500 mando.
Good luck if you try it!!!

[bmac]

The IV mandolin package you mentioned is an excellent intro to mandolin construction and understanding for beginners like yourself. You can have a really decent mandolin for that money and the book will give you an understanding of mandolin construction and accoustics which should serve you for long after you complete your build.

I am on my third and am learning from each one. If you have and questions about the kit or during your build I would be happy to assist.

[bmac]

Sorry about the repeated answer above... I was sure I had answered the same question a day or so ago but thought I was talking to someone else this time.!!!!?X?X?X?X?X?X?X?

And Yes,,, I am blind.

[Andrew DeMarco]

Don't waste your money. Like others, save up and buy a mid mo flat top for 300-500 bucks.

The goal is to enjoy playing right now, and if the instrument sounds like #### or is difficult to play because of poor construction then you are shooting yourself in the foot!

[Markus]

I'd also follow the advice here, for the $300+ price you can find a pretty decent instrument, under that you're hoping to get really lucky [or likely spending to get it adjusted/modified to be playable].

Do you think you'll get $1 of value, 300 times, from playing it?

Maybe it's an odd way of looking at it, but I've found it good to think about that way as it's guided me to buying appropriate but nicer instruments that I've gotten plenty of value from.

$0.25 for every hour you play it isn't much compared to the value of your time - heck, multiples of that is probably correct - but if you're honestly going to put the hours into it, I wouldn't value it any less.

I know I wished I had spent more than the $200 I did on my first mando, as I eventually realized that double that [esp on the used market, with patience] can get you a quite nice mandolin.

That all said, the only person who really needs to be satisfied with your mandolin is you. Who cares what anyone else thinks, if you enjoy it's sound and playability ... ignore any and all advice if you know you'll be happy with your decision.

Best of luck, and welcome to club.

[Matt DeBlass]

I started out with a Rover from the Mandolin Hut I got for about $140. It worked and was set up pretty well. I beat the hell out of it for about a year and gigged with a it a bit. Then I built my own from an International Violin kit.
The Rover needs a neck reset, otherwise I'd sell it to you cheap, it's RM-35S, with a solid top and dovetail neck. I don't play with it much anymore, and haven't gotten around to messing with the neck. If you're interested, and you've got a shop that can do a reset for a reasonable amount, Private Message me, and we'll see if we can work something out, I've got too many "projects" waiting to delude myself that I'll be working on it myself any time soon.

[bmac]

As Markus commented, sometimes it is interesting to work out cost per hour of playing time. I did this for my Mid-Mo and it worked out to roughly !2 cents per hour of playing time. Not bad really... In fact if I bother to replace the water damaged top it is probably good for quite a few more years pushing the cost per hour down even further.

I repaired a broken Stradolin to replace my Min-Mo and its cost per hour of playtime is now roughly 8 cents per hour and dropping.

It is too early to figure the cost per hour of playing on my kit-builds but I suspect my oval hole build is roughly 10 cents per hour or less by now.

The beauty of building and repairing your own is that, If you are manually enclined, You can have quality instruments for a tiny fraction of the cost of new.

[Jim]

I bought a bestler A oval hole on ebay for $19 dollars on 2003, the fumes from the new paint almost made me pass out when I opened the box, I moved the bridge around to intonate it and have played it ever since. I'm sure there was luck involved but this cheapo was playable from the beginning and because it travels with me and I bring it to work I play it alot. Don't get me wrong, it isn't a great instrument but it sounds OK and being plywood it can take quite a beating. I have Martin lights on it now that sound good , GHS were pretty good too. Anyway my point is you can get a playable instrument for cheap if you look and can do setup yourself.

[Caleb]

I cannot recommend those cheap Rovers to anyone. I have a friend who bought one (from a very popular store that shall remain nameless; I unfortunately recommended this store based on what I've read here on the Cafe) and it started coming apart within weeks. And before the store even heard his side of the story, or saw any pictures of the damage, he was told it would not be covered under any warrantee. They did, however, offer to repair it for him for a small fee, plus shipping both ways.
So, in the end, a $150 mandolin would end up costing him about 3 bills...which he could have spent in the first place here on the classifieds and got a decent instrument.

It was a sad ordeal to witness; not only how the wind was taken out of his sails by the instrument coming apart, but to see how a reputable store gave him the shaft and laughed all the way to the bank. Shame on them.

In the end, you really do get what you pay for. I would rather wait to get a decent instrument, even if it took a few months, than to spend my money on junk that will disappoint. Always remember: if you spent a couple hundred bucks on a cheap mandoiln, you were half-way to the price of a decent one. Short on money? Sell stuff on eBay. Pick up cans on the side of the road. Cut your neighbor's grass. There are ways to get a little more money together everywhere.

[Mandolin Mick]

I have to agree with those who say save a little more instead of limiting yourself to a $100 budget. You could find something worthwhile for that kind of money ... but a plane could drop on your house ... it's just not very likely!

