Originally Posted by posternutbag
Since I am mostly a mandolinist, I can share a few insights and maybe collate and elaborate on the information in this thread, because much of it is very good.
You will get a lot more mandolin for your money if you go with an A style as opposed to an F style. By this, I mean the shape of the body (F style mandolins have scrolls coveted by bluegrass players) NOT the shape of the sound hole(s).
IMO, the body shape contributes next to nothing to the sound of a mandolin. However, the shape of the sound hole(s) will. F holes tend to be brighter and more focused; mandolins with F holes "cut" better in large jams. Oval hole mandolins are a bit tubby with a more diffuse tone. Someone else might say that ovals are sweeter and that F hole mandolins sound shrill. Beauty is in the ear...
You will also get a lot more mandolin for your money if you buy used. The downsides to buying used are the same as the downsides to buying a used guitar. There is wear and tear already (mandolin frets are small and thin and in my experience require more frequent refrets) and there could be setup issues (more on mandolin setups later).
So now some specifics. I can absolutely recommend a used Big Muddy/Mid Missouri (same mandolin made by the same luthier, just a change in names about 5-6 years ago). Big Muddy mandolins are flat tops with oval holes. On the plus side they are all solid wood mandolins made by hand in America by a respected luthier. I own one. They can be found readily on mandolin cafe for $400.
There is nothing bad to say about them except that they are not bluegrass mandolins. A bluegrass mandolin needs to "chop" (a short percussive chord played on back beats) and flat tops and oval holes are not conducive to the clipped percussive tone of the bluegrass chop. That being said, if you aren't looking to play bluegrass, a Big Muddy could be a lifetime instrument. A Howard Morris flat top has all of the same positives and negatives.
If you want to play bluegrass, you will be looking for a carved top (carved like a violin top or an archtop guitar) with F holes, and in your price range you will be looking at imports.
It used to be, 10 years ago, that Chinese-made mandolins were pretty terrible. Honestly, Eastman changed the way the American mandolin community views imports. Eastman had been making violins for years and when they branched out into mandolins, at the time it was a revelation. They paved the way for mandolins like Northfield. The idea that a professional level bluegrass mandolin (by this I mean Northfields) could be imports was unheard of 10 years ago.
All that being said, IMO, Eastman has been surpassed in the last couple of years by Kentucky and especially by Northfield. An Eastman can still be a very good mandolin and the 305 is a perfectly adequate beginner mandolin, but if I were buying a sub $500 mandolin, I would go with the Kentucky KM 150.
In the 1980s, Kentucky produced fine Japanese-made mandolins that carry a premium, even today. That being said, I believe the Kentucky mandolins being made today, especially the KM 150 and the KM 900 and higher models are as good, if not better than the ones made in the early 1980s.
Be careful, the Japanese-made Kentucky mandolins are good (if slightly overpriced) and the new 2012 and newer Kentucky mandolins are very good, but Kentucky had a rough patch from about 1986 to 2012 or so, and I would not buy a Kentucky from that period.
My last piece of advice is, "Where you by is just as important as what you buy." If you decide to go new with an Eastman 305 or a Kentucky KM 150, make sure you buy from a mandolin dealer. Don't buy that mandolin hanging on the wall of your local guitar shop. Mandolin setups are more complicated than guitar setups and a mandolin purchased from a store like The Mandolin Store or Folk Musician will be well setup and playable.
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09-15-2015, 12:07 PM
