Recently Purchased Oscar Schmidt Mando for a newbie

[hvalrgir]

So I was roaming around Guitar Center's used section looking for some sweet deals on headphones when I wandered off into their misc string section. I saw some of the less expensive mandolins and immediately fell in love. Now, I'm going to say this right now, this was the EPITOME of impulse buying. I saw an Oscar Schmidt OM40 like new for sale at $129.99. I did some very cursory searches and came to the conclusion that for $130 this was a fairly good deal. The sales person said it was like-new and appeared to have never been used. Having done some later searching i'm starting to wonder. Also, how does one tell that a mandolin has be left tuned up? I gather this can cause damage tot he body if left in tune for a long period of time.

Some facts: One, my budget is incredibly thin at the moment so $130 is about my limit for now.
Two, Being used (or in this case, not used at all) i imagine that the setup is likely in its pac-rim state and at least some fret/nut work and bridge locating would need to occur.
Three, this isn't solid wood, and the most common complaint is the lack of volume. I live in a condo with my wife, and "lack of volume" is more of an asset at this point in time. The other things i have heard about this mando is that it is fairly well built and has decent intonation out of the box.
Four: other than highschool marching band 10 years ago, i have next to no stringed instrument experience, i'm starting fresh! I'm going to use this first mando as a litmus test to see if my living arrangement/work schedule even permit me to continue with this hobby.
Five, I understand the F-style/A-style considerations for lower-end instruments, but I still have to take the considerable discount into consideration.
So my question that I would like feedback on is this: Should I keep this mando, get it set-up and go forth learning (I've heard that this one isn't too bad out of the box)? Or should I return it when it gets here, and spend the same 180$ on something like an already set-up Rover M-50 (solid wood) from an online retailer? The later option may end up being cheaper and would get me solid wood. But I'm still thinking that the OM40, being a slightly pricier instrument, may end up having higher build quality and lasting me longer(laminate spruce top and all). Try to think of this as a new player, a lot of the benefits of solid top seem more subtle and long-term than I will be able to appreciate, and certainly if i take off, I will hop into a smarter instrument fairly soon anyway.


Thanks everyone, I have enjoyed reading these forums the last few days (for hours and hours.....)

[allenhopkins]

1. You can do some set-up, like bridge location and height adjustment, yourself. Here's a recent thread on the subject, including an offer from Cafe member robster to provide a free on-line set-up manual.

2. You've absorbed the Cafe "conventional wisdom" about solid wood being better than laminates, and A-models being more cost-effective than F-models. Still, you're getting a mandolin with a $579 list price for $130 plus shipping. (Is the shipping really $50? Sounds high, or are you figuring in return shipping costs?)

3. Can't speak to "higher quality build." These are mass-produced instruments from Asian factories, and the cost differential generally goes into machine-carving the scroll and points, and tarting up the inlay and finish. Despite the "handcrafted quality" line in the specs, there seems to be little or no handwork in the OM-40. Not that it's a deal-killer; for less than $150 you're unlikely to get hand-carved solid wood, which is the quality standard.

Personally, I wouldn't pay anything near the $579 list price for a plywood, machine-carved, heat-pressed-top mandolin, even with the F-model silhouette. For $130, which is near the low end even for a learner instrument, it may well be worth it. At the worst, you could probably get your money out of it on CraigsList.

[hvalrgir]

Thanks for your feedback. The cost of shipping was actually 3 bucks the extra 50 is what I figured for setup. I agree that the 575cost asking price is absurd, but it may well be worth 130. Im fairly handy with tools and may give self setup a shot. I can lower a nut and set the bridge, but leveling the frets sounds difficult sans appropriate tools,if it even needs it. Ill see how it looks when it arrives and see what I can do. They still sell for 300 used on ebay,so there's still that.


Thanks

[LM_in_KY]

So I was roaming around Guitar Center's used section looking for some sweet deals on headphones when I wandered off into their misc string section. I saw some of the less expensive mandolins and immediately fell in love. Now, I'm going to say this right now, this was the EPITOME of impulse buying. I saw an Oscar Schmidt OM40 like new for sale at $129.99.

I am an absolute, rank beginner, and I have an OM40 too. My wife bought it for me after months of saying I wanted to learn to play the Mandolin. I dont know anything about mandos, but I am a somewhat accomplished guitarist, so there is some knowledge of strings. The intonation on mine was miles off. The strings were about an inch off the fingerboard. Just lowering the strings and setting the intonation made it feel a whole universe better. The bridge had to be moved back about 10mm to get it right. I have better strings to put on this weekend, also. Should be a little more improvement. I dont really wish it were any better. In some convoluted way, I feel it will be better for me to learn on a cheaper instrument, I think it will help later ? In summation, mine sounds OK, looks like its built relatively well for what it is. It sat for a year before it was taken out of the case, and nothing came unglued or split, so thats good.

Regards,
LM in KY

[hvalrgir]

Ive been looking into some of the basics of setting up. I don't feel like i would have any problems with setting the bridge. I have a lot of tools and am comfortable with adjusting the nut as well. The only thing i don't see mentioned very often is the fret hight/level. I don't think i have the tools necessary to re-crown or level the frets, should they be off. Nor do I know a good way of measuring that. I guess a stright edge? Is the fingerboard flat or radiused? I'll give the instrument a good once over. I still feel like for my money the OM 40 would be a better buy than even a all solid wood Rover (at $180 setup). There has to be SOMETHING that causes the resale value of the OM 40 to stay at $300 compared to The rover's list price of $180.


Thanks for your reply!

[LM_in_KY]

Surprisingly, my frets are very level. I dropped my bridge to about 1mm before it would bottom, and I get no buzz, anywhere. Is mine an anomaly ? Who knows, but I know there are a few good points to CNC mass manufacture! I might slot the first string slots pn the nut a little more, but Im not in any hurry to do so, everything is OK for where Im at now.
I never worry about resale on cheepie instruments. I will need to take my mando on a bicycle or plane at some point, not sure I'd want to do that with a 'nice' mando . . .

Regards,

LM in KY

[hvalrgir]

I read the info about self setting up linked by Allen. Also got the ebook from Rob, amazing stuff in there. Its nice to see such a well established friendly community.

My current plan is to keep the OM 40. Ive done a bit more research about laminated spruce in instruments, and i'm convinced the subtlties of solid wood are beyond my current or near-future skill. The added durability of laminated wood and even the reduced volume are both positives to me at this stage. Everything else I could gather about the OM 40 and the less expensive solid Rover seem to indicate that the OM 40 is still the higher quality instrument, and with proper setup, will do me just fine.

[allenhopkins]

Good luck with it; let us know how it turns out.