[parttimepicker]

My experience: I bought a $60 Stagg at a street fair just to see if I really liked playing mandolin and would stick with it.
Once I started getting into it, I quickly realized that I wanted something better and started saving to upgrade. I bought a nice one, and now the Stagg is almost painful to play (but it's better than nothing)
It is still nice to have the Stagg as a beater - I keep it in my car. All in all, I'm still glad to have it, but I know what to expect from it, and that's not much.
I think you'll be in a similar position if you stick with the sub-$100 offerings.

[JeffD]

Typically a mandolin costs about twice what a guitar of similar quality would cost. Just in general and typically and with full knowledge that there are exceptions.

So think about what quality you can expect from a $50 guitar, and there you have it.

[Jim MacDaniel]

Typically a mandolin costs about twice what a guitar of similar quality would cost. Just in general and typically and with full knowledge that there are exceptions.

So think about what quality you can expect from a $50 guitar, and there you have it.

I am by no means a mando-snob, nor do I think Jeff is per his history here in the forums -- but this is one of the best generalizations I've read to help put the budget mandolin question into a context that someone new to the mandolin could appreciate, especially if they are transitioning from the guitar world.

[Ed Goist]

I am by no means a mando-snob, nor do I think Jeff is per his history here in the forums -- but this is one of the best generalizations I've read to help put the budget mandolin question into a context that someone new to the mandolin could appreciate, especially if they are transitioning from the guitar world.

I agree...and I'll add that I think the 2-to-1 value ration applies only to A-style mandolins vs. guitars. When one compares F-styles to guitars, I believe the value ratio gets even worse (2.5 to 1, maybe even 3 to 1).

[bgjunkie]

The problem I see with a $100 mandolin is that if you do need a setup then you will end up paying 1/2 to 3/4 of the mandolins original price on the setup (at least in my area). And if the guy doing the setup says the frets need to be dressed or the bridge has big gaps and needs to be fitted, then you just got yourself into the price range of at least a decent beginner mandolin, that if bought from the right dealer would have a good setup from the start.

My first F style was a Michael Kelly Dragonfly II that the setup work ended up costing $250 to get done (I put an ebony bridge to replace the ill-fitted one), and they cost much more that $100, so just be smarter than I was when you decide to buy. I wish I had known about the Cafe when I got started.

[epicentre]

.)

Then there's this guy.
Saga AM-10 (Build your own mandolin kit)
I'm interested in this. It certainly fits the budget, and the do it yourself approach sounds engaging. Solid wood construction. Its a tempting kit. Sounds good for the price from what I've heard.

What do you guys think?

If it's a kit you want, the Sagas are good. Certainly the price is right.

Be especially careful when attaching the neck to the body that you get the "neck angle" correct, and the neck lined up correctly. Actually, research it here on the Cafe using the search engine.

Good luck whichever you choose.

[allenhopkins]

Eighteen-month-old thread; train may have left the station awhile ago...

[Adam Sweet]

I recommend renting for a few months to make sure a) you know what to look for in a good mandolin and b) you're still happy learning it. Most rental shops will allow you to put the money you pay for rental into the purchase of a new instrument (we do), that's pretty sweet because you get to play a nice instrument as you're learning it and then you only have to shell out a couple bucks when you're done with the rental or you can apply that money to an upgrade. And you're not stuck with a piece of crap you can't resell!

[jpsgina]

BUY IT. I just received mine today Fedex and it was packaged brilliantly. I love it. I didn't even have to adjust the bridge, I just tuned it up using
http://www.get-tuned.com/mandolin_tuning_methods.php. I purchased mine for $100 at http://mentone-music.com/Mandolins.htm and there is a video you can watch. It sounds like the video for sure.

I purchased the natural and it is gorgeous, it looks different in person. It has a richer color than the picture on the net; on the net it looks more pine-colored but it is not. The mando has a warm maple beige color and it is nice and shiny. The sound is fantastic. It is not shy, you can definitely hear it, it's loud, and the G D strings are not "banjoey" sounding. It has super sound and fast to play. I went through my scales and it feels just great, my fingers don't hurt, and I played faster than on my old one.

For a hundred dollars, I swear-to-you, you cannot go wrong with this. The gig bag is not very padded but it will protect it from dust. My opinion is, it is great. I am really happy with it. I am ordering a second one and putting it away for the future.

[Ron McMillan]

The Glen Burton might well be a re-badged Savannah SA120.

I'm not surprised that jps is so pleased with his. I tried the Savannah in a store in Scotland last year, and apart from the awful original strings, it played remarkably well for an entry-level instrument.

I know of another Cafe member who loves his Savannah so much that he claims to sometimes play it in preference to his Gibson. That might be taking things a little too far, however :-)

[almeriastrings]

I believe the SA120 is an all-solid, spruce topped, maple b/s instrument.

This "Glen Burton" spec sheet reads:

Matching F holes
Polyurethane High Gloss Finish
Laminated Spruce Top
Mahogany Back and Sides
Mahogany Neck

The back/sides are almost certainly ply too.