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Old 02-05-2019, 10:42 AM
Mandobart Mandobart is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Washington State
Posts: 5,428
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wuchak View Post
...I went on a hunt for a mando a few years back and was shocked to discover how expensive they are vs. guitars. I lucked into a trade on an Eastman MD315 or I would still be without one.

The Mandolin Store has 78 mandolins and only three are under $400. Only six are under $500.

https://themandolinstore.com/product...ory/mandolins/
Once again my thoughts on why this is - "What beginners don't like to learn about playing mandolin":

1. There are about 1000 guitars sold for every mandolin sold.
2. Most mandolin family instruments are carved top and carved back - a lot more hours go into building them.
3. Adding 1 and 2 above means that to get the same quality in a mandolin that you can get in a $500 guitar, you need to spend $1000.
4. A cheap mandolin family instrument sounds a lot worse than a cheap guitar.
5. The dual course, high tension strings on a mandolin will laugh at your guitar calluses and slice them away. A good setup on a mandolin isn't just a good idea, its required.
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