ok I'm a newbie, I don't know how to play any stringed instrument, but I have fallen in love with the mandolin and particularly played in the bluegrass style. I live in Belfast, Northern Ireland and our music stores are less than crammed with good examples or decent advice about making my 1st mando purchase. I can afford arround 200 pounds sterling for a mando plus 50 quid for music tabs etc. Ive been looking at the ozark semiacoustic, or the kentucky astyle (f-hole) the one up from a 140. I've also seen the gremlin models on the net which are similarly priced arround the 200 pounds mark. and thats all i know
please help:D
You might want to visit mandolincafe.com and post this question. It has several open discussions on this subject, and I am sure that you will get quite a bit of advise in response to your post as well. Many of the mandolincafe community seems to be bluegrass fans as well, so there are quite a few bluegrass-specific discussions that you also might enjoy browsing -- or starting.
I can offer one basic tip, although I don't play bluegrass (yet): a carved or arched-top A-style mandolin with F-holes (like the Kentucky) is a good choice for that bluegrass "chop", and all solid woods (as opposed to laminated woods) may also help your tone and volume -- the latter being important since you may have to compete against the banjo-picker's wall-of-sound.
Hi Dru,
You should be able to get a pretty good instrument for the money. Just make sure it's got a solid top and if possible solid sides and back as well. You may want to investigate used from an owner as you can often get people looking to part from good instruments for not alot of money. There's a website called Mandolin Cafe(just plug those two words into your search engine and the website should come up first). There's a ton of info for any/all questions mandolin. If you can befriend a player in Belfast who respects the 'bluegrass' approach ask them to help you make your choice. Most of the time musicians in general are helpful to newbie's. Good Luck!
I would agree that Kentucky makes a good budgetary mandolin. Washburn, Epiphone, and Alvarez are acceptable as well. I’ve also played ones by Aria, Oscar Schmidt that I liked. These should all be in your budget. Fender, Applause/Ovation, & Tacoma are ones that I haven’t liked. All the budgetary mandolins I have owned have eventually self-destructed after about five years.
Cheers
I've just been through a similar dilemma and eventually resolved matters by going through Hobgoblin Music. Just put Hobgoblin into a search engine and you'll be flying; they have shops all over the place, though none in Norn Iron. Many of them have a list of second hand instruments. Another idea would be to start attending trad sessions in Belfast or further afield and seeing who might know about someone wanting to sell a second hand instrument.
I'm from Newcastle, Co Down by the way, so a near neighbour.
Kentucky's are good value, as are the epiphones and the fender in that price range although the differences between two supposedly identical instruments can be quite large. I have a fender which is a beautiful playing instrument but the tone is muddy when compared to the mandos I play normally, so it lives in the bedroom and plays quietly. If you've got £250 together it might be an idea to wait a month or two and look at a Thomas Buchanan, I think they're about £350 or so and they are beautiful instruments. Whatever don't waste money on tabs, Between the mandoline cafe and co-mando (don't forget the hyphen) you'll get enough good tab and tune material to keep you going until you can read whats posted here. good luck with the learning.
Hi, thanks for the great advice, I think I will opt for the kentucky KM150s model from the ACC music company priced at 150.00GBP as my fisrt mando aquisition. The musi stores in my local area seem very "snobby" for want of a better word when they found out I was a newb to the instrument, I got the distinct impression that i was being brushed to the side... OH WELL guess who won't be getting there hands on my cash;)
Now comes the really big hurdle:O convincing my wife (bless her), that I should be allowed to buy one... any advice greatly appreciated:D
cheers Dru, Belfast
Hi Dru,
If she doesn't play, promise to get her an autoharp as they're pretty easy to learn...and 'more' expensive than a mandolin! Nothing better than sharing music in matrimony. Other than laughter. Sorry, I meant to warn you to 'not' trust music store advice, but it looks as though you're blessed with a good BS sniffer. Stick with the Mando-cafe or co-mando and you'll always get straight opinions and truth. Have been reading/posting on those websites for years and while opinions vary, the integrity of position remains constant...good folks who 'love' music and mandolins. As far as learning goes, there's a slew of book/cd combos which give you 'play-along' rhythm tracks(both slow and normal), not to mention software available. I've been playing mando for quite a while and 'still' use the tracks when I'm not involved in a gigging project.
Another suggestion you may want to consider; soon after you make your purchase, (a Kentucky 150 was my first mando, and I played it for several years before I outgrew it), find a local luthier and have him/her 'setup' your instrument. It's like getting a used car tuned up just after you buy it!
For $20, I have mine recent new purchase setup; he set he bridge correctly, adjusted the nut to the string type I was using, and set the action to my preference, (distance from string to fret on the fingerboard). Just a is noted above, go to www.mandolincafe.com or www.co-mando.com where you'll find exercises, bluegrass, ITM, blues, etc. in tablature, gifs and abc formats.
If your local music shop is snobby, tell 'em to piss off and look in your local golden pages under guitars, call all the music shops and asked for recommended luthiers.
I would also suggest one or two starter lessons to make sure you don't learn any habits that cause problems later that you'll have to unlearn.
a friend of mine just bought a Joe Foley Mandolin. His name is Eddie Moloney and he features on the new Eoin O'neill cd called"the Session" a lovely album indeed. This particular isnstrument is fullof bass and a pleasure to hear. Joe lives in Dublin
A guy in Bath posted a classified ad (ad # 5151) at mandolincafe.com for an older Japanese KM-250S, asking price £250. I've gathered several past discussion threads at mandolincafe that Japanese-made mandolins in general are held in higher regard than those of Korean origin, which in turn seem to be prefered over Chinese mandolins.
buying a mandolin
buying a mandolin
ok I'm a newbie, I don't know how to play any stringed instrument, but I have fallen in love with the mandolin and particularly played in the bluegrass style. I live in Belfast, Northern Ireland and our music stores are less than crammed with good examples or decent advice about making my 1st mando purchase. I can afford arround 200 pounds sterling for a mando plus 50 quid for music tabs etc. Ive been looking at the ozark semiacoustic, or the kentucky astyle (f-hole) the one up from a 140. I've also seen the gremlin models on the net which are similarly priced arround the 200 pounds mark. and thats all i know
please help:D
# Posted on January 22nd 2003 by Dru
Re: buying a mandolin
You might want to visit mandolincafe.com and post this question. It has several open discussions on this subject, and I am sure that you will get quite a bit of advise in response to your post as well. Many of the mandolincafe community seems to be bluegrass fans as well, so there are quite a few bluegrass-specific discussions that you also might enjoy browsing -- or starting.
I can offer one basic tip, although I don't play bluegrass (yet): a carved or arched-top A-style mandolin with F-holes (like the Kentucky) is a good choice for that bluegrass "chop", and all solid woods (as opposed to laminated woods) may also help your tone and volume -- the latter being important since you may have to compete against the banjo-picker's wall-of-sound.
# Posted on January 22nd 2003 by mad dawg
Re: buying a mandolin
Hi Dru,
You should be able to get a pretty good instrument for the money. Just make sure it's got a solid top and if possible solid sides and back as well. You may want to investigate used from an owner as you can often get people looking to part from good instruments for not alot of money. There's a website called Mandolin Cafe(just plug those two words into your search engine and the website should come up first). There's a ton of info for any/all questions mandolin. If you can befriend a player in Belfast who respects the 'bluegrass' approach ask them to help you make your choice. Most of the time musicians in general are helpful to newbie's. Good Luck!
# Posted on January 22nd 2003 by welshdude
Re: buying a mandolin
I would agree that Kentucky makes a good budgetary mandolin. Washburn, Epiphone, and Alvarez are acceptable as well. I’ve also played ones by Aria, Oscar Schmidt that I liked. These should all be in your budget. Fender, Applause/Ovation, & Tacoma are ones that I haven’t liked. All the budgetary mandolins I have owned have eventually self-destructed after about five years.
