Budget Resonator and Mandolin Reccomendations

[jparis51]

Hi Everyone,

I'm a guitar player with some good 6 and 12-strings wanting to acquire both a resonator and mandolin to add just a little of these colors to my multi-track recordings here and there. I'd love to score both for under $1,000, I don't plan on becoming a virtuoso on these instruments so for now I only want ones that will get and stay in tune, play decently and sound like what they are.

I do want electronics on both and am ready to combat piezo quack with my ToneDexter. I kicked off my search by only looking at Sweetwater Sound just because I'm used to dealing with them, I know there are many more options out there but I found two instruments within my budget on their site.

According to Sweetwater I'd want a round neck resonator, as the square necks are intended to sit on your lap and I'd rather stand or sit holding it like a normal guitar. Gretsch's G9220 Bobtail Roundneck Mahogany Resonator looks like a good value at $499 with Fishman electronics, has anyone played a low priced Gretsch resonator?

And how much of a difference does getting a steel bodied resonator make, do any of you resonator fans like these more than wood bodies?

As for the mandolin, the price is right on the Washburn M3E Mandolin Pack ($359 from Sweetwater) and it comes with a piezo. Does anyone have experience with this kind of entry level Washburn? Are there better mandolins with piezos at this kind of price I should look at?

I know these aren't fine instruments and I'll get what I pay for, but if anyone has any "best bang for the buck" recommendations on what I should look at instead I'd love to hear them.

Thanks Much!
John

[Mandobart]

What beginners don't like to learn about playing mandolin:

1. There are about 1000 guitars sold for every mandolin sold.
2. Most mandolins 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 sounds a lot worse than a cheap guitar.

For max bang for your buck, I recommend you go with a flattop mandolin, aka pancake or Army-Navy. Good brands are Big Muddy (formerly Mid-Missouri) or Red line. Truly your best bet is buy used. Its very easy and inexpensive to add a piezo pickup like the JJB PPS-200.

I made the mistake of buying a cheap $300 Chinese Ibanez for my first mandolin. Once I got a decent instrument I got better much faster. Seems its a lesson most of us have to learn for ourselves.

[jparis51]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

What beginners don't like to learn about playing mandolin:

1. There are about 1000 guitars sold for every mandolin sold.
2. Most mandolins 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 sounds a lot worse than a cheap guitar.

For max bang for your buck, I recommend you go with a flattop mandolin, aka pancake or Army-Navy. Good brands are Big Muddy (formerly Mid-Missouri) or Red line. Truly your best bet is buy used. Its very easy and inexpensive to add a piezo pickup like the JJB PPS-200.

I made the mistake of buying a cheap $300 Chinese Ibanez for my first mandolin. Once I got a decent instrument I got better much faster. Seems its a lesson most of us have to learn for ourselves.

Thanks for your reply Mandobart, I never thought about the points you made but they make perfect sense to me and flattop seems like the way I should go. Nice instruments on both these sites and Big Muddy seems especially flexible with their "Primitives," however now I'm inspired to try to up my budget some. Much appreciated.

Regarding both starter resonators and starter mandolins, I should have known better not to first do a search on AGF for information and recommendations. I've since done so and to no surprise I've found a wealth of good info, including opinions on the Gretsch G9220 I mentioned along with many other fine retailers and manufacturers to look at. This will surely be a fun journey and as an oldster I'm excited about making new sounds on new instruments.

[Br1ck]

I agree with everything Mandobart says, except I would caution against a flattop if you are going to use mandolin in a band context. It may not be the cutting sound you might want.

The Kentucky KM 150 is a generally well regarded first mandolin. You can buy them south of $400 from many sources. You may not realize that a setup, done by a shop with a lot of experience, is EXTREMELY important. So a shop like The Mandolin Store, or Elderly, will send you a well set up mandolin. If you buy from Amazon or Sweetwater, plan on spending $70 or so on a setup, and do not assume your trusty guitar tech knows how.

The resonator is a matter of subjective taste.

[roylor4]

I own a Gretsch Boxcar, which is basically just the unamplified version of the Bobtail. It has been a stellar budget reso and I have used it heavily for 4-5 years. Very impressive instrument for the $.

Kentucky mandos do seem to be highly regarded. My wife owns a Eastman MD305 and when she auditioned several others (including some Gibby's) - it stood head and shoulders above the rest. Eastman is worth a look too although none come with electronics that I know of.

[SalFromChatham]

I have the Gretsch boxcar resonator without electronics. It’s great in my opinion. I also have an Eastman MD304 mandolin. Also great.

Mission accomplished!

[MikeBmusic]

My wife got me a much-cheaper Washburn mandolin. I didn't want to tell her, but its pretty much useless. Even with new strings and working on the set up a little, chords sound terrible, and there's no volume out of it.

[jparis51]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

My wife got me a much-cheaper Washburn mandolin. I didn't want to tell her, but its pretty much useless. Even with new strings and working on the set up a little, chords sound terrible, and there's no volume out of it.

Thanks Mike, I've crossed off Washburn from my list after reading reviews of the nice Loars, Kentuckys and Eastmans available in my price range. I'm also taking the advice of other posts and will buy my new mando from either Elderly, FolkMusician or The Mandolin Store so I can get a proper setup.

I did spring for Gretsch's G9220 Bobtail Roundneck Mahogany Resonator from Sweetwater after reading good reviews of it and its non-electric cousin the Boxcar. I'm confident my luthier will be able to do a good setup on that bad boy and I'm looking forward to its arrival next week.

[Realbluesman]

I bought a Gretsch boxcar round neck (from a well known big box) and set up was great out of the box.

[Bikewer]

I had one of the “Rogue” brass-bodied resonators... Really a steal for the price at the time. Sadly, I see that they are currently being shown as “unavailable” or “sold out”.

I have a little review on YouTube:


https://youtu.be/zT9JDk-SW-A

I found the only disadvantage was the weight, which is substantial.

[jparis51]

Originally Posted by Realbluesman

I bought a Gretsch boxcar round neck (from a well known big box) and set up was great out of the box.

Great to hear, more $$$ saved. Really looking forward to my Gretsch Bobtail, I can't think of another entry-level instrument that I've seen such uniformly positive reviews of.

[icuker]

You could also look at Eastman mandolins. Very big bang for the buck. You could find a used one for not much more than the Washburn you mentioned. That could easily be all the mandolin you'd ever need. When I got into Mandolin I decided I wanted to get a moderately good one so that I wasn't buying cheap, then less cheap and finally moderately expensive. Costs more to approach it that way. Anyway, I've only bought one Mandolin as opposed to various guitars ukes etc to get to that "one" that would satisfy me.

[jparis51]

Originally Posted by icuker

You could also look at Eastman mandolins. Very big bang for the buck. You could find a used one for not much more than the Washburn you mentioned. That could easily be all the mandolin you'd ever need. When I got into Mandolin I decided I wanted to get a moderately good one so that I wasn't buying cheap, then less cheap and finally moderately expensive. Costs more to approach it that way. Anyway, I've only bought one Mandolin as opposed to various guitars ukes etc to get to that "one" that would satisfy me.

Thanks, I've seen many better alternatives to the Washburn from Loar, Kentucky and Eastman, and I'm definitely leaning toward Eastman!