in no particular order of importance:
Go and play as many mandolins as he can - he may develop a personal preference
hook up with someone who already plays a mandolin.
look at www.mandolincafe.com for stuff on different types of mandolin, builders etc.
Buy an air ticket to England and go to The Acoustic Music Company in Brighton - see www.theacousticmusicco.co.uk - they have a better selection than any shop I been to and that includes some of the big name shops in the USA. Best money and time he'll ever spend.
Spend as much money as he can on the mandolin, they appear expensive relative to guitars but cheap mandolins are generally hard to play and sound awful (even to the player)
What kind of banjo does he play? Tenor or 5 string? Maybe I'm wrong but I though most "tenor " players would already have tried mandolin or fiddle first. If so, he should be experienced enough to "test and try" as many mandolins as possible.
I agree that you should avoid cheap mandolins but you'll get some good factory made models for under £200. These should be adequate for beginners. Also, Jimmy Moon from Glasgow makes good instruments which many musicians rate quite highly. They start off around £500 which is very reasonable. http://www.moonguitars.co.uk/
Mandolin is one of those instruments where it is definitely better to buy from a maker than from a shop.
Does your mate want an inexpensive one for starters, until he decides what he likes, or does he want to go straight for a pricey, "pure quality" mandolin?
For an inexpensive one, I don't think you can go past the Romanian "Troubador" mandolins importedby a Scottish bloke - http://www.troubadour.uk.com/mandolin.html
You would still keep this one even if you moved on to a more expensive instrument later.
Once you decide you want something with more volume and tone, you'd be as well talking to a maker and getting one made.
Check out the list for Ireland and UK here: http://www.mandolincafe.com/builders.html
Stefan Sobell would be the best-known UK maker, but he's not cheap and has probably stopped taking orders for a while as he had a huge waiting list a while ago. He makes instruments for Andy Irvine among others. Jimmy Moon and Thomas Buchanan are well-known in Scotland. Moon has a little production-line going and makes and sells to shops, most others make to order.
The Scottish Bloke is David Kilpatrick and he is a good guy to deal with - he lives in Kelso. Go on the site and either e-mail himor give him a ring. tell him Bev Lawton sent you.
I have one of his "Bear Claw" mandolins - the workmanship is pretty good but the strings as supplied are not good and it usually needs a better Bridge.
i have a Gibson F2 1916, A4 1917 and a couple of Gibson mandolas and I still play this mandolin as well.
Its always tempting to say "Get one like mine" - but the list Cuso gives is pretty much the best advice. I know nothing of the shop in Brighton, but generally, try lots of mandolins until you find one you like.
It's more important to get one you like than to get one quickly.
A few of my friends have Eastman mandos. The workmanship is pretty good, and the prices are certainly attractive for a carved-top instrument. Sound quality seems to vary a lot between instruments (as might be expected for high-volume production of handmade mandos), so I wouldn't recommend buying one online, but they're worth checking out if you see one.
Getting one made for you is not as scary or as expensive as you might think. I looked for makers at the site suggested by Bren. I have one from another Scottish luthier so far not listed. It's a Freshwater (you'll find him in the list).
Also you could search through the MandolinCafe discussion lists (or join and repost the question) for yet more advice.
Well, I'd recommend one Scottish based luthier. He's actually English but now living in The Highlands.
Mike Vanden who makes instruments for the likes of Simon Mayor and Martin Taylor.
Unfortunately, his instruments aren't cheap but I'm a proud owner of one I purchased at a more affordable price before he became so well known.
Mandolin advice
Mandolin advice
A friend of mine in Ireland wants to buy a mandolin. He currently plays guitar and banjo. Would anyone be kind enough to give advice on choosing one?
Thanks
Joe
# Posted on July 4th 2005 by Joe Quinn
Re: Mandolin advice
in no particular order of importance:
Go and play as many mandolins as he can - he may develop a personal preference
hook up with someone who already plays a mandolin.
look at www.mandolincafe.com for stuff on different types of mandolin, builders etc.
Buy an air ticket to England and go to The Acoustic Music Company in Brighton - see www.theacousticmusicco.co.uk - they have a better selection than any shop I been to and that includes some of the big name shops in the USA. Best money and time he'll ever spend.