Cheers
# Posted on January 22nd 2003 by txfiddler
Re: buying a mandolin
Dru,
I've just been through a similar dilemma and eventually resolved matters by going through Hobgoblin Music. Just put Hobgoblin into a search engine and you'll be flying; they have shops all over the place, though none in Norn Iron. Many of them have a list of second hand instruments. Another idea would be to start attending trad sessions in Belfast or further afield and seeing who might know about someone wanting to sell a second hand instrument.
I'm from Newcastle, Co Down by the way, so a near neighbour.
# Posted on January 22nd 2003 by sergeant fox
Re: buying a mandolin
Kentucky's are good value, as are the epiphones and the fender in that price range although the differences between two supposedly identical instruments can be quite large. I have a fender which is a beautiful playing instrument but the tone is muddy when compared to the mandos I play normally, so it lives in the bedroom and plays quietly. If you've got £250 together it might be an idea to wait a month or two and look at a Thomas Buchanan, I think they're about £350 or so and they are beautiful instruments. Whatever don't waste money on tabs, Between the mandoline cafe and co-mando (don't forget the hyphen) you'll get enough good tab and tune material to keep you going until you can read whats posted here. good luck with the learning.
# Posted on January 22nd 2003 by Davetnova
Re: buying a mandolin
Hi, thanks for the great advice, I think I will opt for the kentucky KM150s model from the ACC music company priced at 150.00GBP as my fisrt mando aquisition. The musi stores in my local area seem very "snobby" for want of a better word when they found out I was a newb to the instrument, I got the distinct impression that i was being brushed to the side... OH WELL guess who won't be getting there hands on my cash;)
Now comes the really big hurdle:O convincing my wife (bless her), that I should be allowed to buy one... any advice greatly appreciated:D
cheers Dru, Belfast
# Posted on January 22nd 2003 by Dru
Re: buying a mandolin
Hi Dru,
If she doesn't play, promise to get her an autoharp as they're pretty easy to learn...and 'more' expensive than a mandolin! Nothing better than sharing music in matrimony. Other than laughter. Sorry, I meant to warn you to 'not' trust music store advice, but it looks as though you're blessed with a good BS sniffer. Stick with the Mando-cafe or co-mando and you'll always get straight opinions and truth. Have been reading/posting on those websites for years and while opinions vary, the integrity of position remains constant...good folks who 'love' music and mandolins. As far as learning goes, there's a slew of book/cd combos which give you 'play-along' rhythm tracks(both slow and normal), not to mention software available. I've been playing mando for quite a while and 'still' use the tracks when I'm not involved in a gigging project.
# Posted on January 23rd 2003 by welshdude
Re: buying a mandolin
Hey Dru,
Another suggestion you may want to consider; soon after you make your purchase, (a Kentucky 150 was my first mando, and I played it for several years before I outgrew it), find a local luthier and have him/her 'setup' your instrument. It's like getting a used car tuned up just after you buy it!
For $20, I have mine recent new purchase setup; he set he bridge correctly, adjusted the nut to the string type I was using, and set the action to my preference, (distance from string to fret on the fingerboard). Just a is noted above, go to www.mandolincafe.com or www.co-mando.com where you'll find exercises, bluegrass, ITM, blues, etc. in tablature, gifs and abc formats.
If your local music shop is snobby, tell 'em to piss off and look in your local golden pages under guitars, call all the music shops and asked for recommended luthiers.
I would also suggest one or two starter lessons to make sure you don't learn any habits that cause problems later that you'll have to unlearn.
Good luck!
Marty
# Posted on January 24th 2003 by Marty
Re: buying a mandolin
a friend of mine just bought a Joe Foley Mandolin. His name is Eddie Moloney and he features on the new Eoin O'neill cd called"the Session" a lovely album indeed. This particular isnstrument is fullof bass and a pleasure to hear. Joe lives in Dublin
# Posted on January 29th 2003 by downey
Re: buying a mandolin
A guy in Bath posted a classified ad (ad # 5151) at mandolincafe.com for an older Japanese KM-250S, asking price £250. I've gathered several past discussion threads at mandolincafe that Japanese-made mandolins in general are held in higher regard than those of Korean origin, which in turn seem to be prefered over Chinese mandolins.
# Posted on January 30th 2003 by mad dawg