Miss a car payment for this mandola?

[argonewt]

eBay has a Trinity mandola up at this link.

Been playing mando for some time, looking for a different sound and a little less string tension...

Would YOU miss a car payment to bid on this item?
SAGA says sitka spruce top and solid maple back & sides
bound rosewood for neck.

[Brent Hutto]

I would never take money from a normal household obligation (like car, rent, food, clothing, health care) to buy an extra musical instrument.

That's is a perfectly all right but nothing spectacular mandola. They make lots of 'em and you can buy one any time for around $500, new and much much less when you find one used. That auction will finish up somewhere around $300-$350 most likely. You're better off spending a hundred more dollars some time when you have it to spend than trying to jump on something just because early in the auction it looks like a "deal". Keep in mind it will almost certainly need some setup work too (although you will sometimes get lucky on a used instrument from a generic "outlet").

Take a big ol' Pasadena on that one, buddy.

[dang]

I would agree with what Brent said.
The instrument in the link is simply not rare enough to justify drastic measures. Especially if you do not have a chance to play it first!!
Dan

[JeffD]

I have liked the sound of the Trinity bouzoukis and octaves I have played. And there is something really cool about a black instrument.

[chasray]

Would YOU miss a car payment to bid on this item?

No.
And if you could play a few first, it could keep you from buyer remorse. Some play easier than others. Some are longer in scale and have different sized frets.

[testore]

Stick your neck out for that "once in a life time" opportunity. Not this mandola.

[JEStanek]

No. There are plenty of fish in the sea.

Jamie.

[Denny Gies]

I'd only miss the Ferrari payment if a Loar came up for sale really, really cheap.

[Tom C]

Rule 1: Never miss a mortgage/rent payment.
Rule 2: Never miss a car payment.
Rule1 revisited: Never buy something you can't afford.

[EdHanrahan]

Agree on a bold capital "NO!", with exclamation point, especially because the saddle is compensated for mandolin (that has 2 wound & 2 unwound courses) rather than mandola. Here, the length of the wound 2nd course (D string) should be shorter than the others.

Admittedly, some have commented that a mandolin w/ wound 2nd course (A on mandolin) works okay with the "normal" compensation, but that throws me as it pretty much violates the whole logic of compensating at all. YMMV!

[bmac]

It is $250 today... I don't think paying around $300 is out is out of line to try out an idea for an alternative sound. I always assume that any used instrument is going to need to be set up, though I have been pleasantly surprised a couple times on ebay. But isn't that why we all learned to do settups?... to save a few $?

Anyway I think it is kind of interesting,,, though I have enough on my plate right now.

[Brent Hutto]

Admittedly, some have commented that a mandolin w/ wound 2nd course (A on mandolin) works okay with the "normal" compensation, but that throws me as it pretty much violates the whole logic of compensating at all. YMMV!

Define "OK"...my saddle is the original one Mike Black put on when he built the mandolin. Compensated for plain A strings but I have Thomastik-Infeld flatwounds with a wound A and the intonation is definitely off. Not as much as I might fear but whereas on the other courses the intonation is nigh perfect, the A strings get pretty dodgy up past the seventh or eighth fret.

[bmac]

Tom C forgot one rule....

Rule number 3: Never have any fun.

[Brent Hutto]

Dodging calls from debt collectors is a very quirky definition of "fun".

[Dan Margolis]

Better to skimp on food, shelter, and clothing for the kids than to miss a car payment. The kids will be fine, but you NEED your car! I am joshing, of course...

[mandomick]

Shouldn't it read "miss a mandola payment for a car?"

[argonewt]

Thanks all, for your comments. I had great luck with my Tacoma M1 from an ebayer and, yes it did need some setup work, and some fret work too. Turned out to be a wonderful instrument.

Brent - if this turns out to bid up to $350 I would certainly walk away. Damn, that's 1 1/2 car payments!

[allenhopkins]

Only way I'd miss a "basic living expenses" payment to buy an instrument, is if I were making my living playing music, and thought that getting the mandola would result in more income.

Trinity College instruments are factory-made Asian imports; they're decent quality for the money, but availability of this mandola is no "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity. There'll be one next month, or next year.

[mrmando]

TC has a new line of mandolas that are better than this one. I've tried a few of these entry-level models and they are nothing to write home about, let alone miss a car payment for.

[Tom C]

I did not forget... but only if you could afford to have fun. I guess some of us know how to live within our means.

[tkdboyd]

Addendum to Maslow's hierarchy of needs!

[Brent Hutto]

It's going to get well over $350 by the time it's done. Still 3+ hours to go and it is over $300 already. If anybody pays more than $400 for it they're an eBay auction addict...

[Ed Goist]

'No' to original question. 'Discretionary funds only' is my policy for instruments and other hobbies. However, YMMV!

Addendum to Maslow's hierarchy of needs!

Oh, and I'm stealing this.

[Brent Hutto]

$382.27 shipped. That's about what they seem to go for, mid-upper 300's. Not the deal of a lifetime, it went for about what it's worth. The Trinity College instruments in that family are $500 or a bit more new and somewhere under $400 used, generally.