Spend as much money as he can on the mandolin, they appear expensive relative to guitars but cheap mandolins are generally hard to play and sound awful (even to the player)
# Posted on July 4th 2005 by Cuso
Re: Mandolin advice
Thanks, Cuso
# Posted on July 4th 2005 by Joe Quinn
Re: Mandolin advice
What kind of banjo does he play? Tenor or 5 string? Maybe I'm wrong but I though most "tenor " players would already have tried mandolin or fiddle first. If so, he should be experienced enough to "test and try" as many mandolins as possible.
I agree that you should avoid cheap mandolins but you'll get some good factory made models for under £200. These should be adequate for beginners. Also, Jimmy Moon from Glasgow makes good instruments which many musicians rate quite highly. They start off around £500 which is very reasonable.
http://www.moonguitars.co.uk/
# Posted on July 4th 2005 by Johannes J
Re: Mandolin advice
Mandolin is one of those instruments where it is definitely better to buy from a maker than from a shop.
Does your mate want an inexpensive one for starters, until he decides what he likes, or does he want to go straight for a pricey, "pure quality" mandolin?
For an inexpensive one, I don't think you can go past the Romanian "Troubador" mandolins importedby a Scottish bloke - http://www.troubadour.uk.com/mandolin.html
You would still keep this one even if you moved on to a more expensive instrument later.
Once you decide you want something with more volume and tone, you'd be as well talking to a maker and getting one made.
Check out the list for Ireland and UK here: http://www.mandolincafe.com/builders.html
Stefan Sobell would be the best-known UK maker, but he's not cheap and has probably stopped taking orders for a while as he had a huge waiting list a while ago. He makes instruments for Andy Irvine among others. Jimmy Moon and Thomas Buchanan are well-known in Scotland. Moon has a little production-line going and makes and sells to shops, most others make to order.
# Posted on July 4th 2005 by Bren
Re: Mandolin advice
The Scottish Bloke is David Kilpatrick and he is a good guy to deal with - he lives in Kelso. Go on the site and either e-mail himor give him a ring. tell him Bev Lawton sent you.
I have one of his "Bear Claw" mandolins - the workmanship is pretty good but the strings as supplied are not good and it usually needs a better Bridge.
i have a Gibson F2 1916, A4 1917 and a couple of Gibson mandolas and I still play this mandolin as well.
# Posted on July 5th 2005 by UKCITTERN
Re: Mandolin advice
Its always tempting to say "Get one like mine" - but the list Cuso gives is pretty much the best advice. I know nothing of the shop in Brighton, but generally, try lots of mandolins until you find one you like.
It's more important to get one you like than to get one quickly.
# Posted on July 5th 2005 by showaddydadito
Re: Mandolin advice
Thanks so much, guys. Appreciated.
# Posted on July 5th 2005 by Joe Quinn
Re: Mandolin advice
Has any of you ever played Eastman Mandolins?
http://www.eastmanstrings.com/eastmanmandolins/home/home.html
I've found their website and they are looking nice.
# Posted on July 5th 2005 by padre
Re: Mandolin advice
A few of my friends have Eastman mandos. The workmanship is pretty good, and the prices are certainly attractive for a carved-top instrument. Sound quality seems to vary a lot between instruments (as might be expected for high-volume production of handmade mandos), so I wouldn't recommend buying one online, but they're worth checking out if you see one.
# Posted on July 5th 2005 by tedium
Re: Mandolin advice
Getting one made for you is not as scary or as expensive as you might think. I looked for makers at the site suggested by Bren. I have one from another Scottish luthier so far not listed. It's a Freshwater (you'll find him in the list).
Also you could search through the MandolinCafe discussion lists (or join and repost the question) for yet more advice.
# Posted on July 6th 2005 by JonB
Re: Mandolin advice
Well, I'd recommend one Scottish based luthier. He's actually English but now living in The Highlands.
Mike Vanden who makes instruments for the likes of Simon Mayor and Martin Taylor.
Unfortunately, his instruments aren't cheap but I'm a proud owner of one I purchased at a more affordable price before he became so well known.
http://www.vanden.co.uk/
# Posted on July 6th 2005 by Johannes J
Re: Mandolin advice
John: I 'd do a green smiley if I knew how. :-[
Jammy bugger!
# Posted on July 6th 2005 by Bren