[Br1ck]

My 1913 A 1 is just a bit out of my tonal likes. I prefer the twenties snakeheads. But it's what I play more than anything. Fiddle tunes and old timey are great on it, as is Celtic music. The snakeheads are just a brighter tone.

I've gone hot and cold on the Collings tone, which I think is the standard of modern sound. When you get to this nice a level it is completely subjective. Nothing does the Gibson chop like a Gibson, at least that I have played. There are many great sounding mandolins and too few places to experience them. I'm blessed to have, between two stores, access to four or five premium brands. I noticed the other day, Gryphon had no Collings at all. Even in COVID hell they had four or five. Early Christmas shopping?

But when I bought my Weber, I could play Collings and Northfield, and was happy to compare. The verdict was equal but different. Same when I took my modestly priced Silverangel in for a tweak. Very different, but ballpark equal. The opposite of the Collings tonally, much darker. But the G string tone I crave was in both.

I just would not know what to recommend. I guess if you can afford it a Collings MT would get you well over the bar. So would a Northfield F 5S. An honorable mention for the much more affordable Kentucky KN 900. But we are far afield of the original question. I remember my Grandmother would only fish with a stick, some line, a bobber and a hook. She had a grand time. You will too, with a Kentucky KM 150, or an Eastman. Just don't say I didn't warn you. Somewhere there is a guy playing his Dudenbostel and pitying me having to play my Webber Yellowstone Deluxe. Just as I am with those playing Eastmans. I think that is just the way things are. I want folks to have great instruments.

There is a Facebook mandolin group made up of a lot of new players and they are mostly very happy with their Eastmans. That is a grounded place for me to be every now and then, as I was once one of